Pilou Asbæk

Johan Philip "Pilou" Asbæk is a Danish actor born on March 2, 1982, in Copenhagen, Denmark. He is widely recognized for his performance as the troubled political spin doctor Kasper Juul in the Danish television drama series Borgen. Globally, he gained prominent visibility portraying the pirate Euron Greyjoy in the HBO series Game of Thrones, as well as playing The Mule in Apple TV+'s adaptation of the Foundation series.

Asbæk was raised in Copenhagen by his parents, Jacob A. Asbæk and Maria Patricia Asbæk, who operated Galerie Asbæk. His father originated from Hammel, while his mother was born in Casablanca, Morocco, to a French mother and a Danish father. He grew up alongside two older brothers, Thomas and Martin. Asbæk received his early education at Herlufsholm School, a boarding school where he participated in drama productions. He later pursued formal theatrical training, graduating from the Danish National School of Performing Arts in the summer of 2008.

In 2008, Asbæk acted in theater productions including Folk og røvere i Kardemomme By and Core. His television career commenced shortly after with a role as soldier David Grüner in a 2009 episode of The Killing. Between 2010 and 2013, he achieved critical acclaim starring in Borgen. He continued his work in Danish television by portraying Didrich, a landowner suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, in the 2014 period series 1864.

Asbæk's film career expanded through multiple collaborations with director Tobias Lindholm. In 2011, he starred as a convict in the prison drama R, a role that earned him both a Robert Award and a Bodil Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role. He followed this with a role in Lindholm's 2012 film A Hijacking, for which he gained weight as part of a method acting process. In 2013, he portrayed the flamboyant tycoon Simon Spies in Sex, Drugs & Taxation.

Following his domestic success, Asbæk transitioned into prominent international feature films. He appeared opposite Scarlett Johansson in the 2014 film Lucy and acted in Bille August's Silent Heart that same year. In 2015, he re-teamed with Lindholm for A War, playing a soldier in Afghanistan. His subsequent film credits include portraying Pontius Pilate in the 2016 remake of Ben-Hur, Batou in Ghost in the Shell in 2017, and Captain Wafner in the 2018 film Overlord.

Beyond feature drama, Asbæk co-hosted the Eurovision Song Contest 2014 in Copenhagen alongside Lise Rønne and Nikolaj Koppel. His additional acting projects include playing police investigator Anders Olsen in Murderous Trance, voicing Mario in the Danish dub of The Super Mario Bros. Movie, appearing in Face to Face 3, and joining the casts of Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom and 'Salem's Lot. He took over the role of The Mule for Season 3 of Foundation.

Over his career, Asbæk received the Berlin International Film Festival's Shooting Stars Award in 2011 and the Ove Sprogøe Prize in 2012. He is married to playwright Anna Bro, his domestic partner since 2008, with whom he has a daughter born in 2012. In January 2022, Asbæk joined the Danish Social Democratic Party to speak out against government refugee policies from within.