Even though his family had no artistic background, Mikkelson began displaying exceptional performance skills at a young age. But when he got older, dance was his first love instead of acting. The six-foot-tall Scandinavian actor began taking ballet courses and subsequently spent some time studying choreography at one of the top European schools in Sweden.
And it was in this time frame that he got to know Hanne Jacobsen, the woman he would marry. However, the husband of Jacobsen did not find his professional and artistic life defined by the choreography. So, at 27, he made the decision to give up dancing, moved back to Denmark, and spent all of his free time acting.
When Mads first met, he wasn’t himself. Jacobsen, Hanne
Mads stated in an interview that he first got to know Hanne when the latter was playing a female part in one of his earliest plays, La Cage aux Folles.
The Nordic star told the New York Times the following when asked how they met:
“I met her in La Cage aux Folles while I was dressed like a lady. Something Freudian must be going on there. I believe I was pretty decent, and I was a Chinese girl. I have legs like women’s.”
