Michael Nyqvist

MICHAEL NYQVIST’s first big breakthrough came in 2000 with the film “Together,” directed by Lukas Moodysson. The movie was set in the 1970s and followed the antics of life in a suburban commune in Stockholm. The movie reached 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 “The Guy in the Grave Next Door,” directed by Kjell Sundvall. The film explored the difficulties that arise between a farmer living in the country and a city girl librarian highlighting working class and upper-middle class differences. Nyqvist won a Guldbagge Best Actor award for his role as the farmer, „Benny.‟

In 2004, he played the lead role as „Daniel Daréus,‟ a conductor and musician, in the Academy Award®-nominated Best Foreign Film “ As It Is in Heaven,” directed by Kay Pollak. “ As It Is in Heaven” is one of the most watched Swedish films and the role highlighted Nyqvist's ability to display tenderness and vulnerability at the same time as rage and angst. 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 Harald Edelstam, in “The Black Pimpernel,” a hero who saved several lives from execution in Chile during and after the military coupe in September 1973.

He has garnered international attention starring as „Mikael Blomkvist‟ in “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” (Swedish title: “ Män 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 sprängdes”) of Stieg Larsson's “ Millennium Trilogy.” Although Nyqvist always was high on the list of potential actors to portray „Blomkvist,‟ it was his charisma that got him the role. Director of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,” Neils Arden Oplev found what he was looking for in Nyqvist – someone with the right looks, charm and like ability.

© 2011 Lionsgate