Noomi Rapace is a Swedish actress.
She achieved international fame with her portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations
of the Millennium series: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire
and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.
She is also known for playing Leena in Beyond, Anna in The Monitor, Madame Simza Heron in
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, the lead role of Dr. Elizabeth Shaw in the Ridley Scott
science fiction film Prometheus, and Beatrice in Dead Man Down.
Early life Rapace was born in Hudiksvall, Sweden.
Her mother, Nina Norén is a Swedish actress, and her father, Rogelio Durán, was a Spanish
Flamenco singer from Badajoz.
She has said that her father may have been of part Roma descent, and though she is "not
sure if it is true," she has "always been interested in the culture."
Rapace's sister, Særún Norén, is a photographer.
Rapace has said she saw her father only occasionally before his death.
At the age of five, she moved from her native Sweden to Flúðir in Iceland with her mother
and stepfather.
Two years later, she made her film debut in a minor role in In the Shadow of the Raven.
Rapace speaks Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, and English in addition to her native Swedish.
Career At the age of seven, Rapace was given her
first film role, which was a non-speaking part in the film Í skugga hrafnsins by Hrafn
Gunnlaugsson.
This experience made her decide to be an actress.
She left home at age 15 and enrolled in a Stockholm theatre school.
In 1996, she made her television debut playing the part of Lucinda Gonzales in the long-running
soap series Tre kronor.
From 1998 to 1999, Rapace studied at the acting school Skara Skolscen.
She has been engaged at Theater Plaza 2000–01, Orionteatern 2001, Teater Galeasen 2002, Stockholms
stadsteater in 2003 as well as at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, all in Stockholm.
In 2007, she won acclaim for her award-winning portrayal of a troubled teen mother in the
Danish film Daisy Diamond, directed by Simon Staho.
She won the two top film awards in Denmark for Best Actress for her role in the film,
which was also selected for the main competition at the San Sebastián International Film Festival.
The film received some criticism for the supposed abuse occurring to a baby actor during production.
In 2009, she played the role of Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish-produced film adaptation of
the best-selling novel The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, reprising this role in the sequels
The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.
On 11 September 2010, Entertainment Weekly reported that Rapace had been cast in Guy
Richie's Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, her first English-speaking role, as a French
romani; the film was released in 2011.
Her international fame has earned her leading roles in American cinema.
She was cast in Ridley Scott's blockbuster hit Prometheus where she played the leading
role, a scientist named Elizabeth Shaw.
She had met Scott for the first time following the release of the Millennium trilogy movies,
at which point he expressed a willingness to work with her and encouraged her to improve
her accent.
Prometheus was released in June 2012.
She starred alongside Rachel McAdams in Brian De Palma's erotic thriller Passion, which
is the English-language remake of 2010's French psychological thriller Love Crime.
They both appeared in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows but did not share scenes together.
She appeared in Niels Arden Oplev's crime thriller Dead Man Down.
In November 2012, she appeared as the lead role in a Rolling Stones video for the single
"Doom and Gloom" shot in the studios of the Cité du Cinéma by Luc Besson in Saint-Denis.
Rapace will be joining Will Smith in the upcoming sci-fi thriller Brilliance, although her role
isn't known yet.
In 2014, Rapace appeared in the video for the single "eez-eh" by Kasabian.
Personal life Rapace married Swedish actor Ola Norell in
2001.
Together, they chose the surname Rapace after they were married; it means "bird of prey"
in French and Italian.
The couple have a son named Lev.
In September 2010, the couple filed for divorce, taking effect during 2011.
Filmography Film
Television Music videos
Awards and nominations References
External links Noomi Rapace at the Internet Movie Database
Noomi Rapace at the Swedish Film Database pronunciation
IONCINEMA.com interview with Rapace for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo March 2010