Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau
Biographical information
Born	Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau July 27, 1970 (age 53) Rudkøbing, Denmark
World of Westeros
Role(s)	Jaime Lannister
Series	Game of Thrones
Season(s)	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8
Credited for	55 episodes (see below)
First credit	"Winter Is Coming"
Last credit	"The Iron Throne"

Nikolaj William Coster-Waldau (born 27 July 1970) is a Danish actor. His breakthrough came in the Danish 1994 film Nattevagten (Nightwatch). He is best known for playing the lead roles in the short-lived series New Amsterdam and the television pilot Virtuality, which are available for viewing on Hulu and Veoh. Coster-Waldau began his US film career with his role as Medal of Honor recipient Gary Gordon in Black Hawk Down, directed by Ridley Scott. He has also starred in several other Ridley Scott films, including Wimbledon and Kingdom of Heaven.

Early life

Nikolaj says that, as a Dane, his approach to being happy in life is to keep his expectations low and realistic, so he can be pleasantly surprised when he surpasses them, instead of constantly chasing after implausible goals.

Nikolaj said his father was an alcoholic. He died in 1998. Asked if he had a happy childhood, Nikolaj said it was when his father wasn't too drunk, and would play cards or football with him. He said he had a great mother who worked hard to make ends meet for him and his two sisters.

Career

Nikolaj played a Danish villain in the award winning Norwegian movie Headhunters (Hodejegerne) in 2011, the movie won an Empire award for best thriller, beating Oscar winners Skyfall and Argo.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau appears in the 2012 horror movie Mama, and the scifi movie Oblivion with Tom Cruise.

Nikolaj noted the irony that when he lost the audition to play the lead in John Carter he felt bad about it, but the film went on to be a massive financial flop, while later the same summer he was cast in Game of Thrones, which became a huge hit.

In Game of Thrones

Coster-Waldau stars in HBO's Game of Thrones as Jaime Lannister. He was announced in the role on 20 August 2009. He was part of the initial starring cast and remains a member of it for the second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth season.

Nikolaj commented on the journey that Jaime goes through with Brienne of Tarth in Season 3:

"I think Jaime is a very honorable man inside and I think he actually recognizes something of himself in Brienne, and it's kind of reawakened. But, I think the years spent in King’s Landing, in that horrible place, has made him a very cynical human being and meeting someone who is almost naïve, but also, just as you said—earnest—is, even though he's not aware of it—and he’s not, [and if he did], he would never admit it—but it does touch something inside of him."

Nikolaj also said what first went through his mind when he found out that Jaime would lose his right hand (in Season 3's "Walk of Punishment"):

"I thought that was like—just amazing. It’s such a horrible thing to happen… If he had to pick a limb to lose, this would be the last one, I’m sure. This is his sword hand, this is what defines him, this is the one thing that he is incredible at… I think he sees himself as a soldier and it‘s very important for him and his identity to be the very best. And it has nothing to do with him being a Lannister and the family money and all the wealth and all that. It’s all about his skill and suddenly that one thing is gone and that’s just so interesting. For me as an actor, I know this is huge because, before this, he has this wonderful, annoying arrogance and wit and fearlessness with people and it’s just interesting what will happen next. And of course, I know what will happen next, but I think that to have a guy who starts in this one extreme and you go to the other, you couldn’t ask for more as an actor, really."

Nikolaj is not left-handed in real life, he is right-handed like Jaime is - thus he shares the physical difficulty his character has in having to work with his non-dominant hand after Jaime loses it.

He was recently nominated for “Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series” at the 2018 Emmys for his acting in Game of Thrones.

Personal life

Being from Denmark, Nikolaj speaks with a Danish accent in real-life: the upper-class English accent that he adopts when playing Jaime Lannister is not his natural speaking voice, but a conscious part of his performance.

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is married and has two daughters. His wife Nukaaka Coster-Waldau (née Sascha Nukaka Motzfeld) was Miss Greenland in the 1990 Miss Universe competition, and she is of mixed Inuit and Norwegian extraction. Nikolaj enjoys the outdoors, including mountain biking. Once he went fishing alone in southern Greenland's wilds (Greenland is an autonomous country within the realm of Denmark).

Describing the modest attitude he has about his career, in 2015 he said:

Nikolaj: "I know other actors who are at the end of their tether because they live by other people’s opinions, and whether they are living up to the greatness that is expected of them. Which is why you should drop the ego and focus on telling a good story instead."

Question: "Where does that approach come from?"

Nikolaj: "Becoming a father. It’s a shock to the system. You instantly stop being the most important person in the world. Until that point, you worry about your own mortality, but suddenly you’re worrying about someone else’s. That’s scary. You’re not in control anymore. My younger daughter was struck on the head by a horse and had to go to the hospital. She could have died. It was terrible. At the same time, having children is the most wonderful, exhilarating thing you can do."

Credits

Starring

Game of Thrones: Season 1
Winter Is Coming	The Kingsroad	Lord Snow	Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things	The Wolf and the Lion
A Golden Crown	You Win or You Die	The Pointy End	Baelor	Fire and Blood

Game of Thrones: Season 2
The North Remembers	The Night Lands	What Is Dead May Never Die	Garden of Bones	The Ghost of Harrenhal
The Old Gods and the New	A Man Without Honor	The Prince of Winterfell	Blackwater	Valar Morghulis

Game of Thrones: Season 3
Valar Dohaeris	Dark Wings, Dark Words	Walk of Punishment	And Now His Watch Is Ended	Kissed by Fire
The Climb	The Bear and the Maiden Fair	Second Sons	The Rains of Castamere	Mhysa

Game of Thrones: Season 4
Two Swords	The Lion and the Rose	Breaker of Chains	Oathkeeper	First of His Name
The Laws of Gods and Men	Mockingbird	The Mountain and the Viper	The Watchers on the Wall	The Children

Game of Thrones: Season 5
The Wars To Come	The House of Black and White	High Sparrow	Sons of the Harpy	Kill the Boy
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken	The Gift	Hardhome	The Dance of Dragons	Mother's Mercy

Game of Thrones: Season 6
The Red Woman	Home	Oathbreaker	Book of the Stranger	The Door
Blood of My Blood	The Broken Man	No One	Battle of the Bastards	The Winds of Winter

Game of Thrones: Season 7
Dragonstone	Stormborn	The Queen's Justice	The Spoils of War
Eastwatch	Beyond the Wall	The Dragon and the Wolf

Game of Thrones: Season 8
Winterfell	A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms	The Long Night
The Last of the Starks	The Bells	The Iron Throne

See also

• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on Wikipedia
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on IMDb
• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on X