Alternate Best Supporting 2011: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in Headhunters

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau did not receive an Oscar nomination for portraying Clas Greve in Headhunters.

Headhunters is an enjoyable off-beat thriller about an art thief/executive recruiter Roger (Aksel Hennie) who chooses the wrong man to be his next mark.

Now in the lead role we have an atypical leading man in Aksel Hennie, which plays directly into his character. A shorter man so insecure about his relationship with his attractive wife that it is actually his motivation to steal the art. We follow our unusual lead as he goes about ripping people off, and eventually he reaches his next target. This next target looking perhaps the type of man we'd usually follow in the role of an international art thief. That being Clas Greve played by Jamie Lannister himself Nikolaj Coster-Waldau. Coster-Waldau plays into this idea wholeheartedly by embracing a full on charismatic smugness. From his first scene where Roger comes across Clas, as both someone to steal from and for his job as a recruiter, Clas is in a different class (no pun intended) of his own. Coster-Waldau dominates in the way he should, as he brings such an unabashed assurance to the man who seems as though he is absolutely in control of the situation even though Roger decides to use the man as simply another target to steal from.

Coster-Waldau effectively makes Clas a good personification for all of Roger's insecurities as he presents a man who is without doubt, without hesitation, and most importantly Coster-Waldau just exudes self-confidence with that sly grin of his. This is even when Roger begins to find out less savory elements of the man, such as severe scarring on his back, and the fact that he appears to be a former mercenary. Of course nothing helps when it appears that Roger's wife has slept with Clas, and there is a great moment where Roger is pondering this with Coster-Waldau just being so perfectly complacent in his superiority.  The film eventually has its turn when Clas begins to try to kill Roger, though Roger is unsure of the exact reason. Coster-Waldau technically does not switch up his performance as the film shifts into a direct thriller, and in doing so helps the film keep its intended lighter touch.

Coster-Waldau makes for a great sadistic pursuer simply by staying that same smug satisfied self. This works since the man without a personal shame also works for a man without mercy. Coster-Waldau merely reveals that Clas was never really hiding himself in anyway, but rather was simply more literally cutthroat than in the corporate sense. Coster-Waldau certainly brings more than enough menace in his portrayal of a man who is as assured as a hitman, as he is socially. Coster-Waldau carries himself through these scenes as a man whose done it many times before, and killing another is something he is most comfortable with. This is technically a limited performance, much more season one Jamie than season three Jamie, but that's is entirely the point as he stands as such a great contrast to Hennie's performance. Clas is a man without regrets or empathy, and Coster-Waldau realizes that so well through his purposefully constricted performance. This makes the ending all the more satisfying, and Coster-Waldau is equally good in that payoff through the brief moment where Clas's confidence finally slips.