:Jasper Pääkkönen

Pääkkönen was born in Helsinki, the son of actor Seppo Pääkkönen and Virve Havelin.{{Cite web |url=http://metrolive.fi/starat/profiili/71/jasper-paakkonen/ |title=Jasper Pääkkönen | Metro Live |access-date=21 June 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204062526/http://metrolive.fi/starat/profiili/71/jasper-paakkonen/ |archive-date=4 February 2012 |url-status=dead }} His uncle Antti Pääkkönen is also an actor, and is a prolific voice actor.{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/artist/4460009-Antti-P%C3%A4%C3%A4kk%C3%B6nen-3|title=Antti Pääkkönen - Discogs|work=Discogs|access-date=23 March 2019}}{{cite web|url=http://www.helsinkitimes.fi/lifestyle/9391-mickey-mouse-speaks-finnish-in-my-falsetto-voice.html|title=Mickey Mouse speaks Finnish in my falsetto voice|work=Helsinki Times|date=16 February 2014|access-date=23 March 2019}} Already as a child, Pääkkönen was a theater assistant and attended Kallio Upper Secondary School of Performing Arts in Kallio, Helsinki. When Pääkkönen was 17, he spent a year in Maryland as an exchange student at Baltimore's Owings Mills High School during the 1997–98 school year.{{cite news |last1=Nikolov |first1=Nikolay |title=Why Spike Lee cast a Finnish actor as the most fanatical white supremacist in 'BlacKkKlansman' |url=https://mashable.com/article/jasper-paakkonen-blackkklansman-spike-lee/?europe=true |access-date=21 December 2019 |publisher=Mashable |date=25 October 2018}}

File:The Director of the Film ‘Frozen Land’ Aku Louhimies and Actor Jasper Paakkonen interacting with the Press at the 36th International Film Festival of India – 2005 in Panaji, Goa on November 27, 2005.jpg, the director of Frozen Land, and Pääkkönen in 2005]]

Pääkkönen's first film role was in The Glory and Misery of Human Life from 1988, when he was seven years old.{{cite web|url=http://mesta.net/muitatko-taman-80-luvun-klassikkoleffan-jasper-paakkonen-teki-ensimmaisen-leffaroolin-7-vuotiaana/|title=Muistatko tämän 80-luvun klassikkoleffan? Jasper Pääkkönen teki ensimmäisen leffaroolin 7-vuotiaana|website=Mesta.net|date=11 April 2018|access-date=6 December 2019|language=fi}} He became famous as Saku Salin in the Finnish television soap opera Salatut elämät (1999–2002). According to a calculation published by Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat, Pääkkönen is "the most profitable film actor in Finland"{{Cite web |url=http://www.iltalehti.fi/leffat/200901128899938_le.shtml |title=Lehti: Jasper Pääkkönen Suomen tuottoisin leffatähti | Leffajutut | Iltalehti.fi |access-date=1 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111206035801/http://www.iltalehti.fi/leffat/200901128899938_le.shtml |archive-date=6 December 2011 |url-status=dead }} for having starred in numerous box office hits during his career.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ses.fi/fi/tilastot.asp |title=Suomen Elokuvasäätiö |access-date=1 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111103073542/http://www.ses.fi/fi/tilastot.asp |archive-date=3 November 2011 |url-status=dead }} Many of Pääkkönen's films have made #1 at the Finnish box office, including Bad Boys, which is one of the most successful Finnish films at the national box office of all time. Other of Pääkkönen's commercial and critical successes include Frozen Land (2005), Matti: Hell Is for Heroes (2006), Lapland Odyssey (2010) and Heart of a Lion (2013).

File:Cannes 2018 14.jpg at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival]]

For his role in Bad Boys, Pääkkönen was given the Best Actor Award in the Brussels International Independent Film Festival. He has earned international praise from film critic Michael Giltz from the Huffington Post, who called the actor "handsome and compelling"{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-giltz/toronto-film-fest-day-6-h_b_717293.html|title=Toronto Film Fest Day 6: Hello, Lapland!|first=Michael|last=Giltz|date=15 September 2010|publisher=HuffPost|access-date=9 February 2019}} in his role in Lapland Odyssey. Film critic Leslie Felperin from Variety named Pääkkönen a "rising thesp, showing impressive range" in his starring role in Matti.{{cite web|url=https://variety.com/2006/film/reviews/matti-hell-is-for-heroes-1200518694/|title=Matti – Hell is for Heroes|first1=Leslie|last1=Felperin|date=7 February 2006|website=Variety.com|access-date=9 February 2019}} In 2006 the European Film Promotion introduced Pääkkönen as the Shooting Star of Finland{{cite web|url=https://www.efp-online.com/en/project_talent_promotion/shooting_stars.php|title=european shooting stars|website=European Film Promotion|access-date=9 February 2019|archive-date=7 January 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150107175205/http://www.shooting-stars.eu/en/press/2014/2014_12_11_shooting_stars_2015.php|url-status=dead}} at the Berlin International Film Festival.

In 2013, Pääkkönen starred in Finnish drama film Heart of a Lion that earned him his first Jussi Award for Best Supporting Actor. In 2015, Pääkkönen was cast in the fourth season of the History Channel TV series Vikings as Halfdan the Black.{{cite web|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/vikings-season-4-spoilers-793610|title='Vikings' Bulks Up With Three New Regulars for Season 4 (Exclusive)|website=The Hollywood Reporter|date=5 May 2015 |access-date=9 February 2019}}

Pääkkönen co-starred as a KKK member in Spike Lee's drama BlacKkKlansman, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and was released on 10 August 2018. He starred in Lee's 2020 Netflix production Da 5 Bloods.{{cite web|url=https://www.iltalehti.fi/viihdeuutiset/a/c0ec24e1-9734-41c5-8ea0-da7052e9ff89|title=Jasper Pääkköselle jälleen uusi Hollywood-rooli! Näyttelee Spike Leen seuraavassakin elokuvassa|work=Iltalehti|date=13 March 2019|access-date=17 March 2019}}

File:Jasper1.jpg

In 2009 Pääkkönen founded the Pokerisivut.com poker magazine together with film producer Markus Selin. In 2010 Pokerisivut.com was awarded Best Overall Affiliate at the London 2010 iGB Affiliate Awards.{{cite web|url=https://coinflip.com/poker/|title=Coin Flip in Poker - All You Need to Know |website=Coinflip.com|access-date=9 February 2019}}

Pääkkönen is a member of the Vision fly fishing world team{{cite web|url=http://www.visionflyfishing.com/?page_id=108|title=VISION - IN FLY FISHING|website=Visionflyfishing.com|access-date=9 February 2019}} and has appeared on fly fishingTV shows and DVDs as a celebrity guest. Pääkkönen is also known as the protector of endangered fish species of Finland (especially salmon).[https://www.patagonia.ca/stories/finnish-breakthrough/story-74633.html Finnish Breakthrough] He has also founded and is one of the owners of Superflies.com, which sells a selection of flies curated by Pääkkönen and raises funds for endangered native fish populations.{{cite web|url=https://www.superflies.com|title=Superflies|website=superflies.com|access-date=16 December 2020}}

Pääkkönen has also begun an entrepreneurship with MP Antero Vartia. They built a large sauna and restaurant complex called Löyly at the shore of Hernesaari, Helsinki which cost €6 million to build.{{citation needed|reason=Details of personal life & ventures.|date=December 2020}} Pääkkönen is one of the founders of Röykkä Invest Oy, in whose name the former Nummela Sanatorium, located in the Röykkä village in Nurmijärvi, was bought for €1.5 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.nurmijarvenuutiset.fi/paikalliset/4543401|title=Röykän sairaala kaupaksi 1,5 miljoonalla – mukana hankkeessa näyttelijä Jasper Pääkkönen|trans-title=The Röykkä hospital for sale for €1,5 million; actor Jasper Pääkkönen is involved in the project!|work=Nurmijärven Uutiset|date=7 April 2022|accessdate=27 August 2022|language=fi}}{{cite web|url=https://yle.fi/uutiset/3-12427098|title=Onpa erikoinen ilmestys, ajatteli Jasper Pääkkönen – sitten kivilinna vaihtoi omistajaa 1,5 miljoonalla, ja nyt suunnitteilla on jotain uutta|trans-title=What a strange revelation, thought Jasper Pääkkönen; then the stone castle changed hands for €1,5 million, and now something new is planned!|work=Yle|date=4 May 2022|accessdate=27 August 2022|language=fi}} Pääkkönen has announced a plan to turn the former sanatorium into a hotel.{{cite web|url=https://www.nurmijarvenuutiset.fi/paikalliset/4808044|title=Röykän sairaalasta viiden tähden hotelli?|trans-title=The Röykkä hospital becoming a five-star hotel?|work=Nurmijärven Uutiset|date=27 August 2022|accessdate=27 August 2022|language=fi}}

Since 2017, Pääkkönen has been married to Spanish-Filipino model Alexandra Escat. The couple had a daughter on Christmas Day 2021.

Pääkkönen announced the birth of their second child son in January 2024.

{{Reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|0701747}}
• {{cite web|url=http://www.pokerisivut.com/|title=Pokerisivut - Suomen suurin pokeriyhteisö - tietoa pokerista|website=Pokerisivut.com|access-date=9 February 2019|archive-date=12 April 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412013028/https://www.pokerisivut.com/|url-status=dead}}

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Category:1980 births

Category:Living people

Category:Male actors from Helsinki

Category:Finnish male television actors

Category:Finnish male film actors