Peter Stormare

Rolf Peter Ingvar Stormare (Swedish: [ˈpěːtɛr ˈstɔ̂rːmarɛ] ^ⓘ; né Storm, 27 August 1953) is a Swedish and American actor. He rose to prominence in Sweden for playing Hamlet for Ingmar Bergman in his 1988 production of the play, and in America for portraying Gaear Grimsrud in the film Fargo (1996). He has appeared in films including The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), The Big Lebowski (1998), Armageddon (1998), Dancer in the Dark (2000), Minority Report (2002), Bad Boys II (2003), Birth (2004), Constantine (2005), Nacho Libre (2006), 22 Jump Street (2014), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), and Until Dawn (2025).

On television, he portrayed John Abruzzi in Prison Break (2005–2007). He has also appeared in video games such as Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (2008), Mercenaries 2: World in Flames (2008) Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 (2012), The Elder Scrolls Online (2014), Destiny (2014), and Until Dawn (2015).

Early life

Rolf Peter Ingvar Storm was born in Kumla, Sweden, on 27 August 1953. His family moved to Arbrå.^[when?] He attended the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm, where he studied acting. He changed his surname when he discovered he shared it with a senior student at acting academy. Before settling on Stormare, he briefly contemplated changing his name to Retep Mrots, which is "Peter Storm" backwards. Stormare means "stormer" in Swedish.

Career

Acting

Stormare starred in Ingmar Bergman's production of Hamlet; Hilary DeVries of The Christian Science Monitor wrote: "in the electrifying lead performance by Peter Stormare, Hamlet is, for all his Angst-filled poses and dark glasses, no hamstrung cliche but Denmark's only ballast between the debauched Claudius and the fascistic Fortinbras."

Known for playing different nationalities: an American in The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997), a German in The Big Lebowski (1998), an Italian in The Brothers Grimm (2005) and Prison Break (2005), a Frenchman in Chocolat (2000), and a Russian in Armageddon (1998), Bad Boys II (2003) and Siberian Education (2013).

In February 2006, he starred as Wolfgang in Volkswagen's VDub series of television commercials. He played the main character in the film Svartvattnet, which was filmed in Sweden and Norway in 2007. He was offered a role in the ABC television series Lost for a period of one year, which he declined. In the 2007 film Premonition, he played Dr. Roth. In April 2007, he appeared in the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation episode "Ending Happy".

In 2011, he appeared alongside Kevin Spacey and Daniel Wu in the Chinese film Inseparable, which premiered at the 2011 Busan International Film Festival.

In 2014, he appeared in episodes of Longmire, Arrow, and The Blacklist, and starred in the Eli Roth–produced film Clown.

In 2016, he played Rutger Burlin in the Swedish television series Midnattssol; he also co-created, and starred as Ingmar in, the web television series Swedish Dicks, which was renewed for a second season in October 2016. In 2017, he played a minor role in John Wick: Chapter 2 and the part of Czernobog on the Starz series American Gods. He played the vampire Godbrand in the Netflix animated series Castlevania.

Stormare voiced Mattias Nilsson in the video games Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction and Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Isair in the video game Icewind Dale 2, and Johann Strauss in Quake 4. In 2015, he voiced and motion-captured Dr. Alan J. Hill in the video game Until Dawn. He reprised his role in the film adaptation which was released in April 2025. On November 7, 2025, Stormare appeared on the ABC Daytime soap opera General Hospital.

Music

After Bono of U2 heard some of Stormare's music, he encouraged Stormare to make an album. In 2002, Stormare released his first album, Dallerpölsa och småfåglar. He plays in a band called Blonde from Fargo and runs a record label called StormVox.

He appeared in the music video of the song "Uprising" by the Swedish power metal band Sabaton.

He appeared in the clips "Steh Auf" and "Frau & Mann" of metal project Lindemann.

In 2019, he appeared in the music video of the song "Graven" by the U.S. death metal band Possessed.

In 2026, He appeared in the music video of the song "One on One" by the Swedish Glam Metal band Europe.

Personal life

Stormare divides his time between the United States and Sweden. He married actress Karen Sillas in 1989, and they divorced in 2006. He married Toshimi Murakami, a native of Japan, in 2008. Their daughter was born in 2009. They reside in Los Angeles. Stormare is a dual citizen of Sweden and the United States, having naturalized as an American citizen during the late 1990s.

Peter Stormare is the godfather of actor Gustaf Skarsgård.^{[citation needed]}

Stormare is a Christian and has said that he has had contact with God. When he was young, he participated in Baptist meetings in Arbrå. He has a strong spiritual side, inherited from his mother, who he has said was a medium, and who supposedly inherited that ability from her own father.

Filmography

Video games

• 2002 — Icewind Dale II — Isair
• 2004 — The Bard's Tale — Additional voices
• 2005 — Quake 4 — Johann Strauss
• 2005 — Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction — Mattias Nilsson
• 2008 — Mercenaries 2: World in Flames — Mattias Nilsson
• 2008 — Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 — Dr. Gregor Zelinsky
• 2009 — Wanted: Weapons of Fate — The Immortal
• 2010 — Prison Break: The Conspiracy — John Abruzzi
• 2012 — The Secret World — Dr. Aldini, Huiginn, Muninn
• 2012 — Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 — The Replacer
• 2014 — The Elder Scrolls Online — Jorunn The Skald King
• 2014 — Destiny — Arach Jalaal
• 2015 — Lego Jurassic World — Dieter Stark
• 2015 — Until Dawn — Dr. Alan J. Hill
• 2016 — Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 — The Replacer
• 2017 — The Elder Scrolls Online: Morrowind — Jorunn The Skald King
• 2017 — King of the Dancehall — Pierce Davidson
• 2017 — Destiny 2 — Arach Jalaal
• 2018 — The Elder Scrolls Online: Summerset — Jorunn The Skald King
• 2019 — The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr — Jorunn The Skald King
• 2019 — Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 — The Replacer
• 2020 — The Elder Scrolls Online: Greymoor — Jorunn The Skald King
• 2020 — Fast & Furious Crossroads — Ormstrid
• 2021 — The Elder Scrolls Online: Blackwood — Jorunn The Skald King
• 2024 — Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 — The Replacer
• 2025 — Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 — The Replacer
• 2025 — Fresh Tracks — Sogvar (God of Metal)
• 2027 — Until Dawn 2 — Dr. Alan J. Hill

Music videos

• 2007 — The Poodles — "Seven Seas"
• 2010 — Sabaton — "Uprising"
• 2013 — Susan James — “Driving Toward The Sun”
• 2019 — Possessed — "Graven"
• 2019 — Lindemann — "Steh Auf"
• 2019 — Lindemann — "Frau & Mann"
• 2024 — Pain — "Go With The Flow"
• 2026 — Europe — "One on One"

Discography

• 2002 — Dallerpölsa och småfåglar
• 2004 — Swänska hwisor vol 1
• 2005 — Lebowski-Fest 2005