David Dencik can be seen by worldwide film audiences in three of the most eagerly awaited pictures of 2011. These are Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy; Steven Spielberg's War Horse, also with his Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy colleague Benedict Cumberbatch; and David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He was also in the earlier film version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, directed by Niels Arden Oplev, but in a different role; he is the only actor to appear in both features.
Raised in Denmark, Mr. Dencik graduated from Teaterhögskolan in Stockholm, Sweden in 2003, and has since become one of the most popular and respected character actors in both countries; he is fluent in both languages, and in several more besides. He spent several years at Dramaten, the esteemed National Swedish Theatre, playing a number of roles. He has also performed with the Royal Danish Theatre. His many Swedish and Danish television credits include the Wallander and The Killing.
Mr. Dencik's first screen part, straight out of school, was in Christoffer Boe's Reconstruction. His big breaks were the lead role in Mikael Marcimain's 2005 telefilm The Laser Man; and as transsexual Veronica in Pernille Fischer Christensen's A Soap, which won the Silver Bear at the 2006 Berlin International Film Festival and which brought him several prizes, including a Bodil Award (Denmark's top film critics' prize) nomination and a Robert Award (Denmark's Academy Award equivalent) for Best Actor. He has since been nominated for both accolades twice more, for his performances in Daniel Espinosa's Outside Love and Nicolo Donato's Brotherhood. Most recently, he was nominated for a Guldbagge Award (Sweden's official film award, given annually since 1964 by the Swedish Film Institute), also known as the Golden Bug Award, for his performance in Amir Chamdin's Cornelis.
Named one of the year's "Shooting Stars," representing Denmark, at the 2007 Berlin International Film Festival, Mr. Dencik was in 2009 honored by the Swedish Film Academy with its prestigious Kurt Linder stipend.
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