Aksel Hennie

Aksel Hennie (born 29 October 1975) is a Norwegian actor, director and writer. He has acted in a number of successful Norwegian movies, and has received several awards. Hennie grew up in Lambertseter in Oslo. In his late teens he was sentenced for graffiti, and became an outcast in the community for confessing to the police. This personal story contributed much of the background for the movie Uno.

The conviction against Hennie was in fact one of the first such cases in Norway. Hennie was admitted to the Norwegian National Academy of Theatre after applying four times. He graduated in 2001, and has since acted both at Teatret Vårt in Molde (2001–2002) and at Oslo Nye Teater (2002–), where he has been in plays such as Hamlet, and Kvinnen som giftet seg med en kalkun (English: The woman who married a turkey). His main success, however, has been as a film actor. He made his debut starring in the feature film Jonny Vang in 2003.

Though the director, Jens Lien, originally thought Hennie was too young for the role, the actor convinced him he was the right man for the film. The same year he also acted in the movies Buddy and Ulvesommer, and the next year he made his debut as a director and writer with the movie Uno, in which he also acted. For this film Hennie, and his co-star Nicolai Cleve Broch, went into hard physical training for six months to perform convincingly as bodybuilders.