Getty Nukaaka and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau attend the "Gods Of Egypt" New York Premiere at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13 on February 24, 2016 in New York City.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau portrayed Jaime Lannister on Game of Thrones to much acclaim and praise. Now he’s nominated for an Emmy for his role. Coster-Waldau has been performing on screen since 1994, with his first major role being as Gary Gordon in Black Hawk Down. Game of Thrones, however, is where most viewers first discovered him. For almost 20 years now, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has been married, and he has two children. Here’s what you need to know about the Nukaaka Coster-Waldau, the wife of Nikolaj Coster-Waldau.
1. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s Wife is a Former Miss Greenland
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and his Nukaaka Coster-Waldau arrive to the 2015 GQ Men of the Year ceremony at the Shangri-La hotel in Paris on January 25, 2016.
In 1990, Nukaaka Coster-Waldau became Miss Greenland. She went on to participate in the 1990 Miss Universe Pageant, and she ended up coming in 19th place during the preliminaries.
Nukaaka was born in Uummannaq, Greenland in 1974. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, on the other hand, is from Rudkøbing, Denmark; he was born there in July 1970.
Nikolaj has said that it took some persuading to catch the pageant queen’s eye. He said: “I think it took longer for her. I wore her down. I was just crazy in love.”
He said the keys to staying together for so long included being able to laugh together.
2. She Met Nikolaj While They Were Both Performing in a Radio Play
GettyNukaaka Coster-Waldau and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau attend the 101st Annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton on April 25, 2015 in Washington, DC.
Nukaaka Coster-Waldau is also an actress. In 1997, Nikolaj and Nukaaka both starred in a radio play; according to Bend Weekly, Nikolaj played a pilot who fell in love with a woman from Greenland, and this woman was played by Nukaaka.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau has said that he really fell in love with Nukaaka the moment he first saw her.
“It was really love at first sight — for me,” he told The New York Post. “Not for her. It took awhile for her.” He said that everything changed when he met his wife, and he recalls the precise moment that it happened.
“It was on March 17, 1997, at 8:37 in the morning,” he said in the German edition of Cosmopolitan, according to Pearl & Dean. “I saw her and knew: She’s The One. Even before I’d said one word to her, I told my theatre colleagues, ‘Guys, I’m getting married soon.'”
Indeed, it did not take long for them to get married; the wedding took place the following year, in 1998.
3. She & Nikolaj Were Once in a Movie Together, & Nukaaka Is Also a Singer
That radio play was not the last time that Nikolaj and Nukaaka Coster-Waldau acted in a project together.
In 2008, Nikolaj starred in the Danish movie Himmerland. He played the lead character, and his wife Nukaaka had a smaller role as Sofie’s mother.
Nikolaj and Nukaaka share some screen time in the film, including one scene where they snuggle up in bed together.
Outside of acting, Nukaaka Coster-Waldau is also a singer; she performs as just Nukâka.
4. She Doesn’t Watch ‘Game of Thrones’
Although her husband stars as one of the main characters in it, Nukaaka Coster-Waldau does not watch Game of Thrones.
During an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said that he “dragged” his wife to the premiere of the first episode, but she has never watched the show since then.
It sounds like she hasn’t sworn it off or anything, though, and Nikolaj says that Nukaaka intends to catch up with it at some point.
“She keeps promising that she’ll sit down with a friend and watch it,” he said. “…It’s fine. You can’t say, like, ‘You’ve gotta watch me.'”
5. She & Nikolaj Have Two Children
GettyNikolaj Coster-Waldau attends the premiere of HBO’s “Game Of Thrones” season 7 at Walt Disney Concert Hall on July 12, 2017 in Los Angeles, California.
Nikolaj and Nukaaka Coster-Waldau have two children, teens Philippa and Safina Waldau.
In an interview with The New York Post last year, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau said that he won’t let his kids watch Game of Thrones.
“It’s not something we sit down and enjoy,” he said. “For my kids, it’s just weird to see your dad pretend to be someone else. It’s weird to see your father make out with another woman. It’s not cool.”
He went on to say that he decided not to let them watch the show because he had previously acted in a movie in Denmark, and when his daughter saw the trailer, it upset her.
“In the trailer, there’s a shot of me in tears,” he said. “And she just got really upset. I get that. [Acting] is my job.”
So it’s not that he doesn’t allow them to watch it because of how graphic it is, and in fact Nikolaj has said he lets his daughter watch Orange is the New Black.
“I remember the first time I saw an episode, and two girls were making out like crazy,” he said. “It was a little [much] for me, but she’s 15. She probably knows a lot more about that world than I would like to know…That’s the way it is.”