He is a Danish actor.
Where might I have seen him?
He’s in US medieval fantasy series ‘Game of Thrones’. It’s known as ‘The Sopranos in Middle Earth’ – HBO knows that audiences never tire of feuding families, violence, sex, carnage, deception, intrigue and the pursuit of power.
Who does he play?
The handsome but evil Ser Jaime Lannister. According to polls, he’s the most unpopular character in the show – not sure if that bodes well for his future career.
Was he typecast?
You could say so. When he was 15, he raided public buildings in a nationwide anti-government uprising in Næstved “to close down the doors of power”. He and a fellow rebel put silicone into the locks of all the important buildings.
Did it bring down the country?
It turned out that Coster-Waldau and his friend were the only two who went through with it. Later, he read that the damages had cost 150,000 kroner, but luckily for him, he was never caught.
Until now, that is …
Yes, maybe it wasn’t the smartest move to come clean about it in the American media.
Is he still a revolutionary?
No, today he favours a more suburban existence in Kongens Lyngby with his wife Nukâka Motzfeldt – a Greenlandic actress and former Miss Greenland – and their two young daughters.
What else has he been in?
Well, long before he went medieval on us, he appeared in the internationally acclaimed Danish thriller ‘Nattevagten’ (remade as ‘Nightwatch’ with Ewan McGregor). And you might have also seen him in the dappy ‘Wimbledon’ and the crappy Fox series ‘New Amsterdam’, which was so bad it only lasted one season.
How’s ‘Games of Thrones’ doing?
It’s popular at least. In the US last week on Sunday, its second series premiered – something Coster-Waldau isn’t used to.
