While the Foreign Press Association didn’t nominate Swedish actress Noomi Rapace for her screen portrayal of Lisbeth Salander in the Millenium films, she surprised critics after earning a best actress nomination on Monday for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo for the 16th annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.
The selection of Rapace by the Broadcast Film Critics Assocation has fuelled speculation that she may receive further nominations for a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award or even an Oscar.
Rapace is up against American actresses Annette Bening, Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Lawrence, Natalie Portman and Michelle Williams for the Critics’ Choice award.
In a Better World, directed by Danish director Susanne Bier, faces competition from Mexican-Spanish co-production Biutiful starring Javier Bardem, France’s The Concert, Russia’s The Edge and Italy’s I am Love for the Golden Globe award.
In the film, Persbrandt plays the lead role of Anton, a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark and his work at an African refugee camp.
Earlier this month, he landed the role of Beorn in The Hobbit Parts 1 and 2, the prequels to the Lord of the Rings. Separately, Rapace will appear in Sherlock Holmes 2 opposite Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law.
The Swedish-Danish co-production was released in Sweden on October 1st and will premiere in the US next month at the Sundance Film Festival out of competition.
It also won the Marc Aurelio Audience Award for Best Film at the 2010 Rome International Film Festival last month and has been submitted as a candidate for the foreign-language film Oscar representing Denmark.
The 68th annual Golden Globe Awards will be presented on January 16th, 2011 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, while the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards will be announced two days earlier.
