Joel Kinnaman | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Kinnaman in 2016 | |
| Born | Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman (1979-11-25)25 November 1979 (age 45) Stockholm, Sweden |
| Citizenship |
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| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1990–present |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Relatives | Melinda Kinnaman (half-sister) |
Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman (Swedish pronunciation:[ˈjǔːɛlˈkɪ̂nːaˌman]; born 25 November 1979[1]) is a Swedish-American actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in the 2010 Swedish filmEasy Money[2][3] and theJohan Falk crime series. Kinnaman is known internationally for his television roles as Detective Stephen Holder inAMC'sThe Killing,Takeshi Kovacs in the first season ofAltered Carbon, and Governor Will Conway in the American version ofHouse of Cards. He has also playedAlex Murphy in the 2014RoboCop remake, andRick Flag in theWarner Bros.film adaptations of theDC Comics anti-hero teamSuicide Squad (2016), as well as its sequel,The Suicide Squad (2021). Since 2019, he has starred asNASA astronautEd Baldwin in theApple TV+ science fiction drama seriesFor All Mankind.
Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman was born and raised inStockholm, Sweden.[4] His mother, Bitte (Nordström), a therapist, is a Swedish citizen.[5][4] His father, Steve Kinnaman (originally David Kinnaman), is an American who was drafted during theVietnam War anddeserted the military from his base in Bangkok.[6][7][8] Kinnaman is a dual citizen of Sweden and the United States.[3][9] His father, whose family was from the American Midwest, is of Irish and Scottish descent; whereas his maternal grandmother is ofUkrainian Jewish descent.[10][11][12]
He has five sisters, one of whom is actressMelinda Kinnaman (paternal half-sister).[13] During his childhood, Kinnaman learned two languages as he "spoke English with my dad and Swedish with my mom".[4] He grew up with fellow actorsAlexander Skarsgård andNoomi Rapace,[14] and spent a year inDel Valle, Texas, as a high schoolexchange student.[15] After graduating from high school, he decided to travel around the world. To finance the trips, he worked in various jobs — as a beer factory line worker and roof-sweeper in Norway, and as a bar manager in the French Alps.[16][17] He then traveled for four to five months at a time over a period of two years in Southeast Asia and South America,[18][19] the latter with fellow Scandinavian actorDavid Dencik.[20]
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Kinnaman began his acting career as a child actor in Swedish soap operaStorstad (1990). His older sister was dating one of the show's directors, and he asked Kinnaman to audition for a part on the show. After portraying Felix Lundström in 22 episodes, he stepped away from acting.[21][22]
Kinnaman restarted his acting career in 2002.[1][16] While studying at drama school, Kinnaman featured in several films such asHannah med H andGod Save the King (Swedish:Tjenare kungen).[23][24] He also worked on productions staged at theBacka Theatre in Gothenburg.[25] He graduated fromMalmö Theatre Academy in 2007 and started working at theGothenburg City Theatre.[26] In the same year, he attracted the attention of Swedish media with the role of Raskolnikov in a stage adaptation ofCrime and Punishment.[27][4] In 2009, he starred in the filmIn Your Veins (Swedish:I skuggan av värmen) and played the role of a police informant in six films of theJohan Falk film series.[13][28] He was cast in the filmEasy Money (released January 2010), which brought him mainstream attention in Sweden and at the international film market,[2][28][29] and also earned him aGuldbagge Award in the Best Actor category.[30]
Looking to expand his acting career, Kinnaman hired an agent in the United States.[28] It was announced in the spring of 2010 that he would be making his international film debut in the thrillerThe Darkest Hour, which began filming in Moscow in June 2010 and was released in December 2011.[2] Between April 2011 and August 2014, Kinnaman had a four-season[31] starring role as Detective Stephen Holder in theAMC television seriesThe Killing, based on the Danish television seriesForbrydelsen.[32][33] Kinnaman was one of the contenders for the lead roles inThor (2011)[13][28][34] andMad Max: Fury Road (2015).[28][24] Although Kinnaman said that he is eager to work and become recognized in the U.S., he added that "I absolutely don't feel that I have to take any role that I can get just because it is the United States. I'm looking for something interesting, I'm still young in my artistry, and I must dare to do things even when there's a risk for failure".[28]
In 2012, Kinnaman reunited withEasy Money directorDaniel Espinosa in the latter's Hollywood debut,Safe House,[35] and also starred in the indie filmLola Versus.[36] On 3 March 2012, it was confirmed that Kinnaman would play the lead role ofAlex James Murphy/RoboCop inthe remake of 1987'sRoboCop. The film was released in February 2014. In 2015, he starred in the action thrillerRun All Night and mystery dramaChild 44.[37]
In 2016, Kinnaman playedRick Flag inthe Warner Bros. film adaptation of DC Comics anti-hero teamSuicide Squad, directed byDavid Ayer.[38][39] He reprised his role as Rick Flag in its 2021 sequel/soft reboot,The Suicide Squad, directed byJames Gunn.[40] He also starred in the independent drama-thriller filmEdge of Winter, in which he plays Elliot Baker, a father of two who takes his children on a shooting trip that goes wrong. The film was releasedon demand on 27 July 2016, and in select theaters on 12 August 2016.[41]
Between 2016 and 2019, Kinnaman worked on 4 different original productions of streaming television networks such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV+. Kinnaman played Governor Will Conway in Seasons 4 and 5 of the American version ofHouse of Cards on the streaming serviceNetflix,[42] and the protagonistTakeshi Kovacs in Netflix'sAltered Carbon,[43] an adaption ofRichard K. Morgan's hardboiled cyberpunk science fictionnovel of the same name.[44][45] Also in 2019, Kinnaman starred as Erik in theAmazon Prime Video seriesHanna,[46] an adaptation ofthe 2011 action film of the same name. Since 2019, Kinnaman starred asNASA astronautEd Baldwin in theApple TV+ original science fiction space drama seriesFor All Mankind.[47][48]
In 2019, Kinnaman played Pete Koslow inAndrea Di Stefano's action thriller filmThe Informer.[49][50] In 2020, Kinnaman starred as Thomas Steinman in Yuval Adler's post-war thrillerThe Secrets We Keep.[51] Kinnaman also starred in Jérémie Guez's crime dramaBrothers by Blood which was released in the United States in 2021.[52][53][54] In January 2021, it was announced that Kinnaman was cast in Season 4 of theIn Treatment reboot atHBO. He will star as Adam, the on and off boyfriend of the main character Dr. Brooke Taylor (played by Uzo Aduba).[55] He also reprised his role as Ed Baldwin in Season 2 ofFor All Mankind, which aired in 2021.[56]
Between 2022 and 2023, Kinnaman reprised his role as Ed Baldwin in Season 3 ofFor All Mankind and once again for Season 4, airing in 2022 and 2023 respectively.[57][58]
Kinnaman grew up with the condition ofpectus excavatum, with a caved-in appearance of the chest. He underwent surgery prior to the filming ofAltered Carbon, inserting two metal bars to push the sternum outward to correct the deformity.[59][60]
Kinnaman has been a fan of his hometown football clubHammarby IF from an early age.[61]
Due to his constant traveling, Kinnaman's accent is noticeably mixed. While he identifies it as an American accent, he has stated that the "melody" is wrong and has since been working to perfect it.[62]
Kinnaman was married to Swedish tattoo artist Cleo Wattenström from 2015 to 2018.[63][64][65][66] He subsequently began a relationship with Swedish-Australian modelKelly Gale in early 2019.[67] The couple announced their engagement in January 2021.[68] Gale confirmed via Instagram that the couple married in 2024 during the Burning Man Festival.
On 6 August 2021, Kinnaman filed and was granted a temporary restraining order against Gabriella Magnusson, whom he alleged was threatening him in an attempt to extort him after they had been in a brief romantic relationship in late 2018.[69][70] Magnusson denied trying to extort Kinnaman.[71] On 11 August 2021, theSwedish Prosecution Authority confirmed that Kinnaman had been accused of rape in an ongoing investigation.[71] The investigation was closed without prosecution in October 2022.[72]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Den osynlige | Kalle | |
| 2003 | Hannah med H | Andreas | |
| 2005 | Tjenare kungen | Dickan | |
| Storm | Bartender | ||
| 2007 | Arn – The Knight Templar | Sverker Karlsson | |
| 2008 | Arn – The Kingdom at Road's End | Sverker Karlsson | |
| 2009 | In Your Veins | Erik | |
| Johan Falk– Gruppen för särskilda insatser | Frank Wagner | ||
| Johan Falk – Vapenbröder | |||
| Johan Falk – National Target | |||
| Johan Falk – Leo Gaut | |||
| Johan Falk – Operation Näktergal | |||
| Johan Falk – De fredlösa | |||
| Simon & Malou | Stefan | ||
| 2010 | Easy Money | Johan "JW" Westlund | |
| 2011 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Christer Malm | |
| The Darkest Hour | Skyler | ||
| 2012 | Safe House | Keller | |
| Lola Versus | Luke | ||
| Easy Money II: Hard to Kill | Johan "JW" Westlund | ||
| Johan Falk – Spelets regler | Frank Wagner | ||
| Johan Falk – De 107 patrioterna | |||
| Johan Falk – Alla råns moder | |||
| Johan Falk – Organizatsija Karayan | |||
| Johan Falk – Barninfiltratören | |||
| Johan Falk – Kodnamn Lisa | |||
| 2013 | Easy Money III: Life Deluxe | Johan "JW" Westlund | |
| 2014 | RoboCop | Alex Murphy / RoboCop | |
| 2015 | Knight of Cups | Errol | |
| Run All Night | Mike Conlon | ||
| Child 44 | Wasilij Nikitin | ||
| 2016 | Suicide Squad | Rick Flag | |
| Edge of Winter | Elliot Baker | ||
| 2019 | The Informer | Pete Koslow | |
| 2020 | Brothers by Blood | Michael Flood | |
| The Secrets We Keep | Thomas Steinman | ||
| 2021 | The Suicide Squad | Rick Flag | |
| 2023 | Sympathy for the Devil | The Driver | [73] |
| Silent Night | Brian Godlock | Also executive producer[74] | |
| 2024 | The Silent Hour | Detective Frank Shaw | [75] |
| TBA | The Beast† | Agent Taft | Filming |
| Ice Fall† | TBA | Post-production |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990–1991 | Storstad | Felix Lundström | 33 episodes, Swedish TV series; Credited as Joe Nordström |
| 2006 | Vinnarskallar | Gurra | Swedish TV series[76] |
| 2008 | Andra Avenyn | Gustav | 2 episodes (#1.62 and #1.64), Swedish TV series |
| 2009 | 183 dagar | Byron | 3 episodes, Swedish TV series |
| 2011–2014 | The Killing | Stephen Holder | 44 episodes[77] |
| 2016–2017 | House of Cards | William "Will" Conway | 15 episodes (seasons 4–5) |
| 2018–2020 | Altered Carbon | Takeshi Kovacs / Elias Ryker | 11 episodes |
| 2019–2021 | Hanna | Erik Heller | 12 episodes |
| 2019–present | For All Mankind | Edward Baldwin[78] | Lead role; 40 episodes |
| 2021 | In Treatment | Adam | 8 episodes (season 4) |
| Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Såstaholms pris till Höstsols minne | — | — | Won | |
| Guldbagge Awards | Best Actor in a Supporting Role | Johan Falk – Gruppen för särskilda insatser | Nominated | ||
| 2011 | Guldbagge Awards | Best Actor in a Leading Role | Easy Money | Won | |
| 2012 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actor on Television | The Killing | Nominated | |
| 2022 | Saturn Award | Best Supporting Actor on Television (Streaming) | For All Mankind | Nominated |
David Kinnaman, as Steve was known for the first half of his life....
