Season Five of House of Cards is now available on Netflix. One of the jewels of Seasons 3 and 4 was the character of Victor Petrov, a thinly-disguised Vladimir Putin played by the Danish actor Lars Mikkelsen. (It doesn’t look like he’s back for Season 5, but you might want to rewatch some previous episodes to prep for binge watching the new season.)
Putin is such a rich real-life character, with such an unashamed flair for the inappropriate. In House of Cards, Petrov’s antics are only a shade more outrageous than Putin’s: kissing the American First Lady on the mouth, demanding that the President fire his own wife as UN Ambassador, etc. But Petrov is more sympathetic because he gets to make explicit his perceived need to look strong for his people. Lars Mikkelsen just nails the meaty role of Petrov.
What you might not know is that Lars Mikkelsen is the older brother of a much bigger European movie star, Mads Mikkelsen. You’ll recognize Mads Mikkelsen from After the Wedding and the 2006 Casino Royale (he was the villain with the tears of blood). He won the 2012 Cannes Best Actor award for his performance. in The Hunt. Reportedly, Lars followed his younger brother into acting, which is great for film fans.
