Peter Stormare: biography and filmography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Peter Stormare is a Swedish actor, musician, director, screenwriter and producer, currently mostly working in the USA. The general public is known for his roles in the films "Fargo", "The Big Lebowski", "Armageddon" and "Constantine: Lord of Darkness", as well as on the series "Prison Break" and "American Gods". In total, he participated in 180 projects throughout his career.

Childhood and youth

Peter Stormare was born on August 27, 1953 in the Swedish city of Kumla, as a child he moved with his family to the city of Arba. His real name is Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm. After graduating from high school, he entered the acting academy.

Stormare decided to adopt a pseudonym when he learned that there was a senior student at the academy with the same last name as him.

Career start

After graduating from the acting academy, Peter Stormare worked for eleven years at the Royal Theater in Stockholm. Also at this time he began acting in films, appeared in a small role in the filmclassic Swedish cinema by Ingmar Bergman "Fanny and Alexander".

In subsequent years, he moved to Tokyo, where he received the position of assistant director for working with actors, and also performed on the stage of the theater himself. He became famous for his roles in productions of plays by William Shakespeare. After four years in Tokyo, he decided to move to the US and try his hand at American cinema.

Moving to Hollywood

The first major role in the filmography of Peter Stormare was the black comedy of the Coen brothers "Fargo", where he played a ruthless criminal. After the release of the picture on the screens, the actor woke up famous.

In the following years, Stormare landed several supporting roles in Hollywood blockbusters, often playing other nationalities thanks to his successful imitation of foreign accents. Appeared in the sequel to the film "Jurassic Park", the film by Michael Bay "Armageddon" and the political thriller "Mercury in danger". He also worked with the Coen brothers again, appearing in their new project, the comedy The Big Lebowski, in a small role as one of the anarchists.

Career blossoming

In 1998, Peter Stormare landed the lead role in the film Hamilton, where he played the key character in the popular Swedish book series, the spy Carl Hamilton. The film was then recut into a three-hour mini-series.

In subsequent years, the actor continued to work actively, successfully balancing between commercial and festival projectspaintings. Appeared in the drama of the famous Danish director "Dancing in the Dark", the film "Chocolate", Steven Spielberg's sci-fi blockbuster "Minority Report" and the action movie with Jackie Chan "The Tuxedo".

Also, the actor again worked with Michael Bay, appearing in the film "Bad Boys 2" and playing in Terry Gilliam's fantasy film "The Brothers Grimm". In 2005, the mystical thriller "Konstantin: Lord of Darkness" was released, where Stormare played one of the most memorable roles in his career.

Also during this period, Peter worked quite actively on television, as a guest star he appeared in the popular sitcoms "Sainfeld" and "Joey". In 2005, he began to play one of the supporting roles in the TV series Prison Break.

In subsequent years, Peter Stormare could be seen in the genre films "Breakthrough", "The Return of the Hero" and "Happy Holidays", he also worked in independent and auteur films. Appeared in small roles in the series "Wilfred", "Psych" and "Monk".

Recent Projects

In 2014, Peter Stormare played the role of a villain named Berlin in the spy series The Black List, appearing in six episodes of the project. He also played minor roles in the television dramas Manhattan and Longmire and the superhero show Arrow. In 2017, he appeared in the role of Chernobog inTV series "American Gods", based on the cult novel by Neil Gaiman.

In recent years, the actor does not appear so often in big-budget Hollywood projects, usually you can see him in more modest pictures. At the end of 2016, photos of Peter Stormare from the filming of the sequel to the successful action movie "John Wick" appeared, but, as it turned out later, his appearance in the film was limited to a small cameo at the beginning of the picture.

At the moment, several projects are in development with the participation of the Swede, he also plays a minor role in the crime series "Get Shorty".

Other projects

In 2016, the first season of the comedy web series "The Dukes of Sweden" with the participation of the actor was released. Peter Stormare not only appeared on the screen, but also acted as one of the creators of the project and wrote the script for several episodes. At the moment, two seasons of the series have been released.

Peter is also a musician. For a long time, music remained a hobby for him, but the legendary rock musician Bono convinced the Swede to record an album after hearing some of Stormare's songs. He released his debut album in 2002. Today, the actor plays in a band in his spare time and owns a small record label.

Private life

Peter Stormare's personal life is not very eventful, especially compared to many colleagues in the acting department. He married for the first time in 1989 to American actress Karen Sillas, the couple divorced.in 2006, the former spouses have no children.

The Swede entered into a second marriage in 2008 with a girl named Toshimi, a Japanese by nationality. A year later, the couple had a daughter.

For a long time Peter lived between the USA and his native Sweden, but now his permanent residence is in Los Angeles.

Stormare has been a close friend of another popular Swedish actor, Stellan Skarsgard, since the 70s of the last century. He is the godfather of his son Gustaf.

Peter calls himself a believing Christian. He also believes that he has the powers of a medium, which he inherited from his mother.