Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen ([ˈmas ˈmiɡ̊l̩sn̩]; born 22 November 1965) is a Danish actor. Originally a gymnast and dancer, he began his career as an actor in 1996. He rose to fame in Denmark as Tonny the drug dealer in the first two films of the Pusher film trilogy, and in his role as the brash yet sensitive policeman, Allan Fischer, in Peter Thorsboe's Danish television series Rejseholdet (Unit One) (2000–2003).

Mikkelsen became more widely known internationally for his role as Tristan in Jerry Bruckheimer's production King Arthur (2004), but is best known worldwide for playing the main antagonist Le Chiffre in the twenty-first James Bond film, Casino Royale (2006). He has since become known for his roles as Igor Stravinsky in Jan Kounen's French film Coco Chanel & Igor Stravinsky (2008) and his Cannes Film Festival Best Actor Award-winning role as Lucas in the 2012 Danish film The Hunt. In 2012, he was awarded the Danish American Society's Person of the Year. He starred in the TV series Hannibal (2013-2015) as Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Mikkelsen will appear in Disney's 2016 Star Wars film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

A. O. Scott of The New York Times remarked that in the Hollywood scene, Mikkelsen has "become a reliable character actor with an intriguing mug" but stated that on the domestic front "he is something else: a star, an axiom, a face of the resurgent Danish cinema".

Biography

In 2000, Mikkelsen married choreographer Hanne Jacobsen, whom he had been dating since 1987. They have a daughter, Viola, and a son, Carl. Mikkelsen lived in Copenhagen all his life, until he moved to Toronto in 2012 when the filming of Hannibal started. He is often voted the "sexiest man" in Denmark in polls. Mikkelsen is nonreligious.

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