Danish actor Mathilde Arcel has won the best actress prize at the Venice Film Festival for her first lead film role, and says her agent is now fielding calls from abroad.
Arcel received the award on Saturday evening for the period drama “Kvinde, ukendt” (“Woman Unknown”). Speaking to DR’s P1 culture program “K-Live”, she described being completely shocked when the American actor Maggie Gyllenhaal read out her name from the stage, DR reports.
According to DR, the jury was unanimous in giving the prize to Arcel, who is a relatively new name in the industry. Reuters reported the win on 12 September 2026 and noted that she plays a housemaid in the film.
The film also took Venice’s main prize, the Golden Lion, on the same night, as reported by Reuters. Per DR, it is only the second Danish film to win the award in the prize’s 83-year history. Politiken described the result as a rare double victory for the film and its lead actor.
“Kvinde, ukendt” portrays one of many women’s fates in the immediate post-war years. DR notes that the liberation triggered a wave of revenge and vigilantism against people who had dealings with the Germans.
From the job center to Venice
Arcel told Politiken that she left the screening in Venice to attend a meeting at the job center back home. Like many actors, she is on dagpenge when she is not working on a film.
She is 30 years old and the daughter of actor Natasja Arcel and the niece of director Nikolaj Arcel, according to DR. Her earlier screen credits include “Det andet offer” and “Mørkeland.”
Arcel landed at Copenhagen Airport on Sunday carrying the trophy, which she compared to the Goblet of Fire from Harry Potter. She was met by a line of Danish media wanting to hear about the experience, DR reports.
She told DR that the honor has placed a pressure on her shoulders she has not felt before. She said she can be afraid that everything will change, and equally afraid that nothing will.
Arcel said her agent has told her that a lot of calls and interest are now coming in from abroad, and that they need to discuss what happens next. AP reported on 12 September 2026 that she was visibly emotional when accepting the award, part of a run of Danish films drawing international attention.
