Joona Jasper Pääkkönen (; born 15 July 1980) is a Finnish film actor and entrepreneur. Following a two-decade-plus career in Finnish movies, Pääkkönen's international breakthrough role came in 2015 in the

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, costume drama, and period piece) is a work set in a past time period, usually used in the context of film and television. Historical drama includes historical fiction and romance film, romances, adventure f ...

television series ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

'' (2016–2018; 2020) as

Halfdan the Black Halfdan the Black (Old Norse: ''Halfdanr Svarti''; fl. c. 9th century) was a king of Vestfold. He belonged to the House of Yngling and was the father of Harald Fairhair, the first king of a unified Norway. In sagas According to ''Heimskringla'' ...

. His next roles were in

Spike Lee Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...

's comedy-drama film ''

BlacKkKlansman ''BlacKkKlansman'' is a 2018 American biographical black comedy crime thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, based on the 2014 memoir ''Black Klansman'' by Ron Stallworth. ...

'' (2018) and in the war drama film ''

Da 5 Bloods ''Da 5 Bloods'' is a 2020 American war drama film directed, produced, and co-written by Spike Lee. It stars Delroy Lindo, Jonathan Majors, Clarke Peters, Johnny Trí Nguyễn, Norm Lewis, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Mélanie Thierry, Paul Walter Hause ...

'' (2020).

Early life

Pääkkönen was born in

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, the son of actor

Seppo Pääkkönen Seppo Sakari Pääkkönen (born 15 June 1957 in Kuhmo) is a Finnish actor. He is married to Virve Havelin. Their son Jasper Pääkkönen Joona Jasper Pääkkönen (; born 15 July 1980) is a Finnish film actor and entrepreneur. Following a tw ...

and Virve Havelin. His uncle

Antti Pääkkönen Antti is a Finnish masculine given name derived from the Greek name ''Andreas''. In Estonia, the variant Anti is more common. It is uncommon as a surname. People with the name include: Given name * Antti Autti (born 1985), Finnish snowboarde ...

is also an actor, and is a prolific voice actor. Already as a child, Pääkkönen was a theater assistant and attended Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts in

Kallio Kallio (; sv, Berghäll; literally " the rock") is a district and a neighbourhood in Helsinki, the capital of Finland, located on the eastern side of the Helsinki peninsula about one kilometre north from the city centre. It is one of the mo ...

, Helsinki. When Pääkkönen was 17, he spent a year in

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

as an exchange student at

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

’s

Owings Mills High School Owings Mills High School (OMHS) is a four-year public high school in Owings Mills, Maryland, United States. It is part of the Baltimore County Public Schools consolidated school district. History Construction for Owings Mills Junior-Senior High Sc ...

during the 1997–98 school year.

Career

Pääkkönen's first film role was in ''

The Glory and Misery of Human Life ''The Glory and Misery of Human Life'' ( fi, Ihmiselon ihanuus ja kurjuus) is a 1988 Finnish drama film directed and written by Matti Kassila starring Lasse Pöysti, Liisamaija Laaksonen and Tuula Nyman. It is based on the novel by F.E. Sillanpä ...

'' from 1988, when he was seven years old. He became famous as Saku Salin in the Finnish television soap opera ''

Salatut elämät ''Salatut elämät'' ("Secret Lives", literally "Concealed Lives") is a Finnish television soap opera that premiered on MTV3 on 25 January 1999. The series' storylines follow the daily lives of several families who live in the same apartment bl ...

'' (1999–2002). According to a calculation published by Finnish tabloid ''

Ilta-Sanomat ''Ilta-Sanomat'' () is one of Finland's two prominent tabloid size evening newspaper and the second largest paper in the country. Its counterpart and biggest rival is ''Iltalehti''. According to the National Media Research done in 2019 ''Ilta- ...

'', Pääkkönen is "the most profitable film actor in Finland" for having starred in numerous box office hits during his career. Many of Pääkkönen's films have made #1 at the Finnish box office, including '' Bad Boys'', which is one of the most successful Finnish films at the national box office of all time. Other of Pääkkönen's commercial and critical successes include ''

Frozen Land ''Frozen Land'' ( fi, Paha maa) is a 2005 Finnish drama film directed and written by Aku Louhimies starring Jasper Pääkkönen, Mikko Leppilampi and Pamela Tola. The film's plot is based on Leo Tolstoy's 1911 posthumously published story "The For ...

'' (2005), '' Matti: Hell Is for Heroes'' (2006), ''

Lapland Odyssey ''Lapland Odyssey'' ( fi, Napapiirin sankarit) is a 2010 Finnish comedy film directed by Dome Karukoski. The film stars Jussi Vatanen, Jasper Pääkkönen, Timo Lavikainen, Pamela Tola, Kari Ketonen and Miia Nuutila. The film premiered at the 2010 ...

'' (2010) and '' Heart of a Lion'' (2013). Cannes 2018 14

For his role in ''Bad Boys'', Pääkkönen was given the Best Actor Award in the Brussels International Independent Film Festival. He has earned international praise from film critic Michael Giltz from the ''

Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (formerly ''The Huffington Post'' until 2017 and sometimes abbreviated ''HuffPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and ...

'', who called the actor "handsome and compelling" in his role in ''Lapland Odyssey''. Film critic Leslie Felperin from ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

'' named Pääkkönen a "rising thesp, showing impressive range" in his starring role in ''Matti''. In 2006 the European Film Promotion introduced Pääkkönen as the Shooting Star of Finland at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festi ...

. In 2013, Pääkkönen starred in Finnish drama film ''Heart of a Lion'' that earned him his first

Jussi Award The Jussi Awards are Finland's premier film industry prizes, awarded annually to recognize the achievements of directors, actors, and writers. History The first Jussi Awards ceremony was held on 16 November 1944 at the Restaurant Adlon in Hels ...

for Best Supporting Actor. In 2015, Pääkkönen was cast in the fourth season of the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

TV series ''

'' as

. Pääkkönen co-starred as a KKK member in

's drama ''

'', which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was released on August 10, 2018. He starred in Lee's 2020

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

production ''

''.

Other work

In 2009 Pääkkönen founded the Pokerisivut.com

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

magazine together with

film producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

Markus Selin Markus Selin (born 16 March 1960) is a Finnish television and film producer. Career Selin was born in Vihti. His first feature was conceived in the mid-1980s. At a party in Los Angeles, he was introduced to fellow Finn Renny Harlin. The two c ...

. In 2010 Pokerisivut.com was awarded Best Overall Affiliate at the London 2010 iGB Affiliate Awards. Pääkkönen is a member of the Vision

fly fishing Fly fishing is an angling method that uses a light-weight lure—called an artificial fly—to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. The light weight requires casting techniques significantly diffe ...

world team and has appeared on fly fishingTV shows and DVDs as a celebrity guest. Pääkkönen is also known as the protector of endangered fish species of Finland (especially

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several list of commercially important fish species, commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family (biology), family Salmonidae, which are native to tributary, tributaries of the ...

). He has also founded and is one of the owners of Superflies.com, which sells a selection of flies curated by Pääkkönen and raises funds for endangered native fish populations. Pääkkönen has also begun an entrepreneurship with MP

Antero Vartia Antero Vartia (born 22 August 1980 in Helsinki) is a Finnish politician, entrepreneur and former actor representing the Green League. He was elected to the Parliament of Finland in the parliamentary election in 2015. Previously he was a candidate i ...

. They built a large sauna and restaurant complex called Löyly at the shore of

Hernesaari Hernesaari (; sv, Ärtholmen; until 2013 known as Munkkisaari / ''Munkholmen'')€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

6 million to build. Pääkkönen is one of the founders of Röykkä Invest Oy, in whose name the former

Nummela Sanatorium Nummela may refer to: * Nummela (Vihti), the central district of the Finnish municipality of Vihti ** Nummela Airfield, see list of airports in Finland Below is a list of airports, airfields and heliports in Finland, grouped by type and sorted ...

, located in the

Röykkä Röykkä () is a village located in the Nurmijärvi municipality of Finland, near the border of Vihti municipality. It is fourth largest village in the municipality after Klaukkala, Rajamäki and Nurmijärvi's church village. The population is ...

village in

Nurmijärvi Nurmijärvi () is the most populated rural municipality of Finland, located north of the capital Helsinki. The neighboring municipalities of Nurmijärvi are Espoo, Vantaa, Tuusula, Hyvinkää and Vihti, and it is part of the Greater Helsinki. Th ...

, was bought for €1.5 million. Pääkkönen has announced a plan to turn the former sanatorium into a

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

Personal life

Since 2017, Pääkkönen has been married to Spanish-Filipino model Alexandra Escat. The couple had a daughter on Christmas Day 2021.

Filmography

Television credits

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paakkonen, Jasper 1980 births Living people Male actors from Helsinki Finnish male television actors Finnish male film actors