Michael Nyqvist Biography

Rolf ke Mikael Nyqvist (8 November 1960 - 27 June 2017), better known as Michael Nyqvist, was a Swedish actor. Educated at the School of Drama in Malm, he became well known for playing police officer Banck in the first series of Martin Beck films made in 1997, and later for his leading role in the film Grabben i graven bredvid in 2002. He was most recognized internationally for his role in the acclaimed Millennium series as Mikael Blomkvist, as well as the lead villains in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (as Kurt Hendricks) and John Wick (as Viggo Tarasov). In 2004, he played the leading role in the Academy Award-nominated Best Foreign Film As It Is in Heaven.

Early life

Rolf ke Mikael Nyqvist was born on 8 November 1960 in Stockholm, the son of a Swedish mother and an Italian father (from Florence). As a young child, he was adopted from an orphanage. At age 17, he spent a year as an exchange student in Omaha, Nebraska. He took his first acting classes there, as a senior in high school; he played, amongst other things, a small part in the drama Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller. When he returned to Sweden, he was accepted at ballet school, but gave it up after one year. An ex-girlfriend suggested he try theatre instead, and at 24 he was accepted to the Malm Theatre Academy.

Career

Nyqvist's first major role was as police officer John Banck in the first set of Beck films in 1997. His first big breakthrough came in 2000 with the film Together directed by Lukas Moodysson. The movie achieved great international success and earned Nyqvist his first Guldbagge Best Actor nomination for his role as a misguided husband with anger issues. He later played the leading man in the Swedish romantic comedy, Grabben i graven bredvid directed by Kjell Sundvall. Nyqvist won a Guldbagge Best Actor award for his role as the farmer, Benny.

In 2004, he played the lead role as Daniel Darus, a conductor and musician, in the Academy Award-nominated Best Foreign Film As It Is in Heaven, directed by Kay Pollak. In 2006, he starred in Suddenly directed by Johan Brisinger. In Suddenly, Nyqvist plays Lasse - a man who must come to terms with the sudden loss of his wife and son. In 2007, Nyqvist portrayed Swedish ambassador to Chile Harald Edelstam, who helped many people flee execution during and after dictator Augusto Pinochet's military coup in September 1973, in The Black Pimpernel.

He has garnered recent international attention starring as Mikael Blomkvist in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Swedish title: Mn som hatar kvinnor), The Girl Who Played with Fire (Swedish title: Flickan som lekte med elden), and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest (Swedish title: Luftslottet som sprngdes) of Stieg Larsson's Millennium series.

He starred in Abduction (2011), directed by John Singleton. He was also part of the permanent ensemble at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. Nyqvist appeared in the 2011 action thriller Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol, the fourth film of the series, directed by Brad Bird. In the film, Nyqvist portrays a madman code-named 'Cobalt', who wants to instigate a global war between Russia and the United States that he believes will restore ecological balance to the planet. In 2014, he appeared in John Wick as the antagonist, a New York Russian mob boss who is forced to protect his son from a legendary hit man played by Keanu Reeves.

Personal life

Nyqvist described his childhood and his quest as an adult to find his biological parents in his autobiographical novel, Just After Dreaming (Swedish title: Nr barnet lagt sig). In 1990, he married Finnish scenographer Catharina Ehrnrooth (1 April 1969). They had two children, Ellen (*1991) and Arthur (*1996).

Death

Nyqvist died from lung cancer on 27 June 2017 in Stockholm. He was 56.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Kamraterna	The model	TV movie
1987	Jim och piraterna Blom
1990	Pass		TV movie
1996	Snt r livet	Kalle Andersson
1997	Tic Tac	Vinni
1997-98	Beck	John Banck	TV series (7 episodes)
1998	Nightwalk		Short film
1998	Waiting for the Tenor	The Director
1998	Personkrets 3:1	Karl-Erik
1999	Breaking out	Diego
1999	En dag i taget	Henrik	TV series
2000	'	Magnus	Short film
2000	Together	Rolf	Nominated - Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2001	Home Sweet Home	Kent
2001	Making Babies
2002	Grabben i graven bredvid	Benny	Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
2003	Smala Sussie	Mrka Rsten ("Dark Voice")
2003	Detailjer	Erik
2004	As It Is in Heaven	Daniel Darus	Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film nominated film Nominated - Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
2004	Day and night	Jacob
2004	ABBA: Our Last Video Ever
2005	Shadow world		Short film
2005	Naboer	ke
2005	Mother of Mine	Hjalmar Jnsson	Nominated - Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
2005	Bang Bang Orangutang	Sven Blomberg
2005	Wallander: Mastermind	Lothar Kraftzcyk	TV series (1 episode)
2006	Search
2006	Suddenly	Lasse
2007	The Black Pimpernel	Harald Edelstam
2007	Arn: The Knight Templar	Magnus Folkesson
2008	The Kautokeino Rebellion	Lars Levi Laestadius
2008	Downloading Nancy	Stan
2008	Iscariot	Masen
2009	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Mikael Blomkvist
2009	The Girl Who Played with Fire	Mikael Blomkvist
2009	Brllopsfotografen	Stage actor
2009	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest	Mikael Blomkvist
2010	The Woman That Dreamed About a Man	Johan
2010	Among Us	Ernst
2010	Kennedys Hirn	Lars Hakansson	TV movie
2010	The Chinese Man	Staffan
2011	Abduction	Nikola Kozlow
2011	Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol	Kurt Hendricks
2012	Disconnect	Stephen Schumacher
2013	Zero Hour	White Vincent	TV series
2013	Europa Report	Andrei Blok
2013	The Girl from Nagasaki	Father Lars
2013	Days and Nights	Johan
2014	John Wick	Viggo Tarasov
2014	The Girl in the Book	Milan Daneker
2014	100 Code	Mikael Eklund	TV series
2014	Paris Follies	Jesper
2015	Colonia	Paul Schfer	Nominated - German Film Award for Best Supporting Actor
2015	The Girl King	Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna
2016	Frank & Lola	Alan
2016	I.T.	Henrik
2017	Madiba	Hendrik Verwoerd	TV Mini-series
2017	Hunter Killer	Captain Sergi Andropoyov	Posthumous release
2018	Radegund	Bishop Joseph Fliessen	Post-production; posthumous release
2018	Kursk		Filming; posthumous release

Bibliography

• Dansa fr oss (2013)
• Nr barnet lagt sig (2011)