Childhood & Early Life
Nukâka Coster-Waldau was born on 23 February 1971, in the town of Uummannaq, the only settlement located on a tiny island in the fjords of north-western Greenland, into a family of Inuit, German and Norwegian descent. Her birth name is Sascha Nukâka Motzfeldt.
Her father, Josef Tuusi Motzfeldt, is a Greenlandic politician, who served as Minister for Finance and Foreign Affairs in the Greenland government of 2009–2013. Her mother’s name is Vivi Motzfeldt. She has two sisters named Maja Motzfeldt-Haahr and Nina Motzfeldt Jensen and one brother named Peter Tuusi Motzfeldt.
Little is known about her life until she entered Miss Greenland beauty pageant in 1990 and won the title. Thereafter, she went on to represent her country at the 1990 Miss Universe Pageant; but finished 19th in the preliminaries.
In 1991, she moved to Denmark, where she entered Sangakademiet School, graduating from there in 1992. She would later enter Statens Teaterskole (Danish National School of Theatre and Contemporary Dance) and graduated from there in 2005.
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Career
Nukâka Coster-Waldau began her career as a singer and an actor sometime in mid 1990s, taking part in various stage productions. In 1997, she starred as a Greenlandic woman in a radio play.
In 1998, she debuted in films, appearing as Trommedanser in 'Qaamarngup uummataa' (‘Lysets hjerte’ in Danish and ‘Heart of Light’ in English) and as Jóna in 'Vildspor'. Thereafter, she had to wait for few more years for her next role in a film, meanwhile she kept herself busy in singing.
In 2001, she recorded her first single, ‘Soorlumi Tigoqqusoq’ (The Beautiful Nature). It was released in the same year, as part of a compilation CD album called ‘Various – Zedna’ by Melos Records.
In 2004, she debuted on television, appearing as Sørine Olsen in the ‘Det største offer’ episode of ‘Forsvar'. Thereafter, she took a three-year break, resuming her career in 2007. Meanwhile in 2006, she joined the well-known Norwegian theatre company, Jo Strømgren Kompani, remaining with them till 2008.
In 2007, she returned to the big screen with ‘Hvid nat’ (White Night), a psychological drama film, appearing in it in the role of Camillas veninde. Also in the same year, she received her second television role, appearing as a journalist in four episodes of ‘Forbrydelsen’ (The Killing).
In 2008, she starred in the Danish film, ‘Himmerland’, appearing in the role of the mother of one of the lead characters, Sophie. Also in the same year, she went on a world tour with the play ‘Polaroid’ with Jo Strømgren Kompani.
In 2010, she appeared as Margrethe in the Danish drama film, ‘Eksperimentet’ (The Experiment). In the following year, she joined Switzerland based Christoph Marthaler’s group as an actor and singer and went on a tour with them with the play ‘Plus Minus Nul’
In 2012, she appeared as an Airport Information Officer in her sixth film, ‘Skavengers’. It was followed by ‘Det grå guld’ (2013), appearing in it as TV2 News Anchor. During this period, she also appeared in two episodes of the television series, ‘Aftenshowet’.
In 2014, she appeared in the stage production of ‘Sarfartuut://:Strømsteder’ for Teater freezeProductions and went on a tour with them. Also in the same year, she appeared in two short films; as Sara in ‘Sailor’s Song’ and as Aiko in ‘Echoes of a Ronin’.
In September 2015, she joined Teater Solaris to star in the play ‘Brønden’, giving a very intense performance. The play premiered on October 30, 2015 and earned her great reviews.
In 2016, she joined Greenland-based Inuit Theater Company, an association she continues to maintain till this day. Also in the same year, she appeared as herself in one episode of the Danish television series ‘Ditte & Louise’.
In March 2018, she joined Suluit, a Greenlandic band consisting of several of well-known artists, working with them as a singer and songwriter. Later in October, she joined Yellow Bird Entertainment, a Swedish film and television production company, continuing her association with both the groups till now.
In January 2019, she joined Sagafilm, a leading production company in Iceland. Her latest work, a Danish documentary film entitled ‘A Word for Human’, in which she appeared as herself, was released on 21 March, 2019.
