David Dencik


Karl David Sebastian Dencik is a Swedish-Danish actor. He has acted in both Swedish and Danish films, and has also had major roles in English-language films including Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, McMafia, Top of the Lake, Chernobyl, and the upcoming James Bond film No Time to Die.

Early life

Dencik was born in Stockholm, Sweden. His family moved to Denmark when he was very young. As a teenager, he spent his youth studying in Brazil, where he discovered Capoeira, the Brazilian martial art that combines elements of dance and music. The dance aspect of Capoeira made him take an interest in theatre. He later moved back to Sweden and attended Stockholm Academy of Dramatic Arts. His wife is a lawyer who works in Copenhagen. He uses Denmark as his base, but since his work takes him to Sweden he also has an apartment in Stockholm. His father is Lars Dencik, Professor of Social Psychology at Roskilde University, born in 1941 of Jewish parents from Slovakia, who escaped the Holocaust by finding refuge in Sweden. His mother was Kerstin Allroth-Dencik, a Film Commissioner for television networks in Scandinavia.

Career

After having had minor roles in different films, David Dencik became an established actor in Sweden for his role as the killer John Ausonius in the three-part TV mini-series Lasermannen in 2005.
In 2006, he starred in the comedy Everything About My Bush. In 2007, he appeared in the Danish feature film Daisy Diamond directed by Simon Staho.
He portrayed Fred Åkerström in the biographical film Cornelis, starring Hank Von Helvete as Cornelis Vreeswijk. In 2011, he appeared in the Hollywood-adaption of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and played Toby Esterhase in the film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy. He also starred in the gay-themed Brotherhood and the Dimension Films thriller Regression. In 2017 he played brothel owner Alexander "Puss" Braun, in Jane Campion's acclaimed Top of the Lake. McMafia saw Dencik play Russian Boss, Uncle Boris Godman, inspired by the book McMafia: A Journey Through the Global Criminal Underworld by journalist Misha Glenny.

Selected filmography

Film

Television