# Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
**Nikolaj Coster-Waldau** (born 1970) is a Danish actor, producer, and screenwriter best known for playing Ser Jaime Lannister in the HBO series *Game of Thrones* from 2011 to 2019, a role that earned him two Primetime Emmy Award nominations.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/nikolaj-coster-waldau) In 2025 he returned to historical battle drama as William of Normandy in the BBC series *[King & Conqueror](https://www.edgepedia.org/king-and-conqueror)*.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-king-conqueror-game-thrones-b2812412.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1970, Rudkøbing, Denmark[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/nikolaj-coster-waldau) |
| Training | Graduated from the Danish National School of Theatre in Copenhagen in 1993[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) |
| Danish breakthrough | Lead role as Martin in Ole Bornedal's thriller *Nightwatch* (1994)[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) • [4](https://www.scope.dk/person/1257-nikolaj-coster-waldau) |
| Signature role | Jaime Lannister in *Game of Thrones*, 2011–2019, 56 episodes; Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and 2019[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) • [2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/nikolaj-coster-waldau) |
| US film debut | *Black Hawk Down* (2001), playing Medal of Honor recipient Gary Gordon[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) |
| Recent lead role | William of Normandy in the BBC's *King & Conqueror* (2025), a fictionalized retelling of the lead-up to the battle of 1066[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-king-conqueror-game-thrones-b2812412.html) |
| Family | Married the Greenlandic actress and singer Nukâka in 1998; they live in Kongens Lyngby with their two daughters[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) |
## Early life and training
Coster-Waldau grew up in Tybjerg, a village of 40 people in southern Denmark (Sjælland), with two older sisters, raised mainly by his mother, a librarian; his father worked in [Greenland](https://www.edgepedia.org/greenland).[5](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-nikolaj-costerwaldau-42-actor-8533216.html) As a child he wanted to be either a professional footballer or an actor.[5](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-nikolaj-costerwaldau-42-actor-8533216.html) He has spoken openly in interviews about his father's alcoholism and how it fed his childhood love of acting.[6](https://www.nme.com/features/film-interviews/nikolaj-coster-waldau-game-of-thrones-the-silencing-2791269)
He trained at the Danish National School of Theatre in Copenhagen, graduating in 1993.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/)
## Danish career and international beginnings
**Breakthrough.** His role as the hard-pressed night watchman Martin in Ole Bornedal's 1994 thriller *Nightwatch* made him, in the words of the Danish film site Scope, the hottest name in Danish film overnight.[4](https://www.scope.dk/person/1257-nikolaj-coster-waldau) The Danish Film Institute notes, however, that the film's success did not immediately translate into a Danish film breakthrough; he followed it with stage work and parts in smaller, less successful films in Denmark and abroad.[7](https://www.dfi.dk/sites/default/files/docs/2018-02/dfi_FILM_MAG_cannes14_low_spread%20%282%29.pdf)
International work followed in British and American productions, including [Ridley Scott](https://www.edgepedia.org/ridley-scott)'s *Kingdom of Heaven* (2005, as the Village Sheriff) and [Michael Apted](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-apted)'s *Enigma* (2001).[8](https://www.dfi.dk/sites/default/files/docs/2018-02/FILM50%20%281%29.pdf) His American film debut came in Ridley Scott's war film *Black Hawk Down* (2001), playing [Medal of Honor](https://www.edgepedia.org/medal-of-honor) recipient Gary Gordon; Coster-Waldau has said a friend helped him tape his audition in the attic over his Copenhagen apartment.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) He later led the short-lived American television series *New Amsterdam* (2008) as John Amsterdam.[9](https://www.westeros.org/Features/Entry/Interview_with_Nikolaj_Coster-Waldau) • [10](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/85775/filmo/)
## Game of Thrones
Coster-Waldau was cast as Ser Jaime Lannister, the Kingslayer, in HBO's adaptation of [George R. R. Martin](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-r-r-martin)'s novels, appearing in the series' first episode in 2011 and remaining through all eight seasons, a total of 56 episodes.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) • [11](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-interview-game-of-thrones-marvel-b1724932.html) The character begins the series as an arrogant swordsman despised for a single act, who pushes a child from a window in the first episode, and travels a long arc that Coster-Waldau described as an identity crisis, including the loss of the sword hand that defined him in the public eye.[9](https://www.westeros.org/Features/Entry/Interview_with_Nikolaj_Coster-Waldau) • [12](https://time.com/4773892/game-of-thrones-jaime-lannister-nikolaj-coster-waldau/)
The role made him internationally famous. After he filmed his last scene, co-creator [David Benioff](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-benioff) paid tribute to "the best-looking man in Westeros", adding "we'll never be able to afford him again".[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-king-conqueror-game-thrones-b2812412.html) He received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series in 2018 and 2019.[2](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/nikolaj-coster-waldau) He has repeatedly defended the show's much-criticized final season, telling *The Independent* in 2025 that satisfying everyone was "something very difficult" and that viewers are entitled to their opinion, but "it's a television series. Someone told you a story and you didn't like the ending".[13](https://as.com/meristation/series/tantos-anos-despues-un-estrella-de-juego-de-tronos-defiende-su-polemico-final-era-algo-muy-dificil-f202510-n/)
## Film and television after Thrones
Coster-Waldau's screen work spans Danish and international productions. Notable credits include the Norwegian historical drama *The Kautokeino Rebellion* (2008), the Danish thriller *Headhunters* (2011) as Clas Greve, the disaster film *Oblivion* (2013) as Sykes, the fantasy *Gods of Egypt* (2016) as Horus, the prison drama *Shot Caller* (2017), [Brian De Palma](https://www.edgepedia.org/brian-de-palma)'s *[Domino](https://www.edgepedia.org/domino-2019-film)* (2019), the thriller *The Silencing* (2020), and *Against the Ice* (2022), in which he played Arctic explorer Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen and also worked as a screenwriter.[10](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/85775/filmo/) • [14](https://filmbladet.dk/mennesker/nikolaj-coster-waldau) Danish roles include [Susanne Bier](https://www.edgepedia.org/susanne-bier)'s *A Second Chance* (2014), his first leading role in a Danish film in over a decade at the time.[7](https://www.dfi.dk/sites/default/files/docs/2018-02/dfi_FILM_MAG_cannes14_low_spread%20%282%29.pdf) • [15](https://www.dfi.dk/sites/default/files/docs/2018-02/MAG_Film_Berlin_2014_low_spread%20%281%29.pdf)
In 2025 he took the lead as William of Normandy in the BBC's *King & Conqueror*, opposite James Norton's Harold of Wessex, a fictionalized retelling of the lead-up to the battle of 1066.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-king-conqueror-game-thrones-b2812412.html) • [1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) He is also an executive producer on the series.[10](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/85775/filmo/)
## Advocacy and other work
Coster-Waldau is a vocal advocate for climate action and gender equality, according to a biography prepared for an [International Telecommunication Union](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-telecommunication-union) initiative on sustainable development.[16](https://www.itu.int/initiatives/sdgdigital/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/Nikolaj-William-Coster-Waldau-bio.pdf) He fronts the Bloomberg TV documentary series *An Optimist's Guide to the Planet*, in which he travels the world meeting people working toward a more sustainable future; he was filming its second season in India in 2025.[3](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-king-conqueror-game-thrones-b2812412.html) Since January 2018 he has been the global spokesperson for L'Oréal Paris's Men Expert line.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/)
## Personal life
He married Nukâka, a Greenlandic actress and singer (born Motzfeldt), in 1998, and the couple live in Kongens Lyngby, Denmark, with their two daughters and two dogs.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) • [17](https://www.danskefilm.dk/skuespiller.php?id=744) Josef Motzfeldt, who once headed the [Community](https://www.edgepedia.org/community) of the People party and sits in Greenland's parliament, is married to his wife's mother, making him his father-in-law.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/) He is a supporter of the English football club Leeds United and a member of the Leeds United Supporters' Trust.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/)
## References
1. [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0182666/)
2. [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/nikolaj-coster-waldau)
3. [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: 'King & Conqueror is set 1,000 years ago, and nothing seems to have changed', The Independent (24 August 2025)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-king-conqueror-game-thrones-b2812412.html)
4. [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Scope.dk](https://www.scope.dk/person/1257-nikolaj-coster-waldau)
5. [My Secret Life: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, actor, The Independent (13 March 2013)](https://www.the-independent.com/news/people/profiles/my-secret-life-nikolaj-costerwaldau-42-actor-8533216.html)
6. ['Game Of Thrones' star Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: "I'm too old to play knights anymore", NME](https://www.nme.com/features/film-interviews/nikolaj-coster-waldau-game-of-thrones-the-silencing-2791269)
7. [Profile / Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Danish Film Institute, FILM MAG (Cannes 2014)](https://www.dfi.dk/sites/default/files/docs/2018-02/dfi_FILM_MAG_cannes14_low_spread%20%282%29.pdf)
8. [FILM#50 catalogue, Danish Film Institute](https://www.dfi.dk/sites/default/files/docs/2018-02/FILM50%20%281%29.pdf)
9. [Interview with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Westeros.org (19 May 2011)](https://www.westeros.org/Features/Entry/Interview_with_Nikolaj_Coster-Waldau)
10. [Filmografie von Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, FILMSTARTS.de](https://www.filmstarts.de/personen/85775/filmo/)
11. [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is done talking about Game of Thrones, The Independent (27 November 2020)](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/nikolaj-coster-waldau-interview-game-of-thrones-marvel-b1724932.html)
12. [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on the 'Very Significant Shift' in Season 7 of Game of Thrones, TIME (7 July 2017)](https://time.com/4773892/game-of-thrones-jaime-lannister-nikolaj-coster-waldau/)
13. [Tantos años después, una estrella de 'Juego de tronos' defiende su polémico final, AS (8 October 2025)](https://as.com/meristation/series/tantos-anos-despues-un-estrella-de-juego-de-tronos-defiende-su-polemico-final-era-algo-muy-dificil-f202510-n/)
14. [Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Filmbladet](https://filmbladet.dk/mennesker/nikolaj-coster-waldau)
15. [The Film Act, Danish Film Institute magazine (Berlin 2014)](https://www.dfi.dk/sites/default/files/docs/2018-02/MAG_Film_Berlin_2014_low_spread%20%281%29.pdf)
16. [Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau bio, ITU SDG Digital](https://www.itu.int/initiatives/sdgdigital/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/09/Nikolaj-William-Coster-Waldau-bio.pdf)
17. [Nikolaj Coster Waldau, dansk film database](https://www.danskefilm.dk/skuespiller.php?id=744)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › Nordic actors*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 17, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license