Danish actress Connie Nielsen was born on July 13, 1965 in Frederikshavn, Denmark. She started acting alongside her mother in the local variety scene, later moving to Paris, France at age 18 to work as an actress and model. She then moved to Rome, where she took further training in acting under renowned teacher Lydia Styx, while taking occasional acting jobs. Her first film was the French film Par O? T'es Rentr?? On T'a Pas Vu Sortir, which was released in 1984. She also appeared in several Italian productions, including the 1988 miniseries Colletti Bianchi.
In 1996, Nielsen moved to the United States, where she starred in her first major English-language film, The Devil’s Advocate, opposite Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. Here she played Christabella Andreoli, the love interest of Alexander Cullen (Craig T. Nelson). Her performance here led to roles in other films such as Permanent Midnight, Rushmore and Soldier. In 2000, she was catapulted to international fame with her performance in Ridley Scott’s Academy Award-winning historical epic Gladiator, where she played Lucilla, the wife of Maximus Decimus Meridius (Russell Crowe). Nielsen has been seen in a number of American films, some of them being Mission to Mars, One Hour Photo, Basic, and The Hunted. She soon became the star of the Olivier Assayas-directed French thriller Demonlover.
In 2004, she returned to Denmark, where she made her Danish film debut in the drama Br?dre (Brothers). This film earned her a Bodil Award—the Danish equivalent of the Oscars—for Best Actress. In 2006, she became part of the cast of the police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, temporarily replacing series regular Mariska Hargitay, who was on maternity leave. She played Dani Beck, a detective whose dedication to the job—perhaps, her eagerness at work—has led to some problems with the cases she handled, and her being described as “overzealous” by her superiors. Nielsen continued her career by accepting roles in films like Stuart Townsend’s Battle in Seattle in 2007.
