Pilou Asbæk

Johan Philip "Pilou" Asbæk (; born 2 March 1982) is a Danish actor, best known for his role as troubled spin doctor Kasper Juul in the Danish television political drama Borgen, as Euron Greyjoy in the television series Game of Thrones, and as The Mule in Apple TV+'s adaptation of the Foundation series.

Early life Asbæk was born in Copenhagen, the son of gallery owners Maria Patricia (née Tonn) and Jacob A. Asbæk, who run Galerie Asbæk in Copenhagen. His mother was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a Danish father and a French mother. His father is from Hammel. Asbæk has two older brothers, Thomas Asbæk, an art consultant at Asbæk Art Consulting, and Martin Asbæk, a gallery owner at Martin Asbæk Gallery.

Asbæk went to boarding school at Herlufsholm School, where he was active in drama productions. He graduated from Denmark's Danish National School of Performing Arts in the summer of 2008. Asbæk's performance was uniformly praised by critics. In 2014, the Danish public-funded DR cast Asbæk as Didrich, a landowner suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in a big-budget period TV series called 1864.

In 2016, Asbæk joined the HBO series Game of Thrones in Season 6 as pirate Euron Greyjoy.

He appeared as Markus on Face to Face 3 (2023).

Asbæk also portrays The Mule in Season 3 (2025) of the Apple TV+ television series Foundation. He took the role over from Mikael Persbrandt, who had portrayed The Mule briefly in flashes of premonitions in Season 2.

Film In 2011, Asbæk starred in another piece by Tobias Lindholm, in the film R, as a Danish convict, portraying a harrowing prison experience. The film was shot in the Dogme 95–inspired style. The next year, in 2012, Asbæk starred in another Tobias Lindholm film called A Hijacking, about Somalian piracy, for which he transformed himself physically, gaining weight to imbue the role with method acting. In this film, Asbæk co-stars opposite his wife's cousin, the actor Nicolas Bro, who plays the other main character, Mogens Glistrup.

In 2014, Asbæk starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in the Luc Besson film Lucy. Also in 2014, Asbæk appeared in the Bille August film Silent Heart (Danish: Stille Hjerte), in which his mother-in-law, Danish actress Vigga Bro, plays the character Lisbeth.

In 2015, Asbæk again collaborated with director Tobias Lindholm in the film A War (Danish: Krigen), playing a soldier in Afghanistan. The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival.

Asbæk co-starred in the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur, starring Jack Huston and Morgan Freeman.

In 2017, he played Batou in Ghost in the Shell.

In 2018, he played Captain Wafner in Overlord.

Asbæk plays the lead role as police investigator Anders Olsen in Murderous Trance, opposite Josh Lucas. Written and directed by Arto Halonen, the movie is based on actual events. The plot revolves around the bizarre case of the hypnosis murders, which took place in Copenhagen in 1951.

In April 2021, he joined the cast of the upcoming superhero film Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom as Kordax.

In September 2021, Asbæk joined the cast of the Stephen King adaptation of 'Salem's Lot as Richard Straker.

Asbæk also voiced Mario in the Danish dub of 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie (dubbing Chris Pratt's voice-acting role as the video game character).

Theater 2008: Folk og røvere i Kardemomme By – Bellevue Teatret 2008: Core – Det Lille Gasværk.

Presenting On 6, 8 & 10 May 2014, Asbæk co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen, with Lise Rønne and Nikolaj Koppel. Some critics commented adversely on the obscure jokes shared by the presenters throughout the televised show.

Personal life Asbæk's wife is playwright , who has been his domestic partner since 2008. They have a daughter, born in 2012. Anna is the daughter of the actors and and comes from an extended family of actors.

The nickname Pilou came from his mother's French ancestry and is a French version of the word "Pip."

Awards 2010: Danish Film Academy – Robert Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for R 2010: Danish Film Critics Association's Bodil Awards – Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for R 2011: Berlin International Film Festival – Shooting Stars Award 2012: Ove Sprogøe Prize.

Filmography

Film

+ Year Title Role Director(s) Notes 2008 Worlds Apart Teis Niels Arden Oplev Comeback Kris Ulrik Wivel Crying for Love Oliver Christian E. Christiansen 2009 Den Fremmede Den Mørkhårede Nuka Wølk Mathiassen Short film Monsterjægerne Søren Martin Schmidt 2010 R Rune Tobias Lindholm & Michael Noer A Family Peter Pernille Fischer Christensen Venus Rasmus Tor Fruergaard Short film The Whistleblower Bas Larysa Kondracki 2011 Bora Bora Jim Hans Fabian Wullenweber 2012 A Hijacking Mikkel Hartmann Tobias Lindholm 2013 Spies & Glistrup Simon Spies Christoffer Boe 2014 Lucy Richard Luc Besson Kapgang Onkel Kristian Niels Arden Oplev The Absent One Ditlev Pram Mikkel Nørgaard Silent Heart Dennis Bille August 2015 April 9th Sekondløjtnant Sand Roni Ezra A War Claus Michael Pedersen Tobias Lindholm 2016 Ben-Hur Pontius Pilate Timur Bekmambetov The Great Wall Bouchard Zhang Yimou 2017 Ghost in the Shell Batou Rupert Sanders Woodshock Keith Kate and Laura Mulleavy 2018 Murderous Trance Anders Olsen Arto Halonen Overlord Wafner Julius Avery 2020 Run Sweetheart Run Ethan Shana Feste 2021 Outside the Wire Victor Koval Mikael Håfström 2022 Uncharted Gage Ruben Fleischer Samaritan Cyrus / Nemesis II Julius Avery 2023 I.S.S. Alexey Pulov Gabriela Cowperthwaite Hidden Strike Owen Paddock Scott Waugh Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom Kordax James Wan Before It Ends Jacob Anders Walter 2024 'Salem's Lot Richard Straker Gary Dauberman 2026 No Rest for the Wicked Helge Kasper Kalle 2027 Michael B. Jordan Post-production Cary Joji Fukunaga Post-production

Television