Pilou Asbæk

In 2009, Asbæk played soldier David Grüner in an episode of the second season of the Danish TV series The Killing (Danish: Forbrydelsen).[2]

From 2010 to 2013, Asbæk played spin-doctor Kasper Juul in the critically lauded Danish TV series Borgen, written by Tobias Lindholm, about the politics of a female prime minister of Denmark.[10] Asbæk's performance was uniformly praised by critics.[11] In 2014, the Danish public-funded DR cast Asbæk as Didrich, a landowner suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in a big-budget period TV series[12] called 1864.[13]

In 2016, Asbæk joined the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 6 as Euron Greyjoy.[14]

In 2011, Asbæk starred in another piece by Tobias Lindholm, in the film R, as a Danish convict, portraying a harrowing prison experience. The film was shot in the Dogme 95–inspired style.[15] The next year, in 2012, Asbæk starred in another Tobias Lindholm film called A Hijacking, about Somalian piracy, for which he transformed himself physically, gaining weight to imbue the role with method acting.[7]

In 2013, Asbæk portrayed a flamboyant Danish tycoon named Simon Spies in the movie Sex, Drugs & Taxation (Danish: Spies & Glistrup).[16] In this film, Asbæk co-stars opposite his wife's cousin, the actor Nicolas Bro, who plays the other main character, Mogens Glistrup.

In 2014, Asbæk starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the Luc Besson film Lucy.[17] Also in 2014, Asbæk appeared in the Bille August film Silent Heart (Danish: Stille Hjerte), in which his mother-in-law, Danish actress Vigga Bro, plays the character Lisbeth.[18][19]

Pilou Asbæk (far right) co-hosting the Eurovision Song Contest

In 2015, Asbæk again collaborated with director Tobias Lindholm in the film A War (Danish: Krigen), playing a soldier in Afghanistan.[20] The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival.[21]

Asbæk co-starred in the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur, starring Jack Huston and Morgan Freeman.[12] He portrayed Pontius Pilate.[22]

In 2017, he played Batou in Ghost in the Shell.[23]

In 2018, he played Captain Wafner in Overlord.[24]

Asbæk plays the lead role as police investigator Anders Olsen in Murderous Trance, opposite Josh Lucas. Written and directed by Arto Halonen, the movie is based on actual events. The plot revolves around the bizarre case of the hypnosis murders, which took place in Copenhagen in 1951.[25]

In April 2021, he joined the cast of the upcoming superhero film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in an undisclosed role.[26]

In September 2021, Asbæk joined the cast of the Stephen King adaptation of Salem's Lot as Richard Straker.[27]

Asbæk also voiced Mario in the Danish dub of 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie (dubbing Chris Pratt's voice-acting role as the video game character).[28]

• 2008: Folk og røvere i Kardemomme By – Bellevue Teatret[29]
• 2008: Core – Det Lille Gasværk.[30]

On 10 May 2014, Asbæk co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, with Lise Rønne and Nikolaj Koppel.[31][32] Some critics commented adversely on the obscure jokes shared by the presenters throughout the televised show.[33]