Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman was born and raised in Stockholm, Sweden.[4] His mother, Bitte (Nordström), a therapist, is a Swedish citizen.[5][4] His father, Steve Kinnaman (originally David Kinnaman), is an American-born Swede who was drafted during the Vietnam War and deserted the military from his base in Bangkok.[6][7][8] Kinnaman is a dual citizen of Sweden and the United States.[3][9]
His father, whose family was from the American Midwest, is of Irish and Scottish descent; whereas his maternal grandmother is of Ukrainian Jewish descent.[10][11][12]
He has five sisters, one of whom is actress Melinda Kinnaman (paternal half-sister).[13] During his childhood, Kinnaman learned two languages as he "spoke English with my dad and Swedish with my mom".[4] He spent a year in Del Valle, Texas, as a high school exchange student.[14] Prior, Kinnaman revealed that he grew up with fellow actors Alexander Skarsgård and Noomi Rapace.[15] After graduating from high school, he decided to travel around the world. To finance the trips, he worked in various jobs — as a beer factory line worker and roof-sweeper in Norway, and as a bar manager in the French Alps.[16][17] He then traveled for four to five months at a time over a period of two years in Southeast Asia and South America,[18][19] the latter with fellow Scandinavian actor David Dencik.[20]
Kinnaman began his acting career as a child actor in Swedish soap opera Storstad (1990). His older sister was dating one of the show's directors, and he asked Kinnaman to audition for a part on the show. After portraying Felix Lundström in 22 episodes, he stepped away from acting.[21][22]
Looking to expand his acting career, Kinnaman hired an agent in the United States.[28] It was announced in the spring of 2010 that he would be making his international film debut in the thriller The Darkest Hour, which began filming in Moscow in June 2010 and was released in December 2011.[2] Between April 2011 and August 2014, Kinnaman had a four-season[31] starring role as Detective Stephen Holder in the AMC television series The Killing, based on the Danish television series Forbrydelsen.[32][33] Kinnaman was one of the contenders for the lead roles in Thor (2011)[13][28][34] and Mad Max: Fury Road (2015).[28][24] Although Kinnaman said that he is eager to work and become recognized in the U.S., he added that "I absolutely don't feel that I have to take any role that I can get just because it is the United States. I'm looking for something interesting, I'm still young in my artistry, and I must dare to do things even when there's a risk for failure".[28]
In 2016, Kinnaman played Rick Flag in the Warner Bros. film adaptation of DC Comics anti-hero team Suicide Squad, directed by David Ayer.[38][39] He reprised his role as Rick Flag in its 2021 sequel/soft reboot, The Suicide Squad, directed by James Gunn.[40] He also starred in the independent drama-thriller film Edge of Winter, in which he plays Elliot Baker, a father of two who takes his children on a shooting trip that goes wrong. The film was released on demand on 27 July 2016, and in select theaters on 12 August 2016.[41]
In 2019, Kinnaman played Pete Koslow in Andrea Di Stefano's action thriller film The Informer.[49][50] In 2020, Kinnaman starred as Thomas Steinman in Yuval Adler's post-war thriller The Secrets We Keep.[51] Kinnaman also starred in Jérémie Guez's crime drama Brothers by Blood which was released in the United States in 2021.[52][53][54] In January 2021, it was announced that Kinnaman was cast in Season 4 of the In Treatment reboot at HBO. He will star as Adam, the on and off boyfriend of the main character Dr. Brooke Taylor (played by Uzo Aduba).[55] He also reprised his role as Ed Baldwin in Season 2 of For All Mankind, which aired in 2021.[56]
Between 2022 and 2023, Kinnaman reprised his role as Ed Baldwin in Season 3 of For All Mankind and once again for Season 4, airing in 2022 and 2023 respectively.[57][58]
Personal life
Kinnaman grew up with the condition of pectus excavatum, with a caved-in appearance of the chest. He underwent surgery prior to the filming of Altered Carbon, inserting two metal bars to push the sternum outward in order to correct the deformity.[59][60]
Kinnaman has been a fan of his hometown football club Hammarby IF from an early age.[61]
Due to his constant traveling, Kinnaman's accent is noticeably mixed. While he identifies it as an American accent, he has stated that the "melody" is wrong and has since been working to perfect it.[62]
Kinnaman was married to Swedish tattoo artist Cleo Wattenström from 2015 to 2018.[63][64][65][66] He subsequently began a relationship with Swedish-Australian model Kelly Gale in early 2019.[67] The couple announced their engagement in January 2021.[68]
Legal issues
On 6 August 2021, Kinnaman filed and was granted a temporary restraining order against Gabriella Magnusson, whom he alleged was threatening him in an attempt to extort him after they had been in a brief romantic relationship in late 2018.[69][70] Magnusson denied trying to extort Kinnaman.[71] On 11 August 2021, the Swedish Prosecution Authority confirmed that Kinnaman had been accused of rape in an ongoing investigation.[71] The investigation was closed without prosecution in October 2022.[72]
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