Kim Bodnia, born on April 12, 1965, is a Danish actor known for several key roles. He gained fame for playing police detective Martin Rohde in the Scandinavian crime drama series The Bridge. He is also known internationally for his role as drug dealer Frank in the 1996 film Pusher and as Konstantin in the TV series Killing Eve from 2018 to 2022.
Bodnia has won several awards throughout his career. In 2009, he won the 62nd Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He also won the Monte-Carlo Television Festival Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series in 2014. In 2019, he received a British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Killing Eve.
Bodnia was born in Copenhagen and grew up in Espergærde. He comes from a Jewish family with Polish and Russian roots. As a child, he was more interested in athletics than studying, particularly excelling in the 100 meters and long jump events. He dreamed of becoming a football goalkeeper but had to abandon this dream due to a foot injury.
His mother encouraged him to pursue acting, and after an initial rejection, he was accepted into the Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance in 1987.
Bodnia’s first film role was a small part in An Abyss of Freedom (1989). After graduating, he played Patrick Bateman in a stage version of American Psycho and was often cast in tough, violent roles. His first leading role in a film was in Bulldozer (1993), but he gained wider recognition with Nightwatch (1994).
He starred in Pusher (1996) and its follow-up Bleeder (1999). Bodnia has also appeared in several other films, including Terribly Happy (2008) and Delhi Belly (2011), where he played a Russian smuggler. In 2014, he starred in Rosewater, playing an Iranian interrogator, a challenging role for him as a Jewish actor.
Bodnia’s television career includes roles in various crime and drama series, such as The Killing (2007) and Kommissarie Winter (2010). His role as Martin Rohde in The Bridge brought him international fame, although he left the series after the second season due to concerns about his character’s development and issues with anti-semitism in Malmö, where the show was filmed.
In 2014, he directed readings of The Tailor’s Tale, a play about his Jewish grandfather’s life during the Nazi occupation of Copenhagen.
Bodnia has been married twice. His first wife was actress Lotte Andersen, with whom he has a son, Louis Bodnia Andersen, who also acts and played a younger version of him in Killing Eve. He is currently married to actress Rikke Louise Andersson, with whom he has two sons and a daughter.