COPENHAGEN, Denamrk (CNN) -- What makes someone decide to become an actor? It sometimes seems as if the average Hollywood star is motivated mainly by the promise of a fat pay check. Connie Nielsen shot to fame playing Lucilla in "Gladiator." Or perhaps they're drawn to the celebrity lifestyle. Maybe they crave the love of an adoring public, or perhaps they see the movies as a way to leave their mark on the world, to be immortalized on celluloid. For Danish actress Connie Nielsen it was something quite different. For her, being an actor means being an outsider. "As an artist you actually do have to make a choice to be an outsider. If you're an outsider you have the freedom to say what people on the inside don't dare to say," she told CNN.
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Connie Nielsen made her name playing Lucilla in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator"
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She has appeared in movies dealing with the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq
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Nielsen speaks seven languages and is passionate about art and literature
Playing his wife, Nielsen put in a powerful performance that won her awards and served to highlight how @placeholder had underused her talents.