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Mads Mikkelsen may be the most prolific portrayer of villains working today. After appearing in the latest Indiana Jones film, Mikkelsen has acted in almost every major movie franchise, most of which see him play an antagonistic role. While some may see it as typecasting at this point, the Hannibal actor doesn’t view it that way. Mikkelsen shared his feelings about embodying so many movie villains — and why he believes the casting has less to do with him, and more to do with a frequent trend in Hollywood. In truth, I think he might be on to something here.
The actor recently attended the Marrakech Film Festival, where he received the honorary Etoile d’Or career award and screened his latest film, The Promised Land. While he doesn’t play a villain in that film, at the festival, he addressed why he believes he’s continuously cast as a villain in American movies. He said (via Deadline):
It’s quite simple. It’s the funny accent. It’s as simple as that. It used to be Germans, then it was Brits; then the Russians, and then for some reason they fell in love with the Danish accent. That’s definitely part of it.
He definitely has a point. Some of the most famous villains in American movies do tend to have accents that differ from the protagonist(s). Movies like Inglorious Bastards, Die Hard, Rocky IV certainly back up the star’s theory, and I’m sure there are many others throughout movie history that reflect the same trend. While this may be the case, the Rogue One alum doesn’t feel burdened by a villainous casting and feels like all the characters he has played have differed heavily from each other. The veteran performer continued:
Then if the Americans see something they like, they have a tendency to try and copy it, right. But I’ve been lucky enough to do different villains in different universes. There’s a big difference between Marvel and James Bond… but I never think about it too much. In Denmark, we don’t divide it into bad guys and good guys, we tend look at more complex characters.
Mads Mikkelsen may be one of those actors who always plays the villain, but his characters are far from boring. Hannibal is one of the most interesting and complex TV characters of all time, for example. In addition, Mikkelsen characters like Grindelwald from Fantastic Beasts and Kaecilius from Doctor Strange both have deep written lore associated with them. So they were certainly multifaceted characters for the actor to sink his teeth into. Mikkelsen has even previously said he’d be interested in playing another Marvel villain in the future, so he clearly isn’t over being the bad guy just yet.
Even though the Danish actor doesn’t mind playing big bads, I’m sure being the protagonist in The Promised Land was a nice change of pace. It’s a Danish production, much like his movie Another Round, which won Best International Feature at the 2021 Oscars. The movie is getting great reviews out of the festival circuit and is also being postured for an International Academy Award nomination. While the actor may be becoming one of the most recognizable character actors in America, he remains a Danish leading man and continues to show his range.
The Promised Land has only been released internationally, as of this writing. However, fans will be able to see Mads Mikkelsen in his latest antagonist role in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which is set to stream for Disney+ subscribers starting on December 1. For more information on other great movies starring the actor, make sure to check our feature on Mikkelsen movies and where to watch them.