Noomi Rapace was born Noomi Norén on 28 December 1979 in Hudiksvall. She studied Drama at the Södra Latin upper secondary school in Stockholm. Her professional debut as an actress on the big screen came in 1997's "Sanning Eller Konsekvens", on the small screen in the series "Tre Kronor" (at the age of seven , Rapace was given a non-speaking part in the film "Í skugga hrafnsins" by Hrafn Gunnlaugsson). In the theatre Noomi was involved in Thorsten Flinck’s popular production of "Fadren" at Teater Plaza 1999. She then had roles in "Påklädaren" directed by Flinck and in Sarah Kane’s play "Bombad" directed by Stefan Larsson, both at the Royal Dramatic Theatre. At Teater Galeasen Noomi was involved in the plays "Det epileptiska riktmärket" directed by Susan Taslimi and "Krig" directed by Johan Wahlström. In 2006 Noomi played opposite Ingela Olsson in the play "Valeri Solanas ska bli president" directed by Klaus Hoffmeyer at Dramaten. In 2009, they joined forces again as Noomi played the title role in "Medealand" at Dramaten, which Ingela Olsson directed.

After appearing on stage and television throughout most of the 2000s, Noomi earned rave reviews for her brave performance as a struggling actress in "Daisy Diamond", for which she won both the Robert and Bodil Award as Best Actress in 2008. However, the casting as Lisbeth Salander in the big screen adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s phenomenal "Millennium" trilogy would not only make her a household name as an actress in Sweden – but worldwide. In 2010, she won the coveted Guldbagge Award for Best Actress and received a nomination for the European Film Award, the British Academy Award (BAFTA), the London Film Critics Circle and the Critics Choice Movie Award in the same category. The second and third installment of the series were planned for a tv-only release, but due to the high anticipation they were theatrically released as well. The original televsion cut was additionally broadcast on television throughout Europe. For the televsion version of the "Millennium" trilogy, Noomi received a Best Actress nomination for the International Emmy Awards. Her follow-up performance in Pernilla August's Swedish drama "Beyond" was equally praised and won Noomi another Guldbagge nomination.

Her performance as Lisbeth Salander quickly opened doors to Hollywood. Within a year, Rapace was cast by Guy Ritchie for the sequel of the successful "Sherlock Holmes" sequel "A Game of Shadows". She also scored the female lead in Ridley Scott's anticipated sci-fi film "Prometheus", co-starring Michael Fassbender and Charlize Theron, which was a solid success at the box office and is currently modeled for a sequel as well. Rapace has received even more praise for her performance in Pal Sletaune thriller "Babycall", in which she played a mother who slowly delves into insanity. For her performance, she was awarded Best Actress at the Rome Film Festival and the Amandaprisen as Best Actress in Denmark. Her recent films in the USA, "Dead Man Down" starring Colin Farrell and "Passion", directed by Brian DePalma, have been underwhelming at the box office, however. Noomi Rapace is currently working on "Animal Rescue" and "Child 44", both co-starring Tom Hardy and slated for a 2014 release.