Mikael Åke Persbrandt (; born 25 September 1963) is a Swedish actor. In Swedish films, he is perhaps best known for playing Gunvald Larsson in the '' Beck'' series of movies. He is internationally known for his starring role in the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

-winning feature, '' In a Better World'', directed by Susanne Bier. His performance earned him a 2011 European Film Award nomination for Best Actor. Other parts include the role of Carl Hamilton from the novels by Jan Guillou, Beorn in ''

The Hobbit ''The Hobbit, or There and Back Again'' is a children's fantasy novel by English author J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in 1937 to wide critical acclaim, being nominated for the Carnegie Medal and awarded a prize from the ''N ...

'', as well as Jakob Nyman in the British TV series ''

Sex Education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduct ...

''.

Early life

Persbrandt was born in Jakobsberg, Järfälla Municipality,

Stockholm County Stockholm County ( sv, Stockholms län, link=no ) is a county or '' län'' (in Swedish) on the Baltic Sea coast of Sweden. It borders Uppsala County and Södermanland County. It also borders Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. The city of Stoc ...

. He was baptized in the Finnish Church in

Gamla stan Gamla stan (, "The Old Town"), until 1980 officially Staden mellan broarna ("The Town between the Bridges"), is the old town of Stockholm, Sweden. Gamla stan consists primarily of the island Stadsholmen. Officially, but not colloquially, Gamla st ...

. Persbrandt has stated that he has ancestry from

Åland Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an Federacy, autonomous and Demilitarized zone, demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1 ...

on his mother's side, and that he thinks his paternal ancestors were

Walloons Walloons (; french: Wallons ; wa, Walons) are a Gallo-Romance ethnic group living native to Wallonia and the immediate adjacent regions of France. Walloons primarily speak '' langues d'oïl'' such as Belgian French, Picard and Walloon. Wal ...

Career

He has performed onstage with the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre ( sv, Kungliga Dramatiska Teatern, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The the ...

in Stockholm and in numerous film and TV roles. Persbrandt is well known for his role as the

hardboiled Hardboiled (or hard-boiled) fiction is a literary genre that shares some of its characters and settings with crime fiction (especially detective fiction and noir fiction). The genre's typical protagonist is a detective who battles the violence ...

police inspector Gunvald Larsson, in the ''Beck'' series of films. He won the

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards ( sv, Guldbaggen, en, Gold scarab) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the nam ...

for Best Actor in a leading role twice, the first in 2009 for '' Everlasting Moments'' and the second in 2014 for ''

Nobody Owns Me ''Nobody Owns Me'' ( sv, Mig äger ingen) is a 2013 Swedish drama film directed by Kjell-Åke Andersson. The film is based on the novel of the same name by Åsa Linderborg, and stars Mikael Persbrandt, Tanja Lorentzon och Sten Ljunggren. Mikael Pe ...

''. In 2015, Persbrandt reported that he would quit starring in his popular role of Gunvald Larsson. In 2019, Persbrandt began playing Jakob Nyman in the

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 ...

comedy drama ''

''. He was a leading actor in the film '' The Salvation''.

Public image and legal issues

Sex appeal

Persbrandt has often been noted for his good looks, and when Swedish media makes lists of the most attractive Swedish men, he has often been on those lists.

''Expressen'' dispute

In December 2005, Persbrandt notified police that the newspaper ''

Expressen ''Expressen'' (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden, the other being '' Aftonbladet''. ''Expressen'' was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or "''Expressen'' to your rescue". ...

'' had made false accusations about him having acute alcohol poisoning and being admitted to a clinic in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

. The information was inaccurate. ''Expressen'' apologised and admitted that their information was false, but the apology was not accepted by Persbrandt. Otto Sjöberg, at the time editor of the newspaper was fined 75,000 SEK (≈ 6800 €, US$8900), in damages to Persbrandt.

Drug use

Persbrandt was arrested twice in 2011 for

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Am ...

use and received a fine. In April 2014, he was sentenced to five months' imprisonment for another cocaine offence, but on appeal this was reduced to 75 hours'

community service Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always perform ...

Personal life

He is in a relationship with Sanna Lundell and the couple have three children together. He had previously been married to Maria Bonnevie.

Theatre

All the performances are in Swedish.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

References

External links

*
Official home pageOfficial fan-site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Persbrandt, Mikael 1963 births Swedish male film actors Male actors from Stockholm Living people Sommar (radio program) hosts Best Actor Guldbagge Award winners 20th-century Swedish male actors 21st-century Swedish male actors Swedish male stage actors Swedish male voice actors Swedish male television actors People convicted of drug offenses Swedish people of Finnish descent Swedish people of Belgian descent