Aksel Hennie

Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director, and screenwriter. He has acted in a number of successful films and has received several awards. Early life Hennie was born and raised in Lambertseter, Oslo. In his late teens, he was arrested for graffiti, and became an outcast in the community for confessing to the police. This personal story contributed much of the background for the film Uno. The conviction against Hennie was one of the first such cases in Norway. Career Hennie was admitted to the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre after applying four times. He graduated in 2001, and has since acted both at Teatret Vårt in Molde (2001–2002) and at Oslo Nye Teater (2002–), where he has been in plays such as Hamlet and Kvinnen som giftet seg med en kalkun (The Woman Who Married a Turkey). Hennie's main success has been as a film actor. He made his debut starring in the feature film Jonny Vang in 2003. Though the director, Jens Lien, originally thought Hennie was too young for the role, the actor convinced him he was the right man for the film. The same year, he also acted in the films Buddy and Ulvesommer. The next year, he made his debut as a director and writer with Uno, in which he also acted. For this film, Hennie and his co-star, Nicolai Cleve Broch, undertook hard physical training for six months to perform convincingly as bodybuilders. Hennie won the Amanda Award, the main Norwegian film award, for Best Direction for Uno in 2005. That same year, he was also among the nominees for Best Actor and Best Film. He also won an Amanda award for Best Actor for Jonny Vang in 2003. He was named one of European film's "Shooting Stars" by the European Film Promotion in 2004. In 2001, he was also named Theatre Talent of the Year by the newspaper Dagbladet. In 2008, Hennie starred in Max Manus, where he played the Norwegian war hero of the same name. The film had a large budget by Norwegian standards and was met with great expectations. In 2011, Age of Heroes was released, a World War II film primarily shot in Norway. On 30 August 2013, Pionér, a docudrama, was released. Hennie plays the main role as a commercial offshore diver in the North Sea during the 1970s who witnesses an accident during diving under extreme conditions, prompting him to search for answers.