Aksel Hennie
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Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in the films '' Headhunters'' (2011), ''
Hercules Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures. The Romans adapted the Gr ...
'' (2014), and '' The Martian'' (2015).


Early life

Hennie was born in the
Lambertseter Lambertseter () is a suburb of the city of Oslo, Norway, and is part of the borough of Nordstrand. Lambertseter was built over a short period starting from 1951, and was the very first modern suburb of Oslo. A Tram line was built to the neighborho ...
suburb of
Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...
on 29 October 1975. In his late teens, he was arrested for
graffiti Graffiti (plural; singular ''graffiti'' or ''graffito'', the latter rarely used except in archeology) is art that is written, painted or drawn on a wall or other surface, usually without permission and within public view. Graffiti ranges from s ...
ing, and became an outcast in the graffiti community after confessing to the police. His "writes" or signatures were "Ceel" and "Mikro" and can still be seen around Oslo. Most of them are crossed out or lined over because of his confession. This personal story contributed much of the background for the film '' Uno''. The conviction against Hennie was one of the first such cases in Norway.


Career

Hennie was admitted to the
Norwegian National Academy of Theatre The Oslo National Academy of the Arts ( no, Kunsthøgskolen i Oslo, ''KHiO'') is a university college in Oslo, Norway, that provides education in visual arts, design and performing arts. It is one of two public institutes of higher learning in ...
after applying four times. He graduated in 2001, and has acted both at
Teatret Vårt Teatret Vårt is a regional theatre for Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It was established in 1972 and is based in Molde. The theatre cooperates with the annual Molde International Jazz Festival. Carl Morten Amundsen Carl Morten Amundsen (born ...
in
Molde Molde () is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Romsdal. It is located on the Romsdal Peninsula, surrounding the Fannefjord and Moldefjord. The administrative centre of the m ...
(2001–2002) and at
Oslo Nye Teater Oslo Nye Teater is a theater located in Oslo, Norway. The theater has its main stage in its own theater house at Rosenkrantz' gate 10. It is one of Norway's most visited theatres. Oslo Nye Teater AS is wholly owned by Oslo Municipality. Histor ...
(since 2002), where he has been in plays such as ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
'' and ''Kvinnen Som Gifftet Seg Med en Kalkun'' (''The Woman Who Married a Turkey''). Hennie's most notable success has been as a film actor. He made his debut starring in the feature film ''
Jonny Vang ''Jonny Vang'' is a Norwegian film from 2003. It was directed by Jens Lien after a script by Ståle Stein Berg. The music was composed by the band Calexico. The plot is a drama-comedy from the Norwegian countryside, where the protagonist Jonny Va ...
'' in 2003. Although the director,
Jens Lien Jens Lien (born 14 September 1967) is a Norwegian film film director, director. He graduated from the London International Film School in 1993. His graduation project was the short film ''Montana'', that was featured at the short film festival in ...
, originally thought Hennie was too young for the role, the actor convinced him he was the right man for the film. That same year, he also acted in the films ''
Buddy Buddy may refer to: People *Buddy (nickname) *Buddy (rapper), real name Simmie Sims III (1993–Present) *Buddy Rogers (wrestler), ring name of American professional wrestler Herman Gustav Rohde, Jr. (1921–1992) *Buddy Boeheim (born 1999), Amer ...
'' and ''Ulvesommer''. The next year, Hennie made his debut as a director and writer with the film, '' Uno'', in which he also acted. For this role, Hennie and his co-star,
Nicolai Cleve Broch Nicolai Cleve Broch (born 14 November 1975) is a Norwegian theatre and film actor. He rose to national fame playing one of the leading roles in the 2002 drama series ''Lekestue'', which aired on NRK in 2002. He is also known for playing the prota ...
, undertook six months of hard physical training in order to perform convincingly as
bodybuilders Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses ...
. In 2001, Hennie was named "Theatre Talent of the Year" by the newspaper ''
Dagbladet ''Dagbladet'' (lit.: ''The Daily Magazine'') is one of Norway's largest newspapers and is published in the tabloid format. It has 1,400,000 daily readers on mobile, web and paper. Traditionally ''Dagbladet'' is considered the main liberal newsp ...
''. Hennie won the Amanda Award (an important Norwegian film award), for "Best Direction" for ''Uno'' in 2005. That year he was among the nominees for "Best Actor" and "Best Film." He won an Amanda Award for "Best Actor" for ''Jonny Vang'' in 2003. He was named one of European film's "Shooting Stars" by the
European Film Promotion European Film Promotion (EFP) is an international promotion organisation and a unique network of 38 national film promotion institutes who represent films and talent from their respective territories. Under the EFP flag, the members team up on in ...
in 2004. In 2008, Hennie starred in ''
Max Manus Maximo Guillermo "Max" Manus DSO, MC & Bar (9 December 1914 – 20 September 1996) was a Norwegian resistance fighter during World War II, specialising in sabotage in occupied Norway. After the war he wrote several books about his adventure ...
'', where he played the Norwegian war hero of the same name. The film had a large budget by Norwegian standards. In 2011, '' Age of Heroes'' was released, a World War II film primarily shot in Norway. On 30 August 2013, ''
Pionér ''Pioneer'' ( no, Pionér) is a 2013 Norwegian thriller film directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg. It was released on 30 August, followed by a screening in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. Plot Petter i ...
'', a docudrama, was released. Hennie plays the main role as a commercial offshore diver in the North Sea during the 1970s who witnesses an accident while diving under extreme conditions, prompting him to search for answers. On 1 December 2013, Hennie won an Angela Award at the Subtitle European Film Festival in
Kilkenny Kilkenny (). is a city in County Kilkenny, Ireland. It is located in the South-East Region and in the province of Leinster. It is built on both banks of the River Nore. The 2016 census gave the total population of Kilkenny as 26,512. Kilken ...
for his role in the film '' 90 Minutes''. That evening he appeared at a showing of '' Headhunters'', and did a question and answer session with the audience in the theatre after the film.


Filmography


Awards and nominations


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hennie, Aksel 1975 births Living people Norwegian male film actors Norwegian male stage actors Norwegian male voice actors Oslo National Academy of the Arts alumni Male actors from Oslo Writers from Oslo Norwegian film directors 21st-century Norwegian male actors 20th-century Norwegian male actors