Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen is a Danish actress whose first major role in an English language film was a supporting role in The Devil"s Advocate; Nielsen later gained international attention for her role in Ridley Scott"s Gladiator.
Background
Nielsen was born in Frederikshavn and grew up in the village of Elling, Denmark. Her father, Bent Nielsen, was a bus driver, and her mother was an insurance clerk, who also acted and wrote musical reviews. She began her acting career working alongside her mother on the local revue and variety scene.
Career
Her films include Mission to Mars (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), Basic (2003), The Hunted (2003), The Ice Harvest (2005) and Nymphomaniac (2014). She starred as Meredith Kane on the Starz television series Boss (2011–2012) and was a lead character in the second season of The Following. She lived in Italy for many years, before moving to the United States, where she still resides.
Nielsen"s feature film debut was the Jerry Lewis French film Par où t"es rentré ? On t"a pas vu sortir in 1984, followed by a role in the Italian mini-series Colletti Bianchi in 1988.
She appeared in the Italian film Vacanze di Natale "91 (1991) and the French film Le Paradis Absolument (1993). She moved to the United States in the mid 90s and made her first appearance in a major English-language film in 1997 as Christabella Andreoli in The Devil"s Advocate, starring opposite First Rate (at Lloyd's) Pacino and Keanu Reeves.
This first minor breakthrough led to roles in the films Permanent Midnight (1998), Rushmore (1998), and Soldier (1998). Since then, she has starred in American films including Mission to Mars (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), The Hunted (2003), and Basic (2003), for which she had to cut off most of her hair.
She also starred in the acclaimed French thriller Demonlover (2002), directed by Olivier Assayas.
She played the Irish mother to an orphan in A Shine of Rainbows (2009). She was also nominated for Best Actress at the European Awards. In 2006, Nielsen appeared in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Detective Dani Beck.
She filled in for Mariska Hargitay, who was on maternity leave at the time of filming.
Alongside Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jamie Bell and Uma Thurman, Nielsen appeared in the 2014 Lars Von Trier film Nymphomaniac. Nielsen was also featured in the series of promotional posters in the period leading up to the film"s release and, in an article that described the poster campaign as "shocking", the Independent publication stated: "Connie Nielsen appears somewhat moist in this poster for Nymphomaniac".
In 2015 she appeared on the latest television-2 album Det gode liv where she sang along with Steffen Brandt on the track "Brev til Mona".