Overview (2)

Mini Bio (1)

Lars was born in Gladsaxe near Copenhagen, Denmark as the first child of Bente Christiansen, an occupational health nurse, and Henning Mikkelsen, a bank clerk. Lars grew up in Copenhagen, where about one and a half years after him brother Mads was born, who's also an actor now. At first the family lived in the middle class district Østerbro but later they moved on to the working class district Nørrebro.



During his childhood Lars played handball and sang a few years in the school choir. On a New Year's Eve party 1985/86 he met Anette Støvelbæk and since then both have been a couple (their marriage followed in October 1989).



After his school days Lars joined the military services, where he did his basic military service for nine months in the Kongelige Livgarde (Royal Guards), an infantry regiment of the Danish army. The military service wasn't the right thing, so he searched for something new after having finished it and decided then to study biology. When he was busy with this already a half year, Anette came home from a juggler class and showed him how good she could juggle after three days. Lars was pleased about it and wanted to do this, too. So he dropped out of college and enrolled to the juggler school as well. At this school he learned juggling and fire breathing among other things. Afterwards he toured with two friends as traveling artists through Europe, where they performed on streets of cities like Paris, Munich, Moscow and Warsaw. Two years later he came in contact with a children's circus, where he additionally learned pantomime as well as street and children's theater.



At the age of 27 and after having been five years on the road as a juggler, Lars decided to become a real actor. So he applied at the Statens Teaterskole (National Theatre School of Denmark) in Copenhagen, where he was accepted and where from 1991-1995 he carried through his acting training. Shortly afterwards he got already his debut as an actor in the play "Dracula" at the Aalborg Theater. Since his graduation from the theater school Lars has appeared in more than 40 plays up to now (2012) and he has always wanted to keep on acting onstage. Again and again he was to be seen in movies and TV series. With his role in the successful Danish crime series Forbrydelsen (2007) (The Killing), playing the mayoral candidate "Troels Hartmann", he received even more awareness. This led to roles in international productions, such as the villain in an episode of the British series Sherlock (2010), the Russian president Viktor Petrov in the third season of House of Cards (2013) and a leading role in the international crime series The Team (2015). For some of his performances in movies, films or plays he has received various nominations and awards so far.



Lars lives with his wife and his sons Lue (born in 1995) and Thor (born in 2000) in the Copenhagen district Vesterbro.

- IMDb Mini Biography By: Anonymous

Spouse (1)

Trade Mark (3)

Sharp facial features



Towering height and slender frame



Prominent cheekbones



Trivia (19)



Older brother of Mads Mikkelsen . Lars is about one and a half years older than Mads.

Father of two sons, Thor and Lue.



In his childhood he played handball and sang in the school choir. Lars played handball in a club until he was about 30 years old. After his graduation from drama school, he decided to quit the sport to focus on his acting career. During his active handball time, Lars played in the third Danish division in the Copenhagen area.



He met his wife Anette at a New Year's Eve party 1985/86 and since then both have been a couple.



He lives with his family in Copenhagen, Denmark.



Some of his hobbies are reading books, listening to music and fishing.



He speaks Danish, Swedish, English and German.



His favorite playwright is William Shakespeare.



For some years he has been a supporter and goodwill ambassador for "Red Barnet", the Danish branch of the large international organization "Save the Children".



In a formal ceremony, which took place on February 7, 2011, Lars was awarded the "Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog", by the Danish Queen, Margrethe II. Almost 9 years later, on December 3, 2019, he was honored a second time; this time with the "Knight's Cross of the Order of the Dannebrog 1st Class". Following this event on January 27, 2020, Lars, together with 54 others, who had also received medals in 2019, attended a public audience with Queen Margrethe II at Christiansborg Palace.



His wife Anette is also an actress. She attended the National School of Acting at Odense Theatre from 1993-1997.



Plays in "Mefisto" at The Danish Royal Theatre, 1 October to 5 November 2004 [October 2004]





Originally it was planned that Lars and his brother Mads should play the brothers in the western The Salvation (2014). Shortly before filming began, Lars had to cancel due to private reasons. The role went to the Swedish actor Mikael Persbrandt



Lars and his colleague Zlatko Buric , a native Croat, had to learn how to speak English with a Serbian accent for the film Montana (2014). They also had to learn some Serbian phrases. So they got lessons from a Briton of Serbian descent.



The eldest son of Lars, Lue Dittmann Støvelbæk , is also an actor. He attended the "Danish National School of Performing Arts" (Den Danske Scenekunstskole) in Odense from 2015 to 2019.

Lars' singing voice can be heard on two music albums, both released in 2007. On one, Danish actors sing well-known songs from Danish films from the 1930s to the 1960s and Lars sings two songs on this. The second album is for children and contains songs for Advent / Christmas. Here, Lars sings a song together with two fellow actors [status: 2019].



Born on exactly the same date as Dana Hill (of "Shoot the Moon" fame).



Personal Quotes (8)

I didn't really understand what you did when you went in front of the camera. And then suddenly I just understood it. When you're in a play, you carry the story, but you don't have to do that in film.



Language is fun; it's fun to try.



I was in the military, and then I went to university to study biology.



I would be the worst biologist in the world!



Here in Denmark, you can easily just be left alone. This is my 'hood, and people leave me alone; it's nice.



Denmark is, like, the flattest country on Earth.



I think you could find some waves on the west side of Denmark, but I never tried it.



I had to spend a few years learning how to do movies. I wasn't really good at that. I was a theatre actor first and foremost. So I took my time learning that.

