COPENHAGEN , Denamrk ( CNN ) -- Actress Connie Nielsen hit the big time when she starred in `` Gladiator '' as Lucilla , sister of the deranged Emperor Commodus . Since then she has appeared in hit movies including `` One Hour Photo '' and `` The Hunted '' . Connie Nielsen has always refused to play the Hollywood fame game . But Nielsen has refused to play the Hollywood fame game and seems drawn to challenging roles in controversial movies , including `` The Situation '' , about the current Iraq war , and `` Battle in Seattle '' , about the anti-globalization riots that took place in Seattle in 1999 . Nielsen now lives in the US and returns to Copenhagen every year . She talks to My City , My Life about what makes the city , and its people , so special . CNN : How do you define yourself ? Connie Nielsen : I absolutely refuse the fame part of my business . I refuse even the money side of my business . I try to do as good work as I can do , I try to grow in my art and reach for truth . That 's what I want from my art , that 's what I aspire to . I try to combine my work with my family , that 's what I aspire to . I do n't say that 's the only thing . It 's not all work and family , because otherwise you would be saying no to the many other things in life and there are many other things . CNN : The people here are supposed to be incredibly happy -- what do you think ? Connie Nielsen : I think it 's funny in a way because when I grew up here it was very unusual to hear the word `` happiness '' . If you asked somebody , `` what do you wish for in life ? '' they would n't say `` happiness . '' I would have answered `` excitement , knowledge , '' God knows -- I mean , many , many different things , but certainly not `` happiness '' . It seemed like a foreign concept to wish for something that specific and that singular . And I think that a lot of Danes kind of feel like that about being the happiest people in the world . CNN : Is there anything you 'd like to change about the city ? Connie Nielsen : Anywhere there are social buildings that stuff people into boxes , concentrate poor people there . It 's specific to any big city . There was an effort to create buildings that concentrate these people very closely , and their social problems . They are still around in New York , Paris , London and here too . So if I could change anything about Copenhagen , or any other major big city , I would change the way we build buildings or housing for lower income people . I do n't think people who are already burdened with social , economic , psychological situations , dysfunctional families , need to be burdened with other people with the same problems . CNN : Is the city politically driven ? Connie Nielsen : I do n't think I can remember a moment in my life where people did n't discuss politics . People discuss politics at the table . I think some of the first information I received was politically charged ( laughs ) . It was at a time when girls were being told , `` Why do n't you go and learn how to repair machines rather than learn to repair your jumper ? Why do n't you learn to cut wood rather than learn to keep a house clean ? '' in school . It was to make us conscious of what we were , how we defined ourselves and why you would accept one concept of yourself rather than another . Have you searched through the truth of that concept ? Have you deconstructed ? Have you made sure that its foundations are valid ? That 's how I grew up and I think it was wonderful . CNN : How would you describe the city architecturally ? Connie Nielsen : It 's everything here from very late renaissance to this 19th century golden age we had here . It 's that , intermixed with pure Danish modernism . I love the juxtaposition of it all . I love when we bring in metaphors for our past as well . CNN : A lot of the places you have taken us to have been very romantic , do you think there is a fairy tale quality to Copenhagen ? Connie Nielsen : An alternative society ... yes I do , I do feel that . I do feel that most things are possible here . I can dream here . I can imagine . CNN : What is it about the city that makes people creative ? Connie Nielsen : Well , we have a very , very long winter and it gets a little boring , so you better think of something to do ! It can get deathly boring , so you start using your imagination . Sometimes it 's necessity that produces it , because you need to do something . CNN : Is there something about the people here that want to change things for the better ? Connie Nielsen : I think so -- I think we 're an idealistic people . I think there are disillusioned people everywhere , there are doubters everywhere , but I do think there are constructive people here ; I do think that people believe in people . CNN : Do you take any inspiration from the city ? Connie Nielsen : Yes , yes I do . Whenever I come back here I remember that I want to write poetry ( laughs ) . I want to take more time to sit and paint some more . I want to do so many more things whenever I come back -- I 'm always reminded of that when I come here . CNN : You 've lived in lots of cities all over the world and still do . Why is Copenhagen special to you ? Connie Nielsen : I was born here and it 's the capital of my home country . It 's also immensely beautiful . Many of my friends live here and much of my partner 's family lives here too and so we bring our kids back here every year . It holds all the museums that hold our history , our culture , and I take our children there and I go there for my own pleasure all the time . I love going to museums . I love this city and I love cities that are on the water . I love the water element , specifically the sea . I grew up on the sea and I grew up sailing -- I love sailing -- and the presence of the sea gives the air and the light a very special quality that I absolutely adore . CNN : It seems that for a small place it has a lot of cultural influence . Connie Nielsen : Yes , it 's sort of a little pearl in the middle of the seas . There 's a lot of traffic through this place , from the east , west , north and south . And we are the southern part of the north , so everything from the south comes up here on its way towards the north , and the opposite . And it has left its mark . We are definitely some kind of place where culture is being deposited over and over and over again , but it also springs from here . It 's the kind of place that attracts creative people and so it springs from here too . CNN : If Copenhagen was a person , how would you describe it ? Connie Nielsen : If Copenhagen were a person , that person would be generous , beautiful , elderly , but with a flair . A human being that has certain propensities for quarrelling , filled with imagination and with appetite for the new and with respect for the old -- somebody who takes good care of things and of people .
Connie Nielsen says she refuses the fame and money side of acting . She says the long winters mean the residents have to be creative . Copenhagen is full of history and culture , and Nielsen loves its museums . The city is very beautiful and the light has `` a very special quality , '' she says .