Nikolaj Lie Kaas

As Jeppe in The Idiots (1998), Nikolaj Lie Kaas brings vulnerability to a commune comedy whose imitations of disability keep testing our patience. We grew weary of those imitations because Lars von Trier repeats the provocation without finding enough else to say. Kaas is a reason to stay with it, though we cannot recommend the film on the strength of its naturalistic acting alone. His willingness to play someone eccentric or exposed is valuable here, even when the film gives us too little in return.

The role brought him notice, and the Danish comedies that followed put his physical comedy to work. In Anders Thomas Jensen's The Green Butchers (2003), he plays Bjarne and Eigil; Adam's Apples (2005) casts him as Holger. The timing of Kaas's ensemble comedy is a sound reason to follow his recurring partnership with Jensen. We like that he can work broadly without losing the vulnerability that makes the eccentricity worth watching.

The move into international work included Angels & Demons (2009), while The Keeper of Lost Causes (2013) began his run as detective Carl Mørck in the Department Q films. Those credits make clear that eccentric supporting characters are only part of his work. Riders of Justice (2020), in which he plays Otto, returns us to the mixture of comedy and drama that suits him. There is no need to treat the international work as a promotion from the Danish films.

In Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein (2025), he plays Chief Officer Larsen, though the reason we recommend the film is chiefly Jacob Elordi's patient, sad Creature. Isaac's Victor spends too much of his share shouting at machinery. That makes the film worth an evening, but it sends us back to Kaas's Danish comedies for a clearer sense of what he can do. Start with The Green Butchers; approach The Idiots with considerably more caution.