Birgitte Hjort Sorensen quotes:

I've done so much travelling in the past few years, and when you travel, you realise that we do actually have a cool, clean look in Scandinavia - it's not just Denmark - which I think brings peace if you have it in your home.

When I was a kid, my sisters and I used to get a little present in our stocking each day of December, usually an ornament, some sweets, or a little toy.

Coriolanus' deals with the birth of democracy. And that has been fascinating because I've been talking about politics so much because of 'Borgen.' It's a nice bridge.

When I was starring as Roxie Hart in 'Chicago,' I got my stiletto heel caught in my fishnet tights and fell flat on my face. It was incredibly painful and not something you can cover up.

On Christmas Eve, we have a duck or roast pork with caramelised potatoes, braised red cabbage and gravy. For dessert, we have ris a l'amande, a rice pudding, and whoever gets the whole almond in it wins an extra present. Then we dance around the tree and sing carols.

I adore Copenhagen, where I live, but I'm really drawn to New York.

On a perfect weekend, I'll stay in bed until I am rested, though I am not someone who sleeps late. Then I'll go for a run through the parks nearby, even if it is frosty and cold, and I love meeting friends for brunch. You know you are truly on a day off if you have time to do brunch.

In Copenhagen, we all ride bicycles everywhere, partly because it is impossible to park a car, but also because you can cross the city in 20 minutes on a bike.

I was a good student - a geek, really - editor of the school paper, thought I was going to go to university.

In the U.K., journalists are a little bit more ruthless than in Denmark. I have a feeling the tabloid press in the U.K. is pretty harsh.

Denmark as a country has always looked up to England. I've always felt that British actors are fantastic. There's a strong theatre tradition in your country, and that is reflected in TV and film as well. We've always thought that for crime series, you were the masters, and the general feeling the Danes have of British drama is that it's excellent.

Strong female leads make more of an impact in the U.K. than in Denmark.

Don't worry about not fitting in. The things that make people think you're weird are what makes you you, and therefore your greatest strength.

At some point, they must do a 'Borgen' tour in Copenhagen. Like the 'Sex and the City' tour, but on bicycles.

Right before I graduated from the national theatre school, I got the part of Roxie Hart in 'Chicago' in Copenhagen. That led to me playing it here in London. I was 26 when I came over for that. It was the first thing I did as a professional, and it is still the experience of my life.

Whenever I have a few hours to dive into a book, I am happy.

If you go for an audition, you have a character description, and for the women, it's always about being beautiful, sexy. And for the men it's more about the character than how he appears physically. That annoys me.

I think one of the reasons 'Borgen' has such a following is because the characters are quite positive people.

Any director or writer or artist has the right to do what they want to do - freedom of expression is something I celebrate.

I used to watch a lot of American and British television as a child, which helped teach me the language and accents; it was partly that which landed me the part of Roxy in a London production of 'Chicago' when I was 25.

If I can iron out my accent, it opens up another world of possible jobs. Whereas if you have that very strong European accent, it leaves you always being cast as the Hungarian maid or the stripper or whatever. I have voice lessons, and my coach has given me different tongue-twisters to rehearse at home.

In film or TV work, you can have this amazingly dramatic pause, and they'll just edit it out.

Usually, when you get early versions of scripts, they are not very good. I found 'Borgen' amazing from the very first read-through because of how fast-paced and gripping it was. It felt more international because of the way it didn't dwell on the characters' personal lives as many Danish shows used to, but still, nobody thought it would travel.