A biography for Birgitte Hjort Sorensenhasn’t been written yet.
“In many senses, 'Borgen' was a very democratic show. I was always invited to hear the writers' thoughts for the next episodes and allowed to comment on them.”
“On Christmas Eve, we have a duck or roast pork with caramelised potatoes, braised red cabbage and gravy. For dessert, we have ris a l'amande, a rice pudding, and whoever gets the whole almond in it wins an extra present. Then we dance around the tree and sing carols.”
“I adore Copenhagen, where I live, but I'm really drawn to New York.”
“I'd love to play a villain in BBC drama 'Sherlock' - some sort of evil, slinky blonde would be right up my street.”
“If I can iron out my accent, it opens up another world of possible jobs. Whereas if you have that very strong European accent, it leaves you always being cast as the Hungarian maid or the stripper or whatever. I have voice lessons, and my coach has given me different tongue-twisters to rehearse at home.”
“Singing and dancing are the greatest emotional outlets you can have.”
“Whenever I have a few hours to dive into a book, I am happy.”
“Strong female leads make more of an impact in the U.K. than in Denmark.”
“Right before I graduated from the national theatre school, I got the part of Roxie Hart in 'Chicago' in Copenhagen. That led to me playing it here in London. I was 26 when I came over for that. It was the first thing I did as a professional, and it is still the experience of my life.”
“I have a problem with fashion magazines sometimes - they seem to have these dogmas or uniforms. 'This is the way you must look; this is this season's must-have.' I really resent the phrase 'must-have.' I prefer to decide for myself what I think is beautiful or fashionable.”
“In Copenhagen, we all ride bicycles everywhere, partly because it is impossible to park a car, but also because you can cross the city in 20 minutes on a bike.”
“After 'Pitch Perfect' premiered, I've got so many sweet expressions from people who enjoyed 'Pitch Perfect' and now the episode of 'Game of Thrones.'”
“When I approach any script, I always try to find what I would relate to most in it.”
“For me, art is like a big support group, where you go and meet people who think the same way, and you go, 'Okay, I'm not nuts.'”
“In film or TV work, you can have this amazingly dramatic pause, and they'll just edit it out.”
“I've done so much travelling in the past few years, and when you travel, you realise that we do actually have a cool, clean look in Scandinavia - it's not just Denmark - which I think brings peace if you have it in your home.”
“Quite a lot of British women stop working when they have children, and that is rarely the case in Denmark. We have a very flat, structured way of approaching everything. Nobody's the boss. In a sense, we're all equal.”
“I ride my bike past the Danish Parliament, and it's very accessible - there's really no security!”
“The thing with drama is you're allowed to invent people who are maybe slightly better than real people.”
“Usually, when you get early versions of scripts, they are not very good. I found 'Borgen' amazing from the very first read-through because of how fast-paced and gripping it was. It felt more international because of the way it didn't dwell on the characters' personal lives as many Danish shows used to, but still, nobody thought it would travel.”