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Lars Mikkelsen: I found God after playing a boozy, lusty priest

The Danish actor reveals the staggering life-change triggered by his role in Ride Upon the Storm – and looks back at his days in House of Cards with Kevin Spacey

With unforgettable turns – Troels Hartmann in The Killing, Russian president Viktor Petrov in House of Cards – Lars Mikkelsen has become one of Denmark’s most successful exports. He has even played super-villain Charles Augustus Magnussen in Sherlock. But on a stopover in London between shoots, the laidback 54-year-old startlingly reveals that his latest TV role has truly transformed him, prompting a shocking life-change that still bewilders everyone he knows.

The decision that rocked the Mikkelsen clan occurred while he was shooting the show for which he recently won best actor at the International Emmys. He plays Johannes Krogh, a pastor who feels an intense personal connection with God, in Ride Upon the Storm. The ecclesiastical TV drama – written by Adam Price, creator of the Danish political epic Borgen – started in the UK this week after acclaim in Denmark, France and the US.

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from Culture | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2CU1tkS

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