Trivia

Insists on doing her own stunts whenever possible and to the absolute extreme extent a given production will safely permit her to do so.

Still speaks fluent Icelandic after having resided in Iceland for only a few years as a child. When she attended the premier of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) in Iceland, she carried out all her interviews in pitch perfect Icelandic. Also speaks some Spanish and has recently been adding English to the list.

Spoke very little English at the time she finished the Lisbeth Salander trilogy. In a determined attempt to master English as quickly as possible, Noomi watched numerous English language movies with native language subtitles disabled, along with hours of television channels such as BBC, CNN, and miscellaneous TV talk shows.

Fractured her nose in January 2015 when an elbow accidentally hit her face while filming Unlocked (2017). However, she didn't realize the extent of the injury until much later, so, after a brief blackout, she insisted on carrying on with the scene. As of April 2015, the fracture had healed in a broken state (meaning it would need to be re-broken in order to fix it).

Speaks fluent Icelandic, Danish, Norwegian and English in addition to her native Swedish.

Upon marrying, both she and ex-husband Ola Rapace (born Pär Ola Norell) chose to take the surname "Rapace", instead of one spouse taking the name of the other as it is more common. They agreed upon the surname which means "Bird of Prey". The couple has a son, Lev (born 2003).

In 2011, she became the first Swedish actress to be nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in 52 years since Ingrid Bergman was nominated in 1959. Rapace was nominated for her performance in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009).

She used the holes of her old piercings when she was a young punk rocker in her role as Lisbeth Salander in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009).

Is half Spanish, half Swedish. Her mother, Nina Norén, is a Swedish actress. Her father, Rogelio de Badajoz (1953-2007), was a Spanish cantador (a Flamenco singer) from Badajoz. Rogelio may have had Romani ancestry.

Her all-time favorite movies are: Raging Bull (1980), Frances (1982), True Romance (1993), Nil by Mouth (1997) and Bullhead (2011).

Used some of her husband (Ola Rapace)'s clothing for her wardrobe in the Millennium (2010) film series.

Admires strong women roles such as Anne Parillaud as the indomitable La Femme Nikita (1990) and Patricia Arquette's feisty Alabama in True Romance (1993). She was particularly moved by the bloody motel fight scene between Arquette and James Gandolfini, after having watched the movie numerous times.

During her early teens, Noomi went through a period where she aspired to being a punk rocker in the vein of the late Nancy Spungen, one-time girlfriend of Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious.

To date, counts her role in Daisy Diamond (2007) as her greatest emotional stretch as an actress. (2012)

She has one sister, Særún Norén, who is a photographer.

She starred in two movies with her good friend Tom Hardy: The Drop (2014) and Child 44 (2015). They played each other's love interest in both movies.

Has a son Lev Rapace, born on August 21, 2003, the father is actor Ola Rapace.

She was considered to play Gretel in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013), which went to Gemma Arterton.

Said in a December 2021 Metro interview that Dogtooth (2009) was her most admired film because "it takes you to a place where you don't know where you are, it is a film that gives you nightmares and dreams".

In 1996, she made her television debut playing the role of Lucinda Gonzales in the long-running soap opera Tre kronor (1994).

She moved to Iceland with her mother and her stepfather at age five, and had one non-speaking role in an Icelandic movie at age seven. She then decided to be an actress and leave home at age 15 to move to Stockholm, Sweden and begin her acting career.