Meet the 2012 Feature Fellow: Lukas Hassel

Born and raised in Denmark, Lukas Hassel left family and friends behind at the tender age of 19 to study acting at Trinity College’s Samuel Beckett Theatre School in Dublin, Ireland. Some seven years later, ambitions, opportunity, and a desire to experience New York drove him across the Atlantic Ocean in 1996. He still happily resides in Manhattan.

There’s tennis, the love of the outdoors, step-aerobics, cooking and hosting dinner/game nights for close friends, traveling, and family fun.

And then there’s writing and acting…

As a screenwriter, Lukas’s action script Fury was a semifinalist in the PAGE awards; his light comedy script Girls on the Run won “Best Screenplay” in the Carolina Film Festival and became a finalist at CineStory 2009; and his post-apocalyptic script Galápagos won “Best Screenplay” at WilliFest New York 2011. He directed his own short film script Dinner with Peter, which screened at festivals like Smogdance, Williamstown Film Festival, and Boston International Film Festival. He also just wrapped filming his new sci-fi short film, Into the Dark, which he hopes to have ready for festivals later this year.

As an actor, Lukas has worked in theater: A Midsummer Night’s Dream directed by Joe Dowling, Dracula, Othello, Private Lives, Woman of No Importance, Orfeo ed Euridice, The Ritz on Broadway under Joe Montello’s direction, and many more. In film, Lukas has been in Borstal Boy, the Sundance winning short Man About Town, and recently the feature film In Montauk, directed by Kim Cummings, for which his performance garnered a nomination for “Best Male Lead” in the 2012 Washington DC Film Festival. He just wrapped On the Day God Slept under the direction of Jeremiah Kipp, as well as The 9^th Floor directed by Shaun Rana. TV work includes the reality show Soapstar, a lead role in Denmark’s top rated show Anna Pihl, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, The Beautiful Life (TBL), andThe Onion News. He has also breathed life into the beloved character of Mr. Milk, the spokesperson for milk in Scandinavia (“Mr. Melk,” check it out on YouTube…seriously, it’s fun).

Lukas’s latest feature script and first drama, Le Mécano, is the culmination of his writing journey thus far.