Jasper Pääkkönen | |
|---|---|
 Pääkkönen in 2022 | |
| Born | Joona Jasper Pääkkönen (1980-07-15)15 July 1980 (age 45) Helsinki, Finland |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Spouse | [1][2] |
| Children | 2[3] |
Joona Jasper Pääkkönen (Finnish pronunciation:[ˈjoːnɑˈjɑsperˈpæːkːønen]; born 15 July 1980) is a Finnish film actor.
Following a two-decade-plus career in Finnish movies, Pääkkönen's international breakthrough role came in 2015 in thehistorical drama television seriesVikings (2016–2018; 2020) asHalfdan the Black. His next roles were inSpike Lee's comedy-drama filmBlacKkKlansman (2018) and in the war drama filmDa 5 Bloods (2020).
Pääkkönen was born inHelsinki, the son of actorSeppo Pääkkönen and Virve Havelin.[4] His uncle Antti Pääkkönen is also an actor, and is a prolific voice actor.[5][6] Already as a child, Pääkkönen was a theater assistant and attended Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts inKallio, Helsinki. When Pääkkönen was 17, he spent a year inMaryland as an exchange student atBaltimore'sOwings Mills High School during the 1997–98 school year.[7]
Pääkkönen's first film role was inThe Glory and Misery of Human Life from 1988, when he was seven years old.[8] He became famous as Saku Salin in the Finnish television soap operaSalatut elämät (1999–2002). According to a calculation published by Finnish tabloidIlta-Sanomat, Pääkkönen is "the most profitable film actor in Finland"[9] for having starred in numerous box office hits during his career.[10] Many of Pääkkönen's films have made #1 at the Finnish box office, includingBad Boys, which is one of the most successful Finnish films at the national box office of all time. Other of Pääkkönen's commercial and critical successes includeFrozen Land (2005),Matti: Hell Is for Heroes (2006),Lapland Odyssey (2010) andHeart of a Lion (2013).
For his role inBad Boys, Pääkkönen was given the Best Actor Award in the Brussels International Independent Film Festival. He has earned international praise from film critic Michael Giltz from theHuffington Post, who called the actor "handsome and compelling"[11] in his role inLapland Odyssey. Film critic Leslie Felperin fromVariety named Pääkkönen a "rising thesp, showing impressive range" in his starring role inMatti.[12] In 2006 the European Film Promotion introduced Pääkkönen as the Shooting Star of Finland[13] at theBerlin International Film Festival.
In 2013, Pääkkönen starred in Finnish drama filmHeart of a Lion that earned him his firstJussi Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2015, Pääkkönen was cast in the fourth season of theHistory Channel TV seriesVikings asHalfdan the Black.[14]
Pääkkönen co-starred as a KKK member inSpike Lee's dramaBlacKkKlansman, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was released on 10 August 2018. He starred in Lee's 2020Netflix productionDa 5 Bloods.[15]
In 2009 Pääkkönen founded the Pokerisivut.compoker magazine together withfilm producerMarkus Selin. In 2010 Pokerisivut.com was awarded Best Overall Affiliate at the London 2010 iGB Affiliate Awards.[16]
Pääkkönen is a member of the Visionfly fishing world team[17] and has appeared on fly fishingTV shows and DVDs as a celebrity guest. Pääkkönen is also known as the protector of endangered fish species of Finland (especiallysalmon).[18] He has also founded and is one of the owners of Superflies.com, which sells a selection of flies curated by Pääkkönen and raises funds for endangered native fish populations.[19]Pääkkönen has also begun an entrepreneurship with MPAntero Vartia. They built a large sauna and restaurant complex calledLöyly at the shore ofHernesaari, Helsinki which cost€6 million to build.[citation needed] Pääkkönen is one of the founders of Röykkä Invest Oy, in whose name the formerNummela Sanatorium, located in theRöykkä village inNurmijärvi, was bought for €1.5 million.[20][21] Pääkkönen has announced a plan to turn the former sanatorium into ahotel.[22]
Since 2017, Pääkkönen has been married to Spanish-Filipino model Alexandra Escat.[1][2] The couple had a daughter on Christmas Day 2021.Pääkkönen announced the birth of their second child son in January 2024.[3]
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | The Glory and Misery of Human Life | Arvi Hongisto | Matti Kassila | |
| 2003 | Bad Boys | Eero Takkunen | Aleksi Mäkelä | |
| 2004 | Addiction | Aleksi | Minna Virtanen | |
| 2004 | Vares: Private Eye | Jarmo | Aleksi Mäkelä | |
| 2005 | Frozen Land | Niko Smolander | Aku Louhimies | |
| 2006 | Matti: Hell Is for Heroes | Matti Nykänen | Aleksi Mäkelä | |
| 2007 | V2: Dead Angel (Vares 2) | Dante Hell | Aleksi Mäkelä | |
| 2008 | Moomin and Midsummer Madness | Moomintroll (Finnish voice) | Maria Lindberg | |
| 2008 | Kummeli Alivuokralainen [fi] | Kikke | Matti Grönberg | |
| 2009 | Hellsinki | Korppu | Aleksi Mäkelä | |
| 2010 | Moomins and the Comet Chase | Moomintroll (Finnish voice) | Maria Lindberg | |
| 2010 | Lapland Odyssey | Kapu | Dome Karukoski | |
| 2011 | The Kiss of Evil (Vares 3) | Kyypakkaus | Anders Engström | |
| 2011 | Vares – Huhtikuun tytöt [fi] The Girls of April (Vares 4) | Kyypakkaus | Lauri Törhönen | |
| 2011 | Vares – Sukkanauhakäärme [fi] Garter Snake (Vares 5) | Kyypakkaus | Lauri Törhönen | |
| 2012 | Naked Harbour | Anders | Aku Louhimies | |
| 2012 | Vares – Uhkapelimerkki [fi] Gambling Chip (Vares 7) | Kyypakkaus | Lauri Törhönen | |
| 2012 | Vares – Pimeyden tango [fi] Tango of Darkness (Vares 8) | Kyypakkaus | Lauri Törhönen | |
| 2013 | Heart of a Lion | Harri | Dome Karukoski | Won theJussi Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2015 | Vares – Sheriffi [fi] The Sheriff (Vares 9) | Kyypakkaus | Hannu Salonen | |
| 2016 | Jet Trash | Mike | Charles Henri Belleville | |
| 2018 | BlacKkKlansman | Felix Kendrickson | Spike Lee | |
| 2020 | Da 5 Bloods | Seppo | Spike Lee | |
| 2021 | Omerta 6/12 | Max Tanner | Aku Louhimies | |
| 2024 | Vares X [fi] (Vares 10) | Kyypakkaus | Tuukka Temonen |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999–2002 | Salatut elämät | Saku Salin | Regular role; 387 episodes |
| 2003 | Kaunis mies | Joonatan Kuusisto | |
| 2003 | Irtiottoja - Fragments[23] | Johnny | |
| 2016–2018; 2020 | Vikings | Halfdan the Black | Main cast (seasons 4–5) Guest (season 6) |
| 2019 | Pihlajasatu | Saku Salin | 4 episodes |
| TBA | The Dark Tower | Marten Broadcloak | Main role |
