Ola Rapace Biography
Ola Rapace, born Sonny Ola Rapace Jawo on December 3rd, 1971, is a Swedish actor known for his role as Patrice in the 2012 James Bond film Skyfall.
While studying philosophy at the University of Montpellier in France, Rapace discovered his love for acting. He made his screen debut in Lukas Moodysson’s film Together, a bittersweet comedy set in a Stockholm homeshare commune. The film received critical acclaim, winning several awards at international film festivals, including the Paris Film Festival Special Jury Prize.
Ola Rapace’s breakout role came in the popular Swedish TV series Tusenbröder, about a group of handymen who become involved with organized crime. He went on to star as Stefan Lindman in Wallander, based on Henning Mankell’s Kurt Wallander books. He continued to act in several police and crime-related TV shows, including Anna Pihl, Crimes of Passion, Farang, Hassel, and Section Zéro, which he also executive produced.
Ola Rapace’s first English-language film was the independent movie Rancid in 2004. He went on to star as the hitman Patrice as part of the Skyfall cast. He has since worked on Swedish, French, and international projects, including the French science fiction film Ares and Luc Besson’s 2017 French/American film Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets.
In 2018, Ola Rapace played the main antagonist “Jarl Sigurd Bloodhair” in season 3 of the popular Viking drama The Last Kingdom on Netflix and BBC. He also joined the cast of the Danish drama Below the Surface as “Yusef” in its second season in 2019.
Ola Rapace starred alongside Kellan Lutz in Divertimento, an English language French thriller released in 2020. He was also set to reprise his role as Lasse in the sequel to Together, but the director announced in August 2022 that SF Studios had requested a different actor for the part.
