Trine Dyrholm (born 1972) has great range as an actress, winning her a record of five Bodils (the Danish Oscar) since her feature film debut in 1990.
Just this year, her range has run from the sensitive, brave cancer patient who finds love in Susanne Bier's romance "Love Is All You Need" to the scheming, middle-aged dowager queen in Nikolaj Arcel's historical drama "A Royal Affair".
Finding fame at an early age as a pop singer, Trine Dyrholm was in danger of being typecast as a blonde, blue-eyed ingénue. But, after her exquisite, Bodil-winning debut performance as a love-struck teen in "Spring Tide" (1990), she perfected her craft at the Danish National School of Theatre and, on the back of her role in Thomas Vinterberg's Dogme-hit "The Celebration" (1998), graduated to more challenging roles.
Her first major character role came in 2004 when she played a prison inmate, Kate, in the Dogme drama "In Your Hands", powerfully portraying a tragic character who has barricaded herself behind a mask of rigid unapproachableness.
She was no less believable in her next role as a driven, high-power TV reporter in Åke Sandgren's "Flies on the Wall" (2005). And she was both soulful and gratingly temperamental as a young, independent-minded girl who falls in love with a transsexual in Pernille Fischer Christensen's "A Soap" (2006), which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
She further showed her range in a supporting role as a devilish, lesbian film director in Simon Staho's "Daisy Diamond" (2007) – alongside Noomi Rapace who had her breakthrough as the film's tragic centerpiece. And she turned in another Bodil-winning performance as a moody divorced mother in Susanne Bier's Oscar-winning drama "In a Better World" (2010).
The power of Trine Dyrholm's richly varied performances springs from the tension between the vulnerability and strength she projects, rendering her characters rich in contrasts and implicitly dramatic. Sensitive and feminine, for sure, but above all proud and strong.
Looking ahead, Trine Dyrholm will be playing the lead in Annette K. Olesen's upcoming political thriller "The Shooter", schedulede for domestic release in February 2013.
"Love Is All You Need" premiered at the film festival in Venice and is selected for Toronto International Film Festival (6-16 September).
Trine Dyrholm filmography / A selection
The Shooter (2013)
Dir. Annette K. Olesen
Love Is All You Need (2012)
Dir. Susanne Bier
A Royal Affair (2012)
Dir. Nikolaj Arcel
A Royal Affair. Photo: Jiri Hanzl
In a Better World (2010)
Dir. Susanne Bier
In a Better World. Photo: Per Arnesen
Little Soldier (2008)
Dir. Annettte K. Olesen
Little Soldier. Photo: Mike Kollöffel
Dancers (2008)
Dir. Pernille Fischer Christensen
Dancers. Photo: Christian Geisnæs
Daisy Diamond (2007)
Dir. Simon Staho
A Soap (2006)
Dir. Pernille Fischer Christensen
A Soap. Photo: Lars Wahl
Flies on the Wall (2005)
Dir. Åke Sandgren
Flies on the Wall. Photo: Per Arnesen
In Your Hands (2004)
Dir. Annette K. Olesen
In Your Hands. Photo: Per Arnesen
Gemini (2003)
Dir. Hans Fabian Wullenweber
Gemini. Photo: Julian Gallagher
Bungalow (Germany, 2002)
Dir. Ulrich Köhler
P.O.V. – Point of View (2001)
Dir. Tómas Gislason
The Celebration (1998)
Dir. Thomas Vinterberg
The Celebration. Photo: Lars Høgsted
The Biggest Heroes (1996)
Dir. Thomas Vinterberg
Spring Tide (1990)
Dir. Eddie Thomas Petersen
Spring Tide. Photo: John Johansen