Nikolaj Coster-Waldau played Detective John Amsterdam.
New Amsterdam (TV series) . The series starred Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as `` John Amsterdam '' ( real name Johann van der Zee ) , an immortal Dutch man born in 1607 , who has lived in New York City on and off since he was 14 years old , and who is a homicide detective in the present day . Nikolaj Coster-Waldau . He then played Detective John Amsterdam in the short-lived Fox television series New Amsterdam ( 2008 ) , as well as appearing as Frank Pike in the 2009 Fox television film Virtuality , originally intended as a pilot .