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IMDbPro

Pål Sverre Hagen

  • Actor
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
Pål Sverre Hagen
Three rebellious teenage daughters, a restless mother, a father struggling with potatoes, and maybe some elephants, find themselves in Nairobi. What could possibly go wrong?
Play trailer1:09
Maybe Elephants (2024)
15 Videos
28 Photos
Pål Sverre Hagen is one of Scandinavia's most prominent and versatile actors. His work include more than fifty film and television titles in addition to his substantial stage work. He is perhaps best known for his roles in Oscar nominated Kon-Tiki, Troubled Water, In Order of Disappearance and Amundsen. Most recently his roles in Bent Hamer's The Middleman and Netflix series War Sailor has earned him further acclaim. He also played one of the fun loving but highly questionable lead characters of Exit, one of Scandinavia's most popular TV series ever.

Hagen had his big breakthrough as church organ playing convict in Troubled Water (2008) directed by Erik Poppe.

He achieved world wide recognition for portraying legendary explorer Thor Heyerdahl in the epic historical feature Kon-Tiki (2012) directed by Espen Sandberg and Joachim Rønning. Kon-Tiki was nominated for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award and he won an Amanda award for his role.

He went on to win the best actor award at Austin Fantastic Fest for his role as "the Count", eccentric villain and crime lord in the comedy action feature In Order of Disappearance (2014) alongside Stellan Skarsgård and Bruno Ganz. He also played the antagonist of the Danish thriller A Conspiracy of Faith (2016), both films directed by Hans Petter Moland.

Hagen has also starred in several TV series such as Buzz Aldrin (NRK, 2011), and the highly acclaimed drama series Valkyrien (NRK, 2017), for which he won the Golden Screen Award for Best Actor. His most recent work includes German/Norwegian thriller Furia and Lone Scherfigs hospital drama The Shift.

In 2019, Pål Sverre Hagen stepped into the role of yet another iconic captain and explorer, Roald Amundsen, the first person to reach the South Pole in Espen Sandberg's feature Amundsen (2019). He moved on to TV series Exit (2019) which ended up being seen by almost half of Norways population and continued to run for three seasons. He also finished the shoot of Halo of Stars playing the lead character alongside Lily Collins and Holliday Grainger, directed by Anthony Lucero.

In Bent Hamer's The Middleman he played eccentric opportunist Frank Farelli looking to find a better life in the fictional American town of Karmack. The role earned Hagen an Amanda Award and a Golden Silk Road Award.

His roles as working class family man in drama comedy Diana's Wedding, stubborn loner Johan in Every body hates Johan, and involuntary war hero Sigbjørn in War Sailor ads to his body of work and continues to prove his ability to shape shift into an incredibly wide range of characters.
BornNovember 6, 1980
  • More at IMDbPro
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    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornNovember 6, 1980
IMDbProStarmeterSee rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 8 wins & 5 nominations total

    Photos28

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    Known for

    Stellan Skarsgård in In Order of Disappearance (2014)
    In Order of Disappearance
    7.1
    • Ole 'Greven' Forsby
    • 2014
    Kon-Tiki (2012)
    Kon-Tiki
    7.1
    • Thor Heyerdahl(as Pål Hagen)
    • 2012
    Glenn Close, Noomi Rapace, and Christian Rubeck in What Happened to Monday (2017)
    What Happened to Monday
    6.8
    • Jerry
    • 2017
    The Middle Man (2021)
    The Middle Man
    5.9
    • Frank
    • 2021

    Credits

    Edit
    IMDbPro

    Actor



    • X
      • Simen
      • Post-production
    • The End of It
      • In Production
    • Halo of Stars
      • The Man
      • Post-production



    • Elli Rhiannon Müller Osborne in Requiem for Selina (2025)
      Requiem for Selina
      7.6
      TV Series
      • Nikolaj
      • 2025
    • Blindspår (2025)
      Blindspår
      5.0
      TV Series
      • Magnus Lyng
      • 2025
    • Josephine Bornebusch, Sigrid Johnson, Olle Tikkakoski, and Pål Sverre Hagen in Let Go (2024)
      Let Go
      7.0
      • Gustav
      • 2024
    • Maybe Elephants (2024)
      Maybe Elephants
      7.5
      Short
      • 2024
    • Pål Sverre Hagen and Ine Marie Wilmann in Furia (2021)
      Furia
      7.1
      TV Series
      • Asgeir
      • 2021–2023
    • Kristoffer Joner and Ine Marie Wilmann in War Sailor (2023)
      War Sailor
      7.2
      TV Mini Series
      • Sigbjørn
      • 2023
    • Jon Øigarden, Agnes Kittelsen, Pål Sverre Hagen, Simon J. Berger, Ine Marie Wilmann, and Tobias Santelmann in Exit (2019)
      Exit
      8.2
      TV Series
      • William Bergvik
      • 2019–2023
    • War Sailor (2022)
      War Sailor
      7.3
      • Sigbjørn
      • 2022
    • The Shift (2022)
      The Shift
      7.4
      TV Series
      • Jerry
      • 2022
    • Everybody Hates Johan (2022)
      Everybody Hates Johan
      6.8
      • Johan Grande
      • 2022
    • Nicolai Cleve Broch and Krista Kosonen in Beforeigners (2019)
      Beforeigners
      7.7
      TV Series
      • The Doctorand
      • 2019–2021
    • The Middle Man (2021)
      The Middle Man
      5.9
      • Frank
      • 2021
    • Pål Sverre Hagen and Marie Blokhus in Dianas bryllup (2020)
      Dianas bryllup
      6.4
      • Terje
      • 2020
    • Operasjon Mumie (2019)
      Operasjon Mumie
      5.6
      • Onkel Fred
      • 2019
    • Christian Rubeck, Pål Sverre Hagen, and Katherine Waterston in Amundsen (2019)
      Amundsen
      6.2
      • Roald Amundsen
      • 2019

    Videos15

    Kon-Tiki
    Clip 0:56
    Kon-Tiki
    Kon-Tiki
    Clip 1:01
    Kon-Tiki
    Kon-Tiki
    Clip 1:01
    Kon-Tiki
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 1:09
    Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:31
    Official Trailer
    Official Trailer
    Trailer 2:31
    Official Trailer
    Trailer
    Trailer 5:35
    Trailer

    Personal details

    Edit
    • Alternative names
      • Pal Sverre Hagen
    • Height
      • 6′ 5½″ (1.97 m)
    • Born
      • November 6, 1980
      • Stavanger, Norway
    • Parents
        Anne Ruth Valheim

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Quotes
      [describing his role as Greven (The Count) in the film In Order of Disappearance] He's probably the character I've hated the most.
    • Trademarks
        Ocean blue eyes

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