Michael Nyqvist, the Swedish actor who received international acclaim for his role in the Millennium series, has left the stage too soon. The actor has died after a battle with lung cancer, at the age of 56.
Michael Nyqvist spent decades working in Swedish television and cinema and was nominated for three Guldbagge Awards, for his roles in the motion pictures Together, Mother of Mine and As It Is In Heaven, the latter of which was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 77th Academy Awards.
Later in his career, his role as Mikael Blomkvist in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played With Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest brought Michael Nyqvist to the world stage. In the series, Nyqvist plays a reporter who teams up with a complicated hacker named Lisbeth Salander, played by Noomi Rapace, and investigates conspiracies, brutal crimes and disturbing misogyny in Sweden.
The films were international successes, eventually leading to an Oscar-winning American remake directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig in Nyqvist’s role. In the meantime, Hollywood took notice and scooped up Michael Nyqvist for villainous roles in great action movies like Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol and John Wick. To each role he brought humor and thoughtfulness, imbuing all his films with realism, even if the stories were occasionally ridiculous.
Michael Nyqvist’s long and impressive career will be remembered and explored in the years to come. Crave extends our condolences to his friends and family.
Top Photo: Joerg Koch/Getty Images
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
