Michael Nyqvist

Michael Nyqvist

Active - 1996 - 2019  |   Born - Nov 8, 1960 in Stockholm, Sweden  |   Died - Jun 27, 2017   |   Genres - Drama, Thriller, Mystery

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Biography by AllMovie

Swedish-born actor Michael Nyqvist studied at the School of Drama in Malmö before beginning a professional acting career, scoring his first big break with a starring role on the Scandinavian series Beck in the early '90s. He would go on to find success in Swedish films, some of which gained some international fame, like 2009's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He played the villains in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011) and John Wick (2014). Nyqvist died in 2017, at age 56.

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Factsheet

  • Adopted from a Swedish orphanage as a baby, but at age 30 met his birth parents and developed a relationship with his father, an Italian pharmacist, and his family.
  • Wanted to be a hockey player when he was growing up, but his plans were derailed when he was injured by a puck to the face.
  • As a teen, spent a year as an exchange student in Omaha, NE; studied ballet after returning to Sweden before pursuing a career in acting.
  • Earned acclaim playing Mikael Blomkvist in the original Swedish adaptations of Stieg Larsson's "Millennium" trilogy, including The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009); coincidentally, the 2011 remake of Tattoo features Nyqvist's daughter Ellen in a restaurant scene with Daniel Craig, who plays Blomkvist.
  • Is the author of a 2010 memoir, Just After Dreaming (Swedish title: När barnet lagt sig). 
  • Was a member of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.