Noomi Rapace | |
|---|---|
 Rapace in 2019 | |
| Born | Noomi Norén (1979-12-28)28 December 1979 (age 46) Hudiksvall, Sweden |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 1 |
| Signature | |
 | |
Noomi Rapace (Swedish:[ˈnǒːmɪraˈpasː]ⓘ;[1]née Norén; born 28 December 1979) is a Swedish actress.[2] She achieved international fame with her portrayal ofLisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of theMillennium series (2009):The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,The Girl Who Played with Fire, andThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. For her performance in theMillennium series, Rapace won twoNymphe d'Ors, aGuldbagge Award, and aSatellite Award as Best Actress amongst others, and was nominated for aBAFTA Award, anInternational Emmy Award and aEuropean Film Award. Following the success of theMillennium series, Rapace has gone on to star in American movies.
She has starred as Anna inDaisy Diamond (2007), Leena inBeyond (2010), Anna inThe Monitor (2011), Madame Simza Heron inSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (2011),Elizabeth Shaw inPrometheus (2012) andAlien: Covenant (2017), Beatrice inDead Man Down (2013), Nadia inThe Drop (2014), Raisa Demidova inChild 44 (2015), the seven lead roles inWhat Happened to Monday (2017), Leila inBright (2017),Rupture (2016), Bianca Lind inStockholm (2018), Sam Carlson inClose (2019), Lizzie inAngel of Mine (2019), Harriet Bauman inJack Ryan (TV series, 2019), Maja inThe Secrets We Keep (2020), Maria inLamb (2021), Lisa inThe Trip (2021), Bosilka inYou Won't Be Alone (2022), Caroline Edh inBlack Crab (2022), and Jo Ericsson inConstellation (2024).
Rapace was born inHudiksvall, Sweden. Her mother,Nina Norén (born Kristina Norén; 1954), is a Swedish actress, and her father, Rogelio Durán (10 November 1953 – 4 November 2006), was a Spanishflamenco singer fromBadajoz.[3]
She has said her father may have been of partlyRoma descent, and though she is "not sure if it is true," she has "always been interested in the culture."[4][5] Rapace's sister, Særún Norén, is a photographer.[6]
Rapace has said she saw her father only occasionally before his death. "He was not around. The first time I saw him or I met him, I was fifteen and I saw him on stage," Rapace said about her father.[7] At age five, she moved from her native Sweden toFlúðir in Iceland with her mother and stepfather, Hrafnkell Karlsson. Two years later, she made her film debut in a minor role in theIcelandic filmIn the Shadow of the Raven, along with Hrafnkell.[8] She says, "I came from a poor farm, I’m not educated, no one opened doors for me, I don’t come from money."[9]
Rapace speaks fluent Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian, and English, in addition to her native Swedish.[8]
At the age of seven, Rapace was given her first film role,[10] a non-speaking part in the Icelandic filmIn the Shadow of the Raven byHrafn Gunnlaugsson.[10] This experience prompted her to be an actress.[11] She left home at age 15 and enrolled in aStockholm theatre school.[12]
In 1996, Rapace (then Noomi Norén) made her television debut playing the part of Lucinda Gonzales in the long-running soap seriesTre kronor. From 1998 to 1999, Rapace studied at the acting school Skara Skolscen.[13] She has been engaged at Theater Plaza in 2000–01,[13]Orionteatern in 2001,[14]Teater Galeasen in 2002,[13]Stockholms stadsteater in 2003,[13] as well as at theRoyal Dramatic Theatre, all in Stockholm.[15]
In 2007, she won acclaim for her award-winning portrayal of a troubled teen mother in the Danish filmDaisy Diamond, directed bySimon Staho. She won the two top film awards in Denmark (theBodil andRobert prize) for Best Actress for her role in the film, which was also selected for the main competition at theSan Sebastián International Film Festival.
In 2009, she played the role ofLisbeth Salander in the Swedish-produced film adaptation ofStieg Larsson's best-selling novelThe Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, for which she won theGuldbagge Award (Sweden's top film award),[16] and was nominated for aBAFTA Award[17] andEuropean Film Award.[18] She later appeared in the same role in the sequelsThe Girl Who Played with Fire, andThe Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest. All three films were subsequently recut as a six-part miniseries aired on Swedish television calledMillennium, for which Rapace received a nomination for theInternational Emmy Award for Best Actress.[19] The three film adaptations have earned over $200 million at the box office worldwide.[20]
Following the success of theMillennium series, Rapace started an international career.[21] Her first English-speaking role was the character of Madame Simza Heron inGuy Ritchie'sSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, released in 2011.[22]
Her international fame has earned her leading roles in mainstream cinema. She was cast inRidley Scott's blockbuster hitPrometheus, where she played the leading role, a scientist namedElizabeth Shaw. She had met Scott for the first time following the release of theMillennium trilogy movies, at which point he expressed a willingness to work with her and encouraged her to improve her accent.[23]Prometheus was released in June 2012.[24] She did not appear in the final cut of the film's sequelAlien: Covenant (2017), but did act in a short related prologue.[25]
In November 2012, she appeared in aRolling Stones video for the single "Doom and Gloom", shot in the studios of theCité du Cinéma byLuc Besson inSaint-Denis.[26] In 2013, she starred alongsideRachel McAdams inBrian De Palma's erotic thrillerPassion, which is the English-language remake of 2010's French psychological thrillerLove Crime. They both appeared inSherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, but did not share scenes. Rapace also appeared inNiels Arden Oplev's crime thrillerDead Man Down, alongsideIsabelle Huppert andColin Farrell.[27]
In 2014, she appeared as Nadia inMichael Roskam's thrillerThe Drop, alongsideTom Hardy,Matthias Schoenaerts, andJames Gandolfini. In September 2014, she was the subject of the short filmA Portrait of Noomi Rapace, directed by artist and designerAitor Throup and scored byFlying Lotus.[28] In the same year, Rapace appeared in the video for the single "eez-eh" byKasabian.[29] In 2015, she starred as Raisa Demidova inDaniel Espinosa'sChild 44, opposite Tom Hardy (her co-star inThe Drop) also starringGary Oldman,Vincent Cassel,Jason Clarke, andJoel Kinnaman.[30]
She starred in the 2016 spy thrillerUnlocked, withMichael Douglas,John Malkovich,Orlando Bloom, andToni Collette, and the science fiction horrorRupture bySteven Shainberg.[31][32] In 2017, she led the sci-fi/actionerWhat Happened to Monday oppositeGlenn Close andWillem Dafoe.[33][34] The same year, Rapace played an elf in the urban fantasy actionBright.
In 2019, Rapace starred in theaction thriller filmClose,[35] released onNetflix on 18 January 2019.[36] That same year, Rapace starred in the psychological thrillerAngel of Mine, and in the television seriesJack Ryan. In 2020, Rapace starred in the thrillerThe Secrets We Keep. In 2021, the Icelandic folk horrorLamb premiered at theCannes Film Festival, where Rapace has the leading role of Maria. Rapace's performance in the film gained significant attention and she won the award for Best Actress at the 2021Sitges - Catalonian International Film Festival,[37] and was nominated for the Best Actress award at the 2021 North Texas Film Critics Association.[38]
Rapace also has leading roles in the following featuresThe Trip (2021),You Won’t Be Alone (2022), andBlack Crab (2022).
In May 2022, Rapace was a member of the jury of the75th Cannes Film Festival.[39]
Rapace married Swedish actorOla Rapace (born Pär Ola Norell) in 2001. Upon marrying, the couple decided to not use either of their similar-sounding surnames (Norén and Norell, respectively) and instead switch to brand new surname. They decided on "Rapace", meaning "bird of prey" both in French and Italian, because it sounded "cool."[9][40] They have a son, born in 2003. In September 2010, they filed for divorce, which took effect the year after.[41][42][43]
As of 2022[update] Rapace lives inLondon, England and describes it as her "favourite city".[44][45]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Sanning eller konsekvens | Nadja | |
| 1988 | In the Shadow of the Raven | Uncredited Extra | |
| 2001 | Röd jul | Kvinna på krog | |
| 2003 | En utflykt till månens baksida | Andrea | |
| Capricciosa | Elvira | ||
| 2004 | Älskar, älskar och älskar | Nelly | |
| 2005 | Lovisa och Carl Michael | Anna Rella | |
| Toleransens gränser | Mom | ||
| Blodsbröder | Veronica | ||
| 2006 | Enhälligt beslut | Amira | |
| Du & jag | Maja | ||
| Sökarna: Återkomsten | Enforcer | ||
| 2007 | Daisy Diamond | Anna | |
| 2009 | The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo | Lisbeth Salander | |
| The Girl Who Played with Fire | |||
| The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest | |||
| 2010 | Beyond | Leena | |
| 2011 | The Monitor | Anna | Also known asBabycall |
| Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows | Madame Simza Heron | ||
| 2012 | Quiet Eye: Elizabeth Shaw | Elizabeth Shaw | Short film |
| Prometheus Transmission | |||
| Prometheus | |||
| 2013 | Passion | Isabelle | |
| Dead Man Down | Beatrice | ||
| 2014 | A Portrait of Noomi Rapace | Herself | Short film |
| The Drop | Nadia | ||
| 2015 | Child 44 | Raisa Demidova | |
| 2016 | Rupture | Renee | |
| 2017 | Unlocked | Alice Racine | |
| Alien: Covenant – Prologue: The Crossing | Elizabeth Shaw | Short film | |
| Alien: Covenant | Cameo | ||
| Bright | Leilah | ||
| What Happened to Monday | Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday / Karen Settman | ||
| 2018 | Stockholm | Bianca Lind | |
| 2019 | Close | Sam Carlson | |
| Angel of Mine | Lizzie | ||
| 2020 | The Secrets We Keep | Maja Reid | |
| 2021 | The Trip | Lisa | |
| Lamb | María | ||
| 2022 | You Won't Be Alone | Bosilka | |
| Black Crab | Caroline Edh | ||
| 2023 | Assassin Club | Falk | |
| 2025 | Mother | Anjezë Bojaxhiu / Mother Teresa |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996–1997 | Tre kronor | Lucinda Gonzales | Main role; 12 episodes |
| 2001 | Pusselbitar | Marika Nilsson | TV miniseries |
| 2002 | Stora teatern | Fatima | |
| 2003 | Tusenbröder | Hemvårdare | Episode: "Tusenbröder II – Del 5" |
| 2007–2008 | Labyrint | Nicky | Main role; 12 episodes |
| 2019 | Jack Ryan | Harriet "Harry" Baumann | |
| 2023 | Django | Elizabeth | Main role; 10 episodes |
| 2024 | Constellation | Jo Ericsson | Main role[46] |
| Year | Video | Artist | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | "Doom and Gloom" | The Rolling Stones | |
| 2014 | "eez-eh" | Kasabian |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
