Connie Nielsen

Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen is a renowned Danish actress born on July 3, 1965, in Frederikshavn, Denmark. She began her acting journey working alongside her mother in local revues and variety scenes. Nielsen lived in Italy for many years, learning the craft of acting, before moving to the United States. Her feature film debut was in the Jerry Lewis French film 'Par où t'es rentré ? On t'a pas vu sortir' in 1984. Nielsen's breakthrough came when she co-starred with Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves in the English-language film, 'The Devil's Advocate' in 1997. She went on to star in a number of American films including 'Mission to Mars' (2000), 'One Hour Photo' (2002), and 'The Hunted' (2003). She has delivered remarkable performances in various films, including 'Gladiator' (2000) and 'Gladiator II' (2024) as Lucilla, and as Queen Hippolyta in the DC Extended Universe.

On the television front, she had significant roles in the NBC crime drama series 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' (2006) and the Starz political drama series 'Boss' (2011–2012). During the filming of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit', Nielsen filled in for Mariska Hargitay, who was on maternity leave. In 2004, she won the Danish Best Actress Award for her Danish film debut in the drama, 'Brødre'. Additionally, Nielsen is multilingual, and speaks Danish, English, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish.