Rune Temte

Norwegian actor Rune Temte is an imposing presence on stage and in features and television in his native country before landing his first major English-language role as a Viking warrior in the BBC drama series "The Last Kingdom" (2015- ). Born September 29, 1950 in the village of Solbergelva, Norway, Temte played professional soccer for the Strømsgodset Football club before shifting his focus to acting. He trained at the Academy Theatre Project in Oslo, Norway and the Drama Studio London before making his screen debut in the crime drama "Brun bitter" (1988).

In the mid-to-late '90s, Temte honed his craft on the Norwegian stage, earning critical praise for lead and supporting roles in productions of "Hamlet," "Torch Song Trilogy" and "Richard III." He also appeared regularly in features and on television, playing brawny minor and supporting roles in series like the long-running German crime drama "Tatort" (ARD, 1970- ) and "Lillyhammer" (NRK1/Netflix, 2012-2014), the American-Norwegian comedy-drama with Steven Van Zandt as a mobster hiding out in Scandinavia. In 2015, Temte earned international exposure as Ubba, a ferocious Viking warrior on the BBC series "The Last Kingdom," based on the Saxon Stories series of historical novels by Bernard Cornwell. Temte also landed a featured role as a Norwegian skiing coach in "Eddie the Eagle" (2016), a US/UK/German comedy-drama about the determined, if unsuccessful English ski jumper Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards.