Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen is a Danish actress whose first major role in an English language
film was a supporting role in The Devil's Advocate; Nielsen later gained international
attention for her role in Ridley Scott's Gladiator.
Her films include Mission to Mars, One Hour Photo, Basic, The Hunted, The Ice Harvest
and Nymphomaniac.
She starred as Meredith Kane on the Starz TV series Boss and was a lead character in
the second season of The Following.
Early life Nielsen was born in Frederikshavn and grew
up in a village named Elling, Denmark.
Her father, Bent Nielsen, was a bus driver, and her mother was an insurance clerk, who
also acted and wrote musical reviews.
She was raised a Mormon.
She began her acting career working alongside her mother on the local revue and variety
scene.
At 18, she traveled 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 in master classes
with Lydia Styx, a teacher at Piccolo Teatro di Milano in Milan.
She lived in Italy for many years, before moving to the United States, where she still
resides.
Career Nielsen's feature film debut was the Jerry
Lewis French film Par où t'es rentré ? On t'a pas vu sortir in 1984, followed by a role
in the Italian mini-series Colletti Bianchi in 1988.
She appeared in the Italian film Vacanze di Natale '91 and the French film Le Paradis
Absolument.
She moved to the United States in 1996 and made her first appearance in a major English-language
film in 1997 as Christabella Andreoli in The Devil's Advocate, starring opposite Al Pacino
and Keanu Reeves.
This first minor breakthrough led to roles in the films Permanent Midnight, Rushmore,
and Soldier.
In 2000, Nielsen became known to worldwide audiences as Lucilla in Scott's Academy Award–winning
film Gladiator, starring opposite Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix.
Since then, she has starred in American films including Mission to Mars, One Hour Photo,
The Hunted, and Basic, for which she had to cut off most of her hair.
She also starred in the acclaimed French thriller Demonlover, directed by Olivier Assayas.
She played the Irish mother to an orphan in A Shine of Rainbows.
In 2004, Nielsen made her Danish film debut in the drama, Brødre, for which she won the
Danish Best Actress Award, the Bodil, as well as Best Actress at the San Sebastian International
Film Festival.
She was also nominated for Best Actress at the European Film Awards.
In 2006, Nielsen appeared in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective
Dani Beck.
She filled in for Mariska Hargitay, who was on maternity leave at the time of filming.
Alongside fellow actors such as Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jamie Bell and Uma Thurman, Nielsen
appeared in the 2014 Lars Von Trier film Nymphomaniac.
Nielson was also featured in the series of promotional posters in the period leading
up to the film's release and, in an article that described the poster campaign as "shocking",
the Independent publication stated: "Connie Nielsen appears somewhat moist in this poster
for Nymphomaniac".
Personal life From 2004 to 2012, Nielsen dated Metallica
drummer Lars Ulrich.
They have one son together, Bryce Thadeus Ulrich-Nielsen,.
She has a son, hip-hop producer Sebastian Sartor, from a previous relationship.
Nielsen speaks eight languages: Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Swedish
and a little Spanish.
Filmography References
External links Connie Nielsen at the Internet Movie Database