Contents
* 1 Early life
* 2 Career
* 3 Personal life
* 4 Filmography
* 5 Television
* 6 References
* 7 External links
Early life
Nielsen was born in Frederikshavn. Her father, Bent Nielsen, was a bus driver, and her mother was an insurance clerk who also acted and wrote musical revues. She was raised a Mormonand grew up in a small village named Elling. She began her acting career working alongside her mother on the local revue and variety scene. At 18, she traveled to Paris, France, where she worked as an actress and model, which led to further work and study in Italy—at drama school in Rome and in master classes with Lydia Styx, a teacher at il Piccolo Teatro di Milano in Milan. She lived in Italy for many years, before moving to the United States, where she still resides.
Career
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 1996 and made her first appearance in a major English-language film in 1997 as Christabella Andreoli in The Devil's Advocate, starring opposite Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. This first minor breakthrough led to roles in the films Permanent Midnight (1998), Rushmore (1998), and Soldier (1998).
In 2000, Nielsen became known to worldwide audiences as Lucilla in Ridley Scott's internationally acclaimed Academy Award–winning epic Gladiator, starring opposite Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Since then, she has starred in some notable American films, including Mission to Mars (2000), One Hour Photo (2002), The Hunted (2003), and Basic (2003). She also starred in the acclaimed French thriller Demonlover (2002), directed by Olivier Assayas.
In 2004, Nielsen made her Danish film debut in the drama, Brødre (also known as Brothers) for which she won the Danish Best Actress Award, the Bodil, as well as Best Actress at the San Sebastian International Film Festival. She was also nominated for Best Actress at the European Film Awards. In 2006, Nielsen appeared in several episodes of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Det. Dani Beck. She filled in for Mariska Hargitay who was on maternity leave at the time of filming.
Personal life
Nielsen has a son, Sebastian (born 2 June 1990), from a previous relationship. Since 2003, Nielsen has been dating Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich, and on 21 May 2007, they welcomed a boy, named Bryce Thadeus Ulrich-Nielsen. The couple and their son, Bryce, as well as Ulrich's two children from a previous marriage, Myles and Layne, currently reside in the San Francisco area.
Nielsen's favorite band is The Clash, and she is a big fan of Danish movie directors Lars von Trier and Thomas Vinterberg. The latter directed Metallica's music video for their song The Day That Never Comes.
She speaks eight languages: Danish, English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, and Swedish.
Filmography
Film Role Notes
1984 Par Où T'es Rentré? On T'a Pas Vu Sortir Eva
1991 Vacanze di Natale '91 Brunilde/Vanessa
1993 Voyage Ronnie Freeland Television movie
1994 Le paradis absolument Sarah Television movie
1997 The Devil's Advocate Christabella Andreoli
1998 Permanent Midnight Dagmar
Rushmore Mrs. Calloway
Soldier Sandra
2000 Dark Summer Megan Denright
Mission to Mars Terri Fisher
Gladiator Lucilla
2002 One Hour Photo Nina Yorkin
Demonlover Diane de Monx
2003 The Hunted Abby Durrell
Basic Osborne
2004 Brødre Sarah
Return to Sender Charlotte Cory
2005 The Great Raid Margaret Utinsky
The Ice Harvest Renata
2006 The Situation Anna Molyneux
2007 Battle in Seattle Jean
2008 Danny Fricke Danny Fricke
2009 A Shine of Rainbows Maire
Tonight at Noon Laura Post-production
2010 Mellem linierne Cora Pre-production
The Last Word Post-production
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