Connie Nielsen Biography

Connie Nielsen (born on July 3, 1965) is a Danish actress.

Biography

Connie Nielsen was born in Frederikshavn, Denmark. At the age of ten, Nielsen moved with her family to a small seaside village named Elling near Frederikshavn.

She got her first acting experience as a 15-year old in a cabaret written by her mother. When she was 18, she travelled to Paris, France where she worked as an actress and model, which led to further work and study in Italy - at drama school in Rome and Piccolo Teatro in Milan. She lived in Italy for many years, before moving to USA, where she currently still resides.

Connie Nielsen starred in the French film, Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir in 1984, and Le Paradis absolument in 1993, as well as the Italian mini-series Colleti Bianchi in 1988 and the film Vacanze di Natale '91 (1991). She moved to USA, where she got a few minor roles in American films, and in 1997 she won the role of Christabella Andreoli in The Devil's Advocate, starring opposite Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. This led to roles in films as Permanent Midnight (1998), Rushmore (1998) and Soldier (1998).

In 2000 Connie Nielsen became known to worldwide audiences as Lucilla in Ridley Scott's internationally acclaimed Academy Award-winning epic Gladiator, where she starred opposite Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.

She has since then starred in some notable American films, including Mission to Mars (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), The Hunted (2003) and Basic (2003), as well as the French film Demonlover (2002) and the 2004 Danish film, Brødre (aka Brothers).

As of June 2006, Connie Nielsen is set to appear in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a detective. She filled in for Mariska Hargitay who was on maternity leave at the time of filming.

Trivia

• She was born and raised in Denmark.
• Lived in Italy for 10 years, mainly in Milan.
• She has a son named Sebastian, who is half Italian. He was born in 1990 and raised in Italy and USA - he speaks Italian and English. Connie and Sebastian lives in New York.
• She speaks six languages: Danish, English, French, German, Italian and Swedish. She has acted in Danish, English, French and Italian.
• She has starred in three French-language films: Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir (1984), Le Paradis absolument (1993) and Demonlover (2002), one Italian-language film: Vacanze di Natale '91 (1991) as well as the Italian-language mini-series Colleti bianchi (1988).
• Although she is Danish, Brødre (2004) is the only Danish film she has acted in so far.
• Her favorite band is The Clash.
• She is currently dating Metallica drummer, Lars Ulrich.
• She is a big fan of Danish directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg.
• She loves collecting designer sunglasses (her only luxury habit) - she owns around 200 pairs.
• Her looks have been compared to those of Diane Lane and Saffron Burrows.

Film List

• The Great Raid (2005) - Margaret Utinsky
• The Ice Harvest (2005) - Renata
• Return to Sender (2004) - Charlotte Cory
• Brødre (2004) - Sarah
• Basic (2003) - Osborne
• The Hunted (2003) - Abby Durrell
• Demonlover (2002) - Diane de Monx
• One Hour Photo (2002) - Nina Yorkin
• Gladiator (2000) - Lucilla
• Mission to Mars (2000) - Terri Fisher
• Dark Summer (1999) - Megan Denright
• Soldier (1998) - Sandra
• Rushmore (1998) - Mrs. Calloway
• Permanent Midnight (1998) - Dagmar
• Devil's Advocate (1997) - Christabella Andreoli
• Paradis absolument, Le (1993) (TV) - Sarah
• Voyage (1993) (TV) - Ronnie Freeland
• Vacanze di Natale '91 (1991) - Brunilde/Vanessa
• Colletti bianchi (1988) (mini) TV Series - Marilù
• Par où t'es rentré? On t'a pas vu sortir (1984) - Eva