Kim Bodnia (born 12 April 1965) is a Danish actor. He became widely known for his role as police detective Martin Rohde in the Scandinavian crime drama series The Bridge (2011-2014). He is also known internationally for his lead role as drug dealer Frank in Nicolas Winding Refn's 1996 directorial debut Pusher, and as Konstantin in the spy thriller TV series Killing Eve (2018–2022).
Amongst his award wins and nominations, he is the recipient of two Robert Awards for Best Supporting Actor in Nightwatch (1994) and Best Leading TV Actor in The Bridge. The latter also earned him a Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival. In 2009, Bodnia won the Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for the film Terribly Happy (2008), and in 2019, he received a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor nomination for his role in Killing Eve.
Early life Bodnia was born in Copenhagen on 12 April 1965 and grew up in Espergærde. He comes from a Jewish family with Polish and Russian ancestry. In 2014, he described himself as "half-Russian, half-Polish and all Jewish". When asked in 2011 whether religion had been an important aspect of his life, he said, "No, but I believe in nature."
Bodnia admitted that he was not a particularly good student as a child, describing himself as a "clown" who was reluctant to study. His main interest was in athletics, particularly the 100 metres and the long jump, in which he was the Zealand youth champion for several years. He aspired to become a football goalkeeper, but a foot injury prevented him from pursuing this career.
As a student at Espergærde Ungdomsskole, Bodnia joined the theatre group, performing mainly in comic roles. When he was 16, his mother suggested he apply for a place at the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance. His first application failed, but he gained entry on his second attempt a year later in 1987.
Career In his film debut (En Afgrund af frihed; 1989) he played a small supporting role as a bouncer. One of his first roles after graduation in 1991 was as Patrick Bateman in a stage version of American Psycho, and he was subsequently often typecast as violent, brutal characters. Bodnia's first leading role in a film was in Bulldozer (1993), directed by Maria Sødahl. His breakout role came a year later in Ole Bornedal's horror film Nightwatch (1994).
Despite this success, it was two years before his next film, Nicolas Winding Refn's Pusher (1996), and then Winding Refn's Bleeder (1999). He has since appeared in Terribly Happy (2008), and in three Lasse Spang Olsen films: In China They Eat Dogs (1999) and its sequel Old Men in New Cars (2002), and in (2004), which he co-wrote with the director. Bodnia has also appeared in several Norwegian films, including Himmelfall (2002), Monstertorsdag (2004), and Tomme Tønner (2010). He appeared in the 2011 Indian English comedy film Delhi Belly playing a Russian smuggler. In 2014, he appeared as the eponymous Iranian interrogator Rosewater, directed by Jon Stewart. Of his role he said, "It was a tough job because I'm Jewish. I'm playing a guy who really hates me and wants to destroy my country."
Bodnia has become internationally known for his television roles. He made his first appearance in the historical mini-series Snapphanar in 2006. He appeared in three episodes of the first season of the crime series The Killing (2007) (), and in two episodes of the comedy drama ("Where the hell is Herning?") (2009), before returning to crime series, appearing in episodes of the Swedish (2010), Those Who Kill (Den som dræber; 2011), and the German/Swedish Der Kommissar und das Meer ("The Inspector and the Sea"; 2012).
In 2009, he won the 62nd Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2014 he won the Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series.
Bodnia played the Danish detective Martin Rohde in the first two series of the Nordic noir crime television programme The Bridge (Broen|Bron) (2011–present). Created and written by Hans Rosenfeldt, it is a joint creative and financed production between Sweden's Sveriges Television and Denmark's DR. It has been shown in over 100 countries. Although Bodnia signed for the third series, he dropped out, reportedly unhappy with the development of his character. He also voiced concerns in an interview about working in Malmö, due to the city's problems with anti-semitism, which had made his decision to leave the series easier. "It's not very nice and comfortable to be there as a Jewish person," he said at the time.
In early 2014, Bodnia directed readings of The Tailor's Tale, a play based on his Jewish grandfather's experience of life in Copenhagen under Nazi occupation, written by his cousin Alexander Bodin Saphir, and performed at the Scandinavia House – The Nordic Center in America in New York.
In 2025, Bodnia appeared in Formula One-themed drama F1, directed by Joseph Kosinski. He portrayed APXGP team principal Kaspar Smolinski. In the ensemble cast, Bodnia appears alongside Brad Pitt, Javier Bardem and Kerry Condon, among others.
Personal life
Bodnia has been married twice. His first marriage was to actress , with whom he has a son, Louis Bodnia Andersen, who is also an actor and who played a younger him in Killing Eve. He is married to actress , who played his wife in Bleeder. They have two sons and a daughter.
Filmography Film Year Film Role Notes 1989 En Afgrund Af Frihed Bouncer 1993 Bulldozer Samson 1994 Nattevagten Jens 1996 Pusher Frank 1997 Den Sidste Viking Sigbard1999 Bleeder Leo In China They Eat Dogs Harald 2001 Øyenstikker Eddie2002 Old Men in New Cars: In China They Eat Dogs II Harald Himmelfall Johannes2004 Den Gode Strømer Jens Also co-writer Monstertorsdag Skip Inkasso Claus 2005 Opbrud Philip 2006 The Journals of Knud Rasmussen Peter Freuchen 2007 Ekko Simon2008 Nefarious Elkiar Terribly Happy Jørgen Buhl Kandidaten Claes Kiehlert2009 Harald Blåtand Buller2010 Caroline: Den Sidste Rejse Johan Tomme Tønner Dansken Min Bedste Fjende Dansklærer Hævnen Lars Sandheden Om Mænd Johnny2011 Tomme Tønner 2 - Det Brune Gullet Dansken Delhi Belly (Indian film) Vladimir Dragunsky2012 Caroline: Den sidste rejse Johan Love Is All You Need Leif Mamma er en superhelt Axel Short film Rendezvous in Kiruna John - le biker2013 All for Two William Lynge The Shooter Rasmus Holm Jensen The Stranger Within Masked Kidnapper A Very Unsettled Summer Alex2014 Serena Abe Hermann The Veil of Twilight Bergtor Rosewater Rosewater2015 August August Far The FatherShort film2016Krigarnas öMartin2017Light ThereafterArnaud 2018 The Violin Player Björn Darren 2019 One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk The Boss 2020 The Letter for the King Abbot 2024 Young Woman and the Sea Henry Ederle 2025 F1 Kaspar Smolinski
Television Year Show Role Platform Notes 2011–2013 The Bridge (Broen|Bron) Martin Rohde SVT1 (Sweden), DR1 (Denmark) Season 1 and 2 2016 HostagesArthur Channel 10 (Israel) 2018–2022 Killing Eve Konstantin Vasiliev BBC America 29 episodes 2021 The Witcher Vesemir Netflix Season 2
Awards and nominations
| 1995 | Nightwatch (1994) | Robert Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
| 2000 | Bleeder (1999) | Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
| 2002 | Dragonfly (2001) | Amanda Award for Best Leading Actor
| 2003 | Old Men in New Cars (2002) | Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
| rowspan="2" | 2008 | rowspan="2" | Echo (2007) | Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
| Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role
| 2009 | Terribly Happy (2008) | rowspan="2" | Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
| rowspan="2" | 2011 | In a Better World (2010)
| Love Is All You Need (2012) | Zulu Award for Best Actor
| 2012 | rowspan="4" | The Bridge (2011–2018) | rowspan="2" | Golden Nymph Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
| rowspan="3" | 2014
| Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Television Role
| Zulu Award for Best Actor in a Television Role
| 2019 | Killing Eve (2018–2022) | BAFTA TV Award for Best Supporting Actor
References
External links