Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Wife changed everything

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau's wife changed his life.

The Danish actor is married to Greenlandic star Nukâka and together they have daughters Filippa and Safina.

In his latest film, thriller A Second Chance, he has the chance to explore how one moment can throw everything off course.

Nikolaj found that personal experiences helped him relate even more to his character Andreas.

"Yes, when I met my wife," he admitted to the German edition of Cosmopolitan when asked if he'd ever experienced such a sudden shift. "It was on March 17, 1997, at 8:37 in the morning. I saw her and knew: She's The One. Even before I'd said one word to her, I told my theatre colleagues, 'Guys, I'm getting married soon.'"

In order to get the ball rolling, the 44-year-old invited her to his theatre performance and out for dinner afterwards. From there, things moved quickly.

"I kissed her afterwards and she said that things were moving a bit fast," he recalled. "I just wouldn't let up. Now we've been married for 18 years."

The star travels for work a lot, which means spending time apart from his family. It leaves him with feelings of guilt and they're not the only ones he ends up letting down due to his job.

"I always try to pack too much into my day," he sighed. "Last week for example, I was in New York for three days for work. I knew in advance I wouldn't have much time but decided to arrange to meet friends anyway. In the end I had to cancel on everyone and felt awful. But I've stopped worrying about my mistakes because guilt already takes up too much of my time."