How many languages does Mads Mikkelsen speak? The actor's latest theatrical project, The Promised Land, will fully be in Danish, but does Mikkelsen actually speak the language? Here's all you need to know.
What is Mads Mikkelsen's Native Language?
You may have seen Mads Mikkelsen's performance in huge Hollywood franchises such as Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Casino Royale (James Bond), and even Marvel's Doctor Strange.
However, as many fans may not be aware, Mads Mikkelsen, who is best known for portraying Dr. Hannibal Lecter from Universal Pictures' series Hannibal, is Danish in real life.
As he revealed in a previous interview with the Independent, Danish is his first language: "I don't have to think twice about [speaking Danish]. But then again, I don't have to do that when speaking English."
Mikkelsen rose to fame in Denmark when he starred as Tonny in the first two films of the Pusher film trilogy, Detective Sergeant Allan Fischer in the TV series Rejseholdet, and Jacob Petersen in After the Wedding, to name a few.
Mikkelsen added that despite finding freedom when being influenced by other languages, especially in Hannibal, "Danish is [still] my first language, and without any doubt, it's the easiest to follow."
But did you know the Danish actor can speak more than two languages?
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So, How Many Languages Does the Danish Actor Speak?
In a 2019 interview with the Daily Beast, Mads Mikkelsen revealed he could speak eight languages: "I wouldn't get by fluently in any of them, but I can do the basic stuff in quite a few languages."
These languages include, "Danish is one [laughs]. English. I'll do a fair bit of French and German."
At the time, the actor was "working on his Spanish" while speaking Swedish and "picking up a little Russian." Mikkelsen added, "I'm just curious with languages. I think it's cool."
As of 2024, the Danish actor is set to showcase his native language by portraying the role of Captain Ludvig Kahlen in the upcoming The Promised Land movie, where his character attempts to "tame the Danish heath."
The official synopsis for The Promised Land movie reads:
In 18th century Denmark, Captain Ludvig Kahlen (Mads Mikkelsen) – a proud, ambitious, but impoverished war hero – sets out to tame a vast, uninhabitable land on which seemingly nothing can grow. He seeks to start farming crops, build a colony in the name of the King, and gain a noble title for himself. This beautiful but forbidding area also happens to be under the rule of the merciless Frederik De Schinkel, a preening nobleman who realizes the threat Kahlen represents to his power.
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