Background
Persbrandt was born in Jakobsberg, Järfälla Municipality, Stockholm County.
Persbrandt was born in Jakobsberg, Järfälla Municipality, Stockholm County.
In Swedish films he usually has lead roles and “tough guy” parts. He is known for his recurring role as the no-nonsense police officer Gunvald Larsson in the latest instalment of the Martin Beck movies. Other parts include the role of Carl Hamilton from the novels by January Guillou, as well as Beorn in parts two and three of The Hobbit.
He has performed on stage with the Royal Dramatic in Stockholm and numerous film and television roles.
Persbrandt is best known for his role as the hardboiled police inspector Gunvald Larsson, in the Beck series of films. On 13 October 2007 Persbrandt left the Royal Dramatic due to difficulties combining work for television/film with theater.
Many of the Royal Dramatic ensemble responded in a very negative manner. One of them was January Malmsjö who made a strong statement about Persbrandt on live television
Malmsjö loudly proclaimed that "He has pissed on us!", insinuating that it was a breach of contract from Mikael Persbrandt.
Expressen fight In December 2005, Persbrandt notified police that the newspaper Expressen had made false accusations about him having acute alcohol poisoning and being admitted to a clinic in Uppsala. The information was inaccurate. Expressen apologized 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 South East Kansas (≈ 6800 €, United States$8900), in damages to Persbrandt.
Cocaine purchase In April 2014, he was sentenced to five months imprisonment for purchasing 12 grams of cocaine. He was convicted after his number was discovered on a drug dealer"s telephone.
His lawyer denied the allegations, insisting that a third party must have used Persbrandt"s telephone.