Bio
Connie Nielsen is a Danish actress best known for her roles in the English language films Gladiator, The Devil's Advocate, Basic and The Ice Harvest.
She is best known to television audiences for her starring role as Mayor Kane's wife, Meredith Kane, in the political drama television series Boss, from 2011-2012.
Nielsen first won hearts with her portrayal of Princess Lucilla, opposite Russell Crowe's Maximus in Ridley Scott's Academy Award-winning film Gladiator. For her performance, she received a Best Actress Award from the Empire Awards.
She next received critical acclaim for her role in the award-winning Danish drama Brothers, winning the Best Actress Awards from the Danish Academy Awards and the San Sebastian Film Festival, among many other nominations that year.
Throughout her career, Nielsen has built on her impressive body of work with a diverse line-up of roles with acclaimed directors including Harold Ramis in Ice Harvest (opposite John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton); John Dahl in The Great Raid (opposite Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes and James Franco); Billie August in Return to Sender; John McTiernan in Basic (opposite John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson); William Friedkin in The Hunted (opposite Tommy Lee Jones and Benicio Del Toro); Mark Romanek in One Hour Photo (opposite Robin Williams); Brian DePalma in Mission to Mars; Taylor Hackford in Devil's Advocate (opposite Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves) and Wes Anderson in Rushmore (opposite Bill Murray).
She has also captivated audiences with her real-life portrayals and enduring stories in several independent films, including David Mackenize's Perfect Sense (opposite Eva Green and Ewan McGregor); Vibeke Musasya's Lost in Africa; Philip Haas' The Situation; Olivier Assayas' Demonlover; and Vic Sarin's A Shine of Rainbows (opposite Aidan Quinn).
Nielsen is very active in several charity organisations and serves as president of the board and project leader of the Human Needs Project, which she also co-founded.
The Human Needs Project is an organisation that brings clean technology, water and infrastructure of opportunity to slums around the world.
She also founded the Road to Freedom Scholarships program which provides scholarships to young girls in Kibera, Nairobi so they can attend boarding schools in Kenya and receive the education, care and guidance necessary to succeed.
In addition to being an accomplished actress, Nielsen is also a trained singer, dancer and is fluent in English, German, Danish, Swedish, French and Italian.
She currently resides in San Francisco and New York.