Peter Stormare - a Swedish actor, musician, director, screenwriter and producer, currently works most often in the USA. The general public is known for his roles in the films Fargo, Big Lebowski, Armageddon and Constantine: Lord of Darkness, as well as in the TV series Prison Break and American Gods. During his career, he participated in 180 projects.
Childhood and youth
Peter Stormare was born on August 27, 1953 in the Swedish city of Kumla, as a child he moved to the city of Arba with his family. Real name - Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm. After graduating from high school, he entered the acting academy.
Stormare decided to take a pseudonym when he found out that there was a senior student at the academy with the same last name as his.
Carier start
After graduating from the acting academy, Peter Stormare worked for eleven years at the Royal Theater of Stockholm. Also at this time he began acting in films, appeared in a small role in the film by the classic of Swedish cinema Ingmar Bergman "Fanny and Alexander".
In the following 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 known for his roles in the plays of William Shakespeare. After four years in Tokyo, he decided to move to the United States 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 Cohen 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 received several secondary roles in Hollywood blockbusters, often playing representatives of other nationalities thanks to a successful imitation of foreign accents. He appeared in the sequel to Jurassic Park, Michael Bay's Armageddon, and the political thriller Mercury in Danger. He also worked with the Cohen brothers again , appearing in their new project, the comedy Big Lebowski, in the small role of one of the anarchists.
Career heyday
In 1998, Peter Stormare got the lead role in the movie Hamilton, where he played a key character in the popular Swedish book series, the spy Karl Hamilton. After the film was remounted in a three-hour mini-series.
In subsequent years, the actor continued to work actively, successfully balancing between commercial projects and festival films. Appeared in the drama of the famous Danish director "Dancing in the Dark", the movie "Chocolate", the science fiction blockbuster Steven Spielberg "Minority Report" and the action movie with Jackie Chan "Tuxedo".
The actor also worked with Michael Bay again, appearing in the movie Bad Boys 2 and playing in the Terry Gilliam fantasy film The Grimm Brothers. In 2005, the mystical thriller "Constantine: 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 "Seinfield" and "Joey". In 2005, he began to play one of the supporting roles in the TV series "Prison Break".
In the following years, Peter Stormare could be seen in the genre paintings "Break Through", "The Return of the Hero" and "Fun Holidays", he also worked in independent and auteur films. Appeared in small roles in the series "Wilfred", "Clairvoyant" and "Monk".
Recent projects
In 2014, Peter Stormare played the role of a villain named Berlin in the spy series Black List, appearing in six episodes of the project. He also played secondary roles in the television dramas Manhattan and Longmire and the superhero show Strela. In 2017, he appeared in the role of Chernobog in the series "American Gods", based on the cult novel by Neil Gaiman.
In recent years, the actor does not appear so often in high-budget Hollywood projects, usually he can be seen in more modest films. 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 being developed with the participation of the Swede, he also plays a secondary role in the crime series "Get Shorty."
Other projects
In 2016, the first season of the comedy web series "Dukes from 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 a 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 he heard some of Stormare’s songs. He released his debut album in 2002. Today, an actor plays in a group in his spare time and owns a small record label.
Personal life
The personal life of Peter Stormare is not too full, especially compared to many colleagues in the acting department. The first time he married the American actress Karen Sillas in 1989, the couple divorced in 2006, the former spouses have no children.
The Swede made his second marriage in 2008 with a girl named Toshimi, a Japanese 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 Skarsgård 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 abilities of a medium that he inherited from his mother.