IMDB · Instagram · TheMovieDB.com · TV Maze

Producer · Actor

1980-08-08 · Freiburg, Baden-Württemberg, West Germany · Male

14 series in the catalog

Tobias Santelmann is a German-born Norwegian actor. He is best known for starring in the Academy Award-nominated film Kon-Tiki (2012). In 2026 Santelmann starred as Harry Hole in the Netflix series Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole.

His credits also include Hercules (2014), Point Break (2015), The Heavy Water War (2015), Grenseland (2017), The Last Kingdom (2015–2018), Atlantic Crossing (2020), Those Who Kill (2021), and Exit (2019–2023).

Early life and education

Tobias Santelmann was born in Freiburg, Germany. He moved with his family to Norway when he was young. He was raised in Lindesnes Municipality in south Norway, later moving to Oslo when he was 16 years old.

He studied at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts, graduating in 2006.

Career

Santelmann worked at The Norwegian Theatre in Oslo with appearances in The Castle, The Good Person of Szechwan, and Nora. His screen credits include Norwegian films like Kon-Tiki (2012), Flukt (2012), Jag Etter Vind (Chase the wind) (2013), and Jeg er din (I Am Yours) (2013). Santelmann's film work outside Norway includes supporting performances in the films Hercules (2014), and Point Break (2015), and a starring role in the BBC television series The Last Kingdom (2015–2018).

From 2019 to 2023, Santelmann played Henrik in Exit, a series in three seasons that described the decadent lives of four men in Oslo's finance elites. It became the most streamed series in the history of Norwegian national television.

In 2021, he played the role of a serial killer in the mini series Those Who Kill.

In 2020, Santelmann, though relatively unknown in the United States, was chosen to play Prince Olav in the TV series Atlantic Crossing, a joint Norway/US production, alongside Sofia Helin and Kyle MacLachlan.

In 2026 Santelmann stars as Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole in the Netflix series Jo Nesbø's Detective Hole.