Tobias Santelmann: The Villain Era — From The Last Kingdom to Norway’s Darkest Roles
For three seasons of the BBC’s The Last Kingdom, Tobias Santelmann was Ragnar — the Viking warlord who was loyal, charismatic and essentially heroic. Audiences across Europe and North America loved him for it. And then Santelmann did something interesting: he spent the next decade proving he could be the opposite.
Since hanging up Ragnar’s sword, the German-born, Norway-raised actor has specialised in characters audiences love to be unsettled by: the morally corrosive financier Henrik Kranz in Exit, the disturbed serial killer Peter Vinge in Those Who Kill. Where his early international fame was built on playing the good man in a brutal world, his mature career has been defined by men who are the brutal world.
From Stage to Viking Hero
Santelmann, born 8 August 1980 in Freiburg, Germany, was raised in the coastal town of Lindesnes after his family emigrated to Norway, and he graduated from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts in 2006. Like many of Norway’s strongest screen actors, he began on the boards — his early professional work at the Norwegian Theatre included The Castle, The Good Person of Szechwan and Nora — before the camera found him.
His breakthrough came in 2012 as Knut Haugland in Kon-Tiki, the Oscar-nominated dramatisation of Thor Heyerdahl’s Pacific expedition. Hollywood followed with supporting parts in Hercules (2014) and the Point Break remake (2015) — but it was The Last Kingdom (2015–2018) that made him a name. As Ragnar, the brother-figure to Uhtred, he embodied a very particular kind of screen magnetism: honourable, physical, warm. It is a performance his fans still quote.
Henrik: The Turn Toward Darkness
From 2019 to 2023, Santelmann anchored the Norwegian hit series Exit as Henrik Kranz — one of four Oslo finance elites whose decadent, drug-fuelled lives the show dissects. Henrik is charismatic, funny, terrifying and pitiable by turns: a man with every privilege who cannot stop consuming himself. The performance was widely praised, and the series went on to become the most-streamed show in the history of Norwegian national television.
What makes Henrik such a landmark role is how far he sits from Ragnar. The Viking was defined by loyalty; the financier is defined by appetite. Santelmann plays the emptiness without asking for sympathy — and the character’s collapse across three seasons is some of the most psychologically detailed acting ever shown on Norwegian television.
Peter Vinge: Going Further Still
In 2021, Santelmann went darker still, taking on Peter Vinge — a disturbed serial killer — in the psychological crime series Darkness: Those Who Kill. If Henrik was a man destroying himself, Vinge is a man built to destroy others, and the role confirmed what Exit had suggested: that Santelmann’s range runs straight into the cold.
It is worth noting that he sandwiched these turns between roles that show the other end of the spectrum — Prince Olav in the internationally co-produced Atlantic Crossing (2020), a performance of dignity opposite Sofia Helin and Kyle MacLachlan. The point is not that Santelmann only plays monsters; it is that he can play monsters as convincingly as he once played heroes.
The Identity Beneath the Roles
There is an intriguing thread running through Santelmann’s casting. Born in Germany and raised in Norway, he has often played men caught between worlds: the Viking who stands between cultures in The Last Kingdom, the Norwegian elite who live like expatriates from their own conscience in Exit, the historical prince navigating wartime exile in Atlantic Crossing. His own biography — an immigrant kid from Lindesnes who made it to the world stage — gives him an outsider’s eye that serves both hero and villain.
The Stage Foundation Beneath the Darkness
It is no accident that Santelmann excels at heaviness. His training at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts and his early years at the Norwegian Theatre gave him the classical toolkit — voice, stillness, the ability to hold a long scene without flinching — that darker roles demand. Villains played by lesser actors become cartoons; Santelmann’s Henrik and Vinge stay human, which is what makes them frightening.
He has also shown range far beyond the Nordic noir circuit: a turn in HBO’s Beforeigners, the crime drama Grenseland (Borderliner), a 2015 appearance in Homeland, and voice work in family animation. The through-line is an actor who treats every genre with the same seriousness he brought to the stage — the very quality that made him, alongside his Kon-Tiki co-star Pål Sverre Hagen, part of what directors called “a new breed of Norwegian actors.”
What’s Next: Harry Hole
The most anticipated chapter is still to come. Santelmann has been cast as the title role in Netflix’s Jo Nesbø’s Detective Hole, the long-awaited adaptation of the bestselling crime novels, set for release in 2026. Harry Hole is one of Scandinavian fiction’s great tortured investigators — alcoholic, brilliant, self-destructive — and it is a part that sits precisely at the intersection of everything Santelmann has been building toward: the damaged man with a code, the darkness with a pulse.
From the Viking hero to the killer to the broken detective, Tobias Santelmann’s career reads like a slow descent into ever-more-complex shadows — and it has made him, arguably, the most compelling screen actor Norway currently has.
Tobias Santelmann: Career Timeline
From Viking hero to serial killer to broken detective, the Tobias Santelmann villain roles in Exit and The Last Kingdom bookend one of Norwegian television’s most deliberate career arcs.
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1980 | Born 8 August 1980 in Freiburg, Germany |
| 1980s | Family emigrates to Norway; he grows up in Lindesnes on the south coast |
| 2006 | Graduates from the Oslo National Academy of the Arts |
| 2006–2012 | Professional stage work at the Norwegian Theatre, including The Castle, The Good Person of Szechwan and Nora |
| 2012 | Plays Knut Haugland in Kon-Tiki, the Oscar-nominated Heyerdahl epic |
| 2014 | Hollywood debut in Hercules |
| 2015 | The Point Break remake; a guest appearance in Homeland |
| 2015–2018 | Ragnar in The Last Kingdom — three seasons on the BBC |
| 2019–2023 | Henrik Kranz in Exit — three seasons, the most-streamed show in Norwegian TV history |
| 2020 | Prince Olav in Atlantic Crossing, opposite Sofia Helin and Kyle MacLachlan |
| 2021 | Peter Vinge, the serial killer in Darkness: Those Who Kill; also appears in HBO’s Beforeigners |
| 2026 | Cast as Harry Hole in Netflix’s Detective Hole, the Jo Nesbø adaptation set for release in 2026 |
Key Facts & Numbers
- Born: 8 August 1980, Freiburg, Germany; raised in Lindesnes, Norway
- Training: Oslo National Academy of the Arts, graduated 2006
- The Last Kingdom: 3 seasons as the heroic Ragnar (2015–2018)
- Exit: 3 seasons as Henrik Kranz; the series became the most-streamed show in Norwegian television history
- Darkest role: Peter Vinge, the serial killer in Darkness: Those Who Kill (2021)
- Next chapter: the title role in Netflix’s Detective Hole (2026)
The Anatomy of a Santelmann Villain
What makes the Tobias Santelmann villain roles work is how un-villainous they begin. His stage training gives him the two tools that separate great screen villains from cartoon ones: stillness and charm. Henrik Kranz in Exit is funny before he is frightening, magnetic before he is monstrous — and Santelmann plays the hollowness without asking for sympathy, which is precisely what makes the character linger. Where Ragnar was defined by loyalty, Henrik is defined by appetite; where Ragnar protected his people, Henrik consumes everything around him, including himself.
Peter Vinge pushed the dial further into the cold. If Henrik is a man destroying himself, Vinge is a man built to destroy others, and Santelmann plays him with the same human specificity — no tics, no scenery-chewing, just a flatness that reads as danger. The upcoming Harry Hole sits exactly at the intersection of the two eras: the damaged man with a code, the hero who carries the villain’s shadow. It is the role his whole career has been rehearsing for.
Tracking Down the Villain Era
For viewers wanting to trace the descent: The Last Kingdom is available on Netflix, where Ragnar’s three-season arc still holds up as the heroic baseline. Exit streams on NRK in Norway, with international availability varying by region — it is the essential text of the villain era. Darkness: Those Who Kill and Atlantic Crossing round out the picture: the monster and the prince, played by the same actor within a year of each other.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who does Tobias Santelmann play in Exit?
He plays Henrik Kranz, one of four Oslo finance elites whose decadent, drug-fuelled lives the series dissects across three seasons (2019–2023). Henrik is charismatic, funny and terrifying by turns — a man with every privilege who cannot stop consuming himself.
Why did Tobias Santelmann leave The Last Kingdom?
His character Ragnar was killed off in the third season (2018), which ended Santelmann’s run on the BBC series. The exit was a storyline decision, not a behind-the-scenes dispute.
Is Tobias Santelmann German or Norwegian?
Both, in a sense: he was born in Freiburg, Germany, in 1980 and raised in Lindesnes, Norway, after his family emigrated. He is generally described as a German-born Norwegian actor.
What is Tobias Santelmann’s darkest role?
Peter Vinge, the disturbed serial killer in the 2021 psychological crime series Darkness: Those Who Kill — a step beyond even Henrik Kranz in coldness.
Will Tobias Santelmann play Harry Hole?
Yes. He has been cast in the title role of Netflix’s Detective Hole, the long-awaited adaptation of Jo Nesbø’s bestselling crime novels, set for release in 2026.
Where should I start watching Tobias Santelmann?
Start with Exit for the villain era at its peak, then The Last Kingdom to see the heroic Ragnar he was famous for first — the contrast is the whole point of his career.
Sources & Further Reading
Read next: Why Fredrik Skavlan Ended Scandinavia’s Biggest Talk Show | Eili Harboe: Life After ‘Thelma’ on Norway’s Indie-Film Path
