Michael Nyqvist, Dragon Tattoo and John Wick actor, dies aged 56
Swedish actor Michael Nyqvist, best known for a leading role in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo Swedish film series, died in Sweden on Tuesday after a year-long battle with lung cancer, his representative said. He was 56.
Nyqvist "passed away quietly surrounded by family" in Stockholm, his spokeswoman Alissa Goodman said in an emailed statement that called him "one of Sweden's most respected and accomplished actors."
"Michael's joy and passion were infectious to those who knew and loved him. His charm and charisma were undeniable, and his love for the arts was felt by all who had the pleasure of working with him," the statement said.
Stockholm-born Nyqvist, who began his career on Swedish television back in the Eighties, rose to international prominence as the complex investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist in the 2009 film adaptations of Swedish author Stieg Larsson's gritty Millennium novel series.
The three-part venture, which was later extended and turned into a longer television series, consisted of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest, and co-starred Noomi Rapace as the enigmatic Lisbeth Salander, the titular tattooed heroine.
The films achieved international acclaim and, inevitably, an English-language adaptation of Larsson's first Millennium novel, starring Daniel Craig as Blomkvist and Rooney Mara as Salander, followed in 2011.
His performance as Blomkvist, which critics later favourably compared to Craig's interpretation of the role, kickstarted Nyqvist's Hollywood career, and he went on to play menacing villains in the Hollywood action films Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011) and John Wick (2014).
On social media, a number of stars, including Gerard Butler, who released a short video tribute, have spoken about their admiration for the actor.
Sending my condolences to Michael Nyqvist and his family. Incredibly talented and an extraordinary human being. My heart is broken. pic.twitter.com/xYm0IK86dE
— Gerard Butler (@GerardButler) June 27, 2017
RIP Michael Nyqvist. A true gentleman, my takeaway from John Wick. Planet earth is down a good man ��
— Dean Winters (@thedeanwinters) June 28, 2017
Fans, too, are sharing their memories of the star, with many fondly recalling his John Wick performance as Russian gangster Viggo Tarasov.
RIP Michael Nyqvist. He was so great in John Wick. He basically sold the entire movie with this one scene. pic.twitter.com/2KOKTjdv5y
— Tristan Cooper (@TristanACooper) June 27, 2017
Among other things, Michael Nyqvist delivered the greatest "Oh." in cinema history #RIPhttps://t.co/jbu3iqGani
— Matt Prigge (@mattprigge) June 27, 2017
In addition to his career as an actor, Nyqvist also made his debut as an author in 2010 with an autobiographical memoir Just After Dreaming, which detailed his quest to find his biological parents three decades after he was adopted as a baby.
He is survived by his wife and two children.