Joel Kinnaman facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Joel Kinnaman
Kinnaman in 2016
Born	Charles Joel Nordström Kinnaman (1979-11-25) 25 November 1979 (age 45) Stockholm, Sweden
Citizenship	Sweden United States
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1990–present
Spouse(s)	Cleo Wattenström ​ ​ (m. 2015; div. 2018)​ Kelly Gale ​ (m. 2024)​
Relatives	Melinda Kinnaman (half-sister)

Joel Kinnaman (born on November 25, 1979) is an actor from Sweden and the United States. He became well-known for his roles in the Swedish film Easy Money (2010) and the Johan Falk crime series.

Internationally, Joel Kinnaman is famous for his TV roles. He played Detective Stephen Holder in AMC's The Killing. He was also Takeshi Kovacs in the first season of Altered Carbon. Another big role was Governor Will Conway in the American show House of Cards.

In movies, he played Alex Murphy in the 2014 RoboCop remake. He also starred as Rick Flag in the DC Comics superhero films Suicide Squad (2016) and The Suicide Squad (2021). Since 2019, he has been playing NASA astronaut Ed Baldwin in the Apple TV+ science fiction series For All Mankind.

Early Life and Background

Joel Kinnaman was born and grew up in Stockholm, Sweden. His mother, Bitte Nordström, is Swedish and works as a therapist. His father, Steve Kinnaman, is American.

Joel has citizenship in both Sweden and the United States. His father's family came from the American Midwest and has Irish and Scottish roots. His mother's grandmother was from Ukraine.

He has five sisters, and one of them, Melinda Kinnaman, is also an actress. Joel learned two languages as a child. He spoke English with his dad and Swedish with his mom.

He grew up with other actors like Alexander Skarsgård and Noomi Rapace. He spent a year in Del Valle, Texas, as a high school exchange student. After high school, he decided to travel the world. He worked different jobs to pay for his trips. He worked in a beer factory in Norway and managed a bar in the French Alps. He traveled for several months at a time in Southeast Asia and South America.

Acting Career Highlights

Kinnaman at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con to promote Suicide Squad

Joel Kinnaman started acting when he was a child. He appeared in the Swedish TV show Storstad in 1990. His older sister was dating one of the show's directors, who asked Joel to try out for a part. He played Felix Lundström in 22 episodes. After that, he took a break from acting.

He began acting again in 2002. While studying at drama school, he appeared in films like Hannah med H. He also performed in plays at the Backa Theatre in Gothenburg. He finished his drama studies in 2007. That same year, he gained attention for his role in a play called Crime and Punishment.

In 2009, he starred in the film In Your Veins. He also played a police informant in six films of the Johan Falk series. His role in the film Easy Money (2010) made him very popular in Sweden. This role also helped him become known in the international film world. He won a Guldbagge Award for his performance.

Breaking into Hollywood

To expand his acting career, Joel Kinnaman got an agent in the United States. In 2010, it was announced he would make his first international film. This was the thriller The Darkest Hour, released in 2011.

From 2011 to 2014, Kinnaman had a main role in the AMC TV series The Killing. He played Detective Stephen Holder for four seasons. He was also considered for lead roles in big movies like Thor (2011).

In 2012, he worked again with Easy Money director Daniel Espinosa in the Hollywood film Safe House. He also starred in the indie film Lola Versus. On March 3, 2012, it was confirmed that Kinnaman would play the main role of Alex James Murphy/RoboCop. This was in the remake of the 1987 movie RoboCop. The film came out in February 2014. In 2015, he appeared in the action thriller Run All Night.

Superhero and Streaming Roles

In 2016, Kinnaman played Rick Flag in the Warner Bros. film Suicide Squad. This movie was about a team of anti-heroes from DC Comics. He played Rick Flag again in the 2021 sequel, The Suicide Squad. He also starred in the drama-thriller film Edge of Winter. In this movie, he played Elliot Baker, a father whose shooting trip with his children goes wrong.

Between 2016 and 2019, Kinnaman worked on several shows for streaming services. He played Governor Will Conway in Seasons 4 and 5 of House of Cards on Netflix. He also played the main character, Takeshi Kovacs, in Netflix's Altered Carbon. This show was based on a science fiction novel.

In 2019, Kinnaman starred as Erik in the Amazon Prime Video series Hanna. This show was based on a 2011 action film. Since 2019, Kinnaman has been playing NASA astronaut Ed Baldwin. This is in the Apple TV+ science fiction drama series For All Mankind. He continued this role in Season 2, 3, and 4 of the show.

In 2019, Kinnaman played Pete Koslow in the action thriller film The Informer. In 2020, he starred as Thomas Steinman in the post-war thriller The Secrets We Keep. He also appeared in the crime drama Brothers by Blood, released in 2021. In 2021, Kinnaman was cast as Adam in Season 4 of the In Treatment series on HBO.

Personal Life

Joel Kinnaman grew up with a condition called pectus excavatum. This means his chest had a caved-in appearance. He had surgery before filming Altered Carbon to correct this.

He is a big fan of his hometown football club, Hammarby IF.

Because he travels a lot, Joel Kinnaman's accent is a mix of different sounds. He says it's an American accent, but he has worked to make it sound more natural.

Joel Kinnaman was married to Swedish tattoo artist Cleo Wattenström from 2015 to 2018. He then started a relationship with Swedish-Australian model Kelly Gale in early 2019. They announced their engagement in January 2021. Kelly Gale confirmed on Instagram that they got married in 2024.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Den osynlige	Kalle
2003	Hannah med H	Andreas
2005	Tjenare kungen	Dickan
	Storm	Bartender
2007	Arn – The Knight Templar	Sverker Karlsson
2008	Arn – The Kingdom at Road's End	Sverker Karlsson
2009	In Your Veins	Erik
	Johan Falk – Gruppen för särskilda insatser	Frank Wagner
	Johan Falk – Vapenbröder
	Johan Falk – National Target
	Johan Falk – Leo Gaut
	Johan Falk – Operation Näktergal
	Johan Falk – De fredlösa
	Simon & Malou	Stefan
2010	Easy Money	Johan "JW" Westlund
2011	The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo	Christer Malm
	The Darkest Hour	Skyler
2012	Safe House	Keller
	Lola Versus	Luke
	Easy Money II: Hard to Kill	Johan "JW" Westlund
	Johan Falk – Spelets regler	Frank Wagner
	Johan Falk – De 107 patrioterna
	Johan Falk – Alla råns moder
	Johan Falk – Organizatsija Karayan
	Johan Falk – Barninfiltratören
	Johan Falk – Kodnamn Lisa
2013	Easy Money III: Life Deluxe	Johan "JW" Westlund
2014	RoboCop	Alex Murphy / RoboCop
2015	Knight of Cups	Errol
	Run All Night	Mike Conlon
	Child 44	Wasilij Nikitin
2016	Suicide Squad	Rick Flag
	Edge of Winter	Elliot Baker
2019	The Informer	Pete Koslow
2020	Brothers by Blood	Michael Flood
	The Secrets We Keep	Thomas Steinman
2021	The Suicide Squad	Rick Flag
2023	Sympathy for the Devil	The Driver / David Chamberlain / James Levine
	Silent Night	Brian Godlock	Also executive producer
2024	The Silent Hour	Detective Frank Shaw
TBA	The Beast	Agent Taft	Filming
	Ice Fall	TBA	Post-production

Television

Awards and Nominations

See also

In Spanish: Joel Kinnaman para niños