Iben Hjejle

Iben Hjejle was born and raised in Denmark's capital Copenhagen and managed to work her way into the Danish entertainment world in her early 20s. At the age of 25, she starred in the crime drama "Portland" (1996), a movie that went on to appear in the Berlin International Film Festival. After that, she was officially "in" the world of Danish cinema, regularly appearing in movies over the next few years with "Mifune's Last Song" (1999) being her acting breakout, receiving critical acclaim and even a limited theatrical run in America. That helped Hjejle land a role opposite John Cusack in the Stephen Frears-directed "High Fidelity" (2000). Her American debut wasn't the Hollywood kickstarter initially anticipated, though, and Hjejle kept working in Europe, appearing in movies such as "Flickering Lights" (2000), the Italian dramedy "The Emperor's New Clothes" (2001), and action comedy "Old Men in New Cars" (2002). She also appeared in the final seasons of beloved Danish sitcom "Langt fra Las Vegas" (2001-03). While Hjejle kept busy in her homeland in the mid-2000s, she only had a brief brush with a return to America in the Daniel Craig-starring "Defiance" (2008). She would go on to star in the crime drama "Dicte" (2012-16), which after airing in Denmark was brought to Netflix after the show's initial run. The success of "Dicte" on Netflix led to Hjejle starring in a Netflix-backed show, the Danish post-apocalyptic drama "The Rain" (Netflix 2018-).