Born:
November 22, 1965
in
Copenhagen
Best Known For:
Playing Le Chiffre in Casino Royale (2008).
Early-life:
Mads Dittmann Mikkelsen was born in Copenhagen on November 22, 1965 to Bente Christiansen and Henning Mikkelsen. His brother, Lars, is also an actor. When he was young, Mads trained as a gymnast before choosing to study dancing in Gothenburg. He was a professional dancer for nearly a decade before leaving to study drama at the Arhus Theatre School in 1996, with the ambition of becoming an actor.
Career:
Mikkelsen's debut was in the Danish crime drama Pusher (1996). From there, he slowly grew to become one of the biggest film actors in Denmark, with his credits including Flickering Lights (2000) and Shake It (2001). He got more attention internationally when he played Tristan in King Arthur (2004) and achieved global recognition as the main antagonist, Le Chiffre, in the James Bond film Casino Royale (2006). Since then, his roles have included Igor Stravinsky in the French film Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky (2008), Lucas in Danish film The Hunt (2012), Kaecilius in the Marvel film Doctor Strange (2016) and Galen Erso in the Star Wars film Rogue One (2016).
Quote:
"If you're playing the bad guy, you have to find what you like about them."
Trivia:
He was knighted by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark in 2010 and by the French government in 2016.