In our opinion, Hammarskjöld is the best and most important film in cinemas right now. With his commitment and belief in resolving conflicts peacefully, we dream that Hammarskjöld will inspire politicians of the day.

In the role of Dag Hammarskjöld, Mikael Persbrandt tells an important story. A story about diplomacy and justice, a story that is more relevant today than ever.

So I had some time to get used to the idea, but it gets like damn hectic when you have to get started and prepare and what choices you have to make and how precise you have to be, how stringent in your posture and the like.

Mikael Persbrandt is undoubtedly one of our greatest and most established actors. With over 100 films and TV series under his belt and countless theater appearances, he is now in perhaps his biggest role to date. In the biopic Hammarskjöld, which premieres on Christmas Day, we see him in the lead role as Dag Hammarskjöld, the Swedish Secretary-General of the UN who died under mysterious circumstances in Northern Rhodesia in 1961. The film is a dense political thriller while at the same time being a personal portrait of the man Dag Hammarskjöld, his doubts, convictions and growing longing for an ordinary life. VOYAGE met Mikael Persbrandt via Zoom, to find out more about the man and the film.

Congratulations, what a fantastically good and interesting film, you play the role of Dag Hammarskjöld superbly. Do you feel a responsibility when you play a well-known person who existed in real life?
– Yes, it is a certain responsibility. It was easy for me to jump from being happy to get the role to immediately starting to worry about the execution. It is often the case in my professional life that I get worried about how I am going to – as in this case – do justice to an iconic rock star like Dag Hammarskjöld. But it was a very exciting job and I did quite a lot of preparation before I started filming.

It's often the case that you take on new tasks and then think 'oh, now I have to do the job too', but somehow you do it because that's how you develop.
– Yes, that's probably it. In this case, it was such an exciting task and I had contact with producer Patrick Ryborn and director Per Fly who worked on this film for nine years. He prepared everything before there was a financial plan for the production and I was on board for the last three, four years. So I had a little time to get used to the idea, but it gets like damn hectic when you have to get started and prepare and what choices you have to make and how precise you have to be, how stringent in body posture and the like.

What was your collaboration like before the actual recording started?
– I had time to read a couple of versions of the script beforehand and then Per and I had some meetings and improvisations and other preparations that I was a little unfamiliar with. It was a lot about a way of walking, a way of behaving that would then depict his birth, his position, his class affiliation and so on. And I boiled that down so I don't know how much of the improvisations I had left when we started filming but I had it in my spinal cord, so to speak.

Is there any common ground between you and Dag Hammarskjöld?
– I always try to find common denominators and in this case I thought I could see and wanted to portray the statesman, the entertainer, who stands in the eye of the hurricane at the center of the world versus the loneliness in his apartment in New York with his butler and the little monkey. I think that was a common denominator that is quite wise. I can recognize myself in it. I have also had similar experiences when I am on stage and in front of cameras and feel that this is where I live, the other is an unknown big question mark and just a wait for the next performance or the next filming day. So I think I found an approach that I think will be recognizable to a larger audience.

This film is very well-timed, as we live in a time when we need a few more Dag Hammarskjölds.
– Yes, it is not without thinking that an Olof Palme or a Dag Hammarskjöld would be needed in today's Sweden and the world. It is not particularly fun to read the news pages in the situation we are living in right now. Tell us a little about where you shot the film. – Almost the entire film, 80 percent, was shot in Cape Town in South Africa, and the rest of the time we were in Sweden, in Österlen among other places. We were about eight weeks in South Africa and then a couple of weeks in Österlen. South Africa was special, they have a thriving film life and a very nice film studio culture down there. There are many American and European films and TV series that are shot down there and it is probably because they have had a tax refund system which I guess they still have. It was great, we could pretend that we were in New York in the exterior shots of New York.

5 Fast 

Mikael Persbrandt… 
...watching: “I like watching movies and TV with my oldest boys. We've seen The Walking Dead now. Otherwise, I try to educate them in movies too, so I try to show them quality movies like The Godfather, to get them to tolerate scenes that are longer than thirteen seconds. I recently watched The Bear, a series that is really good with many good lead roles. I get happy when I see good acting.” 
...reads: “I really only read scripts, I have a few books that I know I'm going to read. They're waiting for me.” 
…listening to: “I listen to old music like the Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan and Nick Cave.” 
… celebrates: ”Christmas on the farm and New Year in France.” 
… random place: “There is a fishing shop on Gotland that I love.”

I don't like to watch myself. I don't find much joy in it. I'm going to this premiere. I don't usually want to see myself, but I want to see this film at the premiere.

Do you have any travel tips for South Africa, or has it just been work when you've been there?
– I've made three or four films in Cape Town and Johannesburg over the years and I've also filmed in Kenya. Africa is a fantastic continent. There's a lot to experience. There's safari, the sea, the mountains and a lot of other things, but I've only been there to work so I'm not the best person to recommend touristy things. I've only gone between hotels and film studios.

What do you have coming up? Anything you can reveal?
– No, unfortunately. We have two productions this spring and they are TV series and they are not in Sweden, but I can't say more than that at the moment. I'm also going on a theatre tour. Together with theatre producer Agneta Villman, I have had the Maxim Theatre. We still have the theatre but without premises, we are Maxim in Exile. We are going out and celebrating the 10th anniversary with the August Strindberg play The Dance of Death. We will tour at the beginning of next year, and will release tickets in November.

If you're watching TV one evening and a movie comes on that you're in, do you watch it or do you turn it off?
– I don't like to watch myself. I don't find much joy in that. I'm going to this premiere. I don't usually want to see myself, but I want to see this film at the premiere. I think it's a good film and I'm happy with the work we've done. I hope the film finds its audience, I think it's needed today. It would be great if it finds a younger audience too. The discussion around the film is needed, and the pride as a Swede that we had such a statesman who is forgotten by most people. For most people, he's just a person who is portrayed on the 1,000-klap banknote. We'll see what life the film takes on when it opens here in Sweden on Christmas Day and then it will have an international premiere a little later.

What is the most bizarre or surprising way you have been recognized while traveling?
– I was quite surprised when I was cycling in Cannes wearing both a cap and sunglasses and a whole tour bus full of French schoolchildren stopped and started screaming. I didn't understand anything until I realised they had seen me in Sex Education. I didn't realise that the series had become so popular in France. I've been through similar things before, so it's not that unusual. But in that case I was surprised because we've had accommodation down in France and I've thought it's been a place of refuge. But it felt like it was over then – even though I had glasses and a cap.

You'll have to come up with another disguise in the future.
– It's stupid that those of us who are recognized think that we will be less so if we wear sunglasses and a cap. I've come to understand that it can have the opposite effect, he says, laughing.

Have you ever met someone you admire and lost your voice?.
– Well, I don't know. I started so early and got to work with all the great actors at Dramaten. I was only 19 years old and got to work with Jarl Kulle and everyone. But… I ran into Mickey Rourke in New York once and then I got a little feeling of what it's like to walk up to someone and stammer out that you'd like to shake their hand and say that they're great. It was a bit special, I understand how it feels when you're trying to squeeze out a compliment.

What do you do when you're not working, or maybe you're working all the time?
– I work less and less. I think it's nice to be free. We live on a horse farm and there's always a lot to do there. I drive wheel loaders, drive horse carts, fix fences and stuff. And then I paint pictures and do some car and motorcycle racing on international tracks.

How many horses do you have?
– Five or six, I think, and a few in-contracts too. There's a lot of crap. So I always have something to do. I don't sit still very often so I don't know what I would do if I was sitting in an apartment in the city when I was free. Then I would probably just go out into the city and look idiotic on some street corner, so I'm glad I have the yard when I'm not working.

Do you exercise to stay in shape, besides mocking horse shit?
– Yes, I try to keep going and train a little every now and then. I am fortunate to have a job where you don't have to retire if you are lucky enough to continue getting role offers, so I do like my older colleagues and keep going until I fall off the rails.

You also run a business, tell us a little about it.
– I can't say that I work in business directly, my company only hires me out, so it's a more or less successful business idea. I also have my painting in the company. I'm exhibiting at the Åland Art Museum in September next year. That's the business, the other thing is hobbies. The actual hustling on the farm isn't a brilliant business idea, but it's a pretty good life.

A good life is most important.
– I'm not an entrepreneur at heart, I'm really just an actor and it's a busy job.

Mikael Persbrandt

Age: 60.
 
Family Partner Sanna Lundell, three sons and bonus daughter. 

Boron On a horse farm a few kilometers south of Stockholm, with several horses, dogs, cats and chickens. 

Occupation: Actor and artist. 

Career in brief: Studied art and dance. At the age of 19, he made his first acting role at the Royal Swedish Opera in a production of King Lear directed by Ingmar Bergman. Best known for his role as the police officer Gunvald Larsson, which he played in 31 Beck films between 1997 and 2016. Mikael has appeared in around 100 films and TV series, both in Sweden and internationally. He played one of the main roles in Susanne Bier's Hämnden (2010), which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. He played Beorn in Peter Jackson's Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. He has been awarded two Guldbagges for Best Male Lead: Mig ääger ingen (2013), and Maria Larsson's eviga ögonblik (2008). He has also been nominated for a Guldbag four times, for Deadly Drift (1999), Everyone Loves Alice (2002), Bang Bang Orangutang (2005), Stockholm Östra (2011) and The Cake General (2019). He was awarded the Ingmar Bergman Prize in 2005. Mikael also has a long theatre career with major roles at Dramaten, Teater Galeasen and Maxim in Stockholm, among others. 

Currently Plays the lead role in the film Hammarskjöld, which will premiere throughout Sweden on Christmas Day. Danish director Per Fly (Monica Z) is directing the film about the UN's Swedish Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld, who died under mysterious circumstances in Northern Rhodesia in 1961. The film is a dense political thriller while also being a personal portrait of the man Dag Hammarskjöld, his doubts, convictions and growing longing for an ordinary life. Currently on tour in Sweden for the 10th anniversary of the Dance of Death, starting on January 10 in Gothenburg and then continuing in other cities during February and March 2024.