Post by ohva on Aug 27, 2016 14:02:17 GMT -5
www.architecturaldigest.com/story/stellan-skarsgard-on-architecture-filming-in-norway-and-his-secret-passion
Stellan Skarsgård on Architecture, Filming in Norway, and His Secret Passion
The Swedish actor talks about life in Stockholm and what makes a house a home
In Order of Disappearance is the rare indie that plays like a blockbuster. In the Norwegian film, which opens Friday, Stellan Skarsgård plays Nils, a humble snowplower turned revenge-fueled assassin after his son is murdered by a band of international drug dealers. But that boilerplate description doesn’t do it justice. The smart production design by Jørgen Stangebye Larsen, combined with moments of dark hilarity and Skarsgård’s nuanced performance, make In Order of Disappearance refreshingly original. (One only hopes the American remake, set to star Liam Neeson, can live up to its quirky brilliance.) Says Skarsgård of his character, “He is a nice guy. He is happy with his life. But he doesn’t have the means, or the language, to handle the situation—and out comes the caveman.” That description is the polar opposite of the veteran Swedish actor, who, it turns out, has quite a homey side, as AD found out in an exclusive interview. Read on.
Did you enjoy filming in Beitostølen, Norway? I’m not an outdoor man. Nils is the man of snow and the wilderness. I’m very much a city boy. I wouldn’t go up there voluntarily. When I was offered the role, I was like, God, I have to be in the mountains for two months in the snow. I don’t even have winter clothes. But once you are up there, the beauty is so stunning. In some scenes—because sometimes it was minus 30, minus 40 degrees—my face could barely move because of the cold. Winter is virtually its own character in the film.
Can you imagine this story being set somewhere else? The director chose the location because he wanted to show that this man had a purpose. It’s a very visual purpose. If you are up there in the mountains and the snow, this is the man who keeps the world. It’s not only a beautiful landscape; it’s also slightly threatening.
How do you feel about this film being adapted into an American-made Hollywood movie? Unfortunately, people don’t like reading subtitles. A story that is made in the Scandinavian language, no matter how good it is, is going to have a limited audience. It has been done before, like with Insomnia, for instance. I was in the remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that David Fincher did, which I think was very good. The problem is when a remake dilutes the material and sort of cuts out everything that is edgy or controversial or dangerous. That’s sad. It has to do with the money invested in a film. Bankers are really afraid to lose their money. But Liam Neeson is supposed to play my role, and he’s very good.
Are you interested in home decor? I am. I have an aesthetic interest. I’ve built a couple of kitchens that I’ve designed myself.
What inspired you to take that on? I’m a foodie—I love cooking. When I build a kitchen it has to work for me. I’ve never wanted something that looked like it was ‘designed.’ I mix styles and time periods to make them look as if they have been there forever but have been changed and improved gradually. That gives a kitchen a very personal feeling. They don’t look like an architect who doesn’t care has drawn them. A home, to me, has to breathe and express the people living in it. It’s about more than just aesthetics.
Do you get in there with a hammer and do it yourself, or are you more of the overall mastermind? No, I just design it. I am really lousy with building. I’ve tried. I wanted to build some beautiful outdoor furniture in oak with a slightly Japanese design, very simple and very delicate. It took me forever to build. Oak is hard to work with. Three weeks after it was finished it turned out that the oak hadn’t been aged enough, so it started to bend and everything fell apart. I gave away all my tools to my more able brother.
Do you have any specialties you like to cook? I have eight children, and they have girlfriends and friends. There are always at least ten to 15 people around the table. I cook everything. When I’ve been shooting somewhere, I try to pick up as much as I can of the local cuisine. I always eat what they cook in the country I’m in. I spend about a month experimenting with that cuisine, then I move on to another cuisine. I do a lot of Italian because it’s pure. I also love doing French because I love making stocks. I have in my freezer chicken stock, beef stock, veal stock, and others that I’ve made, so I can always make a good sauce.
Are you self-taught or do you use cookbooks? I learned from my parents. Both my father and my mother cooked a lot. But I have a huge collection of cookbooks. I read cookbooks, and some things I just invent myself. Usually I start by trying somebody’s recipe.
What’s your home like? I live in Stockholm, the southern part. It’s a former working-class area, and now it’s more of a hipster area. A lot of artists live there. It’s the most fun part of Stockholm. We’re in a beautiful old 1908 apartment with a lot of life.
If you could own one work of art for your home, what would it be? Oh, there are too many to pick one. It’s like asking me for a favorite color. I cannot say which is my favorite color.
What about music? Is there anything that’s been playing in your house as of late? We are playing all kinds of new stuff. My wife listens to a lot of jazz music. I have kids that listen to some horrible stuff. You have to let them enjoy it—even if it’s very terrible.
Aside from this movie, what is the best-designed set you’ve ever worked on? There was something old Hollywood about [2015’s] Cinderella. They built everything: the ballroom, the castle rooms. The costumes were fantastic. Cinderella’s blue dress is probably the most incredible dress I’ve ever seen. The pure aesthetics of that film were fascinating. It was very beautiful.
As an actor, does it help you to have a great set? Yes, but as an actor, you are used to being able to do it without props or walls or anything, like we did in [Lars Von Trier’s] Dogville.
What do you keep on your bedside table? Books. Right now, I’m reading a book called Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, by Tony Judt. He was a historian in Europe and has written several beautiful books. He died of ALS a few years ago. This is a fantastic book, mainly about Europe, but about history after World War II. It’s really good knowledge to have in these dire times when we see the extreme right and the extreme left sort of popping up again.
What was the best movie prop you’ve gotten to take home? Some people save their scripts or the back of their chairs or something, but I don’t. I think I have too much, anyway. I want to have as few possessions as possible.
Do you have a favorite architectural site that stuns you every time you see it? I stay at the Bowery Hotel whenever I’m in New York, and I’m really happy to see the Chrysler Building every night when I go to bed.
Stellan Skarsgård on Architecture, Filming in Norway, and His Secret Passion
The Swedish actor talks about life in Stockholm and what makes a house a home
In Order of Disappearance is the rare indie that plays like a blockbuster. In the Norwegian film, which opens Friday, Stellan Skarsgård plays Nils, a humble snowplower turned revenge-fueled assassin after his son is murdered by a band of international drug dealers. But that boilerplate description doesn’t do it justice. The smart production design by Jørgen Stangebye Larsen, combined with moments of dark hilarity and Skarsgård’s nuanced performance, make In Order of Disappearance refreshingly original. (One only hopes the American remake, set to star Liam Neeson, can live up to its quirky brilliance.) Says Skarsgård of his character, “He is a nice guy. He is happy with his life. But he doesn’t have the means, or the language, to handle the situation—and out comes the caveman.” That description is the polar opposite of the veteran Swedish actor, who, it turns out, has quite a homey side, as AD found out in an exclusive interview. Read on.
Did you enjoy filming in Beitostølen, Norway? I’m not an outdoor man. Nils is the man of snow and the wilderness. I’m very much a city boy. I wouldn’t go up there voluntarily. When I was offered the role, I was like, God, I have to be in the mountains for two months in the snow. I don’t even have winter clothes. But once you are up there, the beauty is so stunning. In some scenes—because sometimes it was minus 30, minus 40 degrees—my face could barely move because of the cold. Winter is virtually its own character in the film.
Can you imagine this story being set somewhere else? The director chose the location because he wanted to show that this man had a purpose. It’s a very visual purpose. If you are up there in the mountains and the snow, this is the man who keeps the world. It’s not only a beautiful landscape; it’s also slightly threatening.
How do you feel about this film being adapted into an American-made Hollywood movie? Unfortunately, people don’t like reading subtitles. A story that is made in the Scandinavian language, no matter how good it is, is going to have a limited audience. It has been done before, like with Insomnia, for instance. I was in the remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo that David Fincher did, which I think was very good. The problem is when a remake dilutes the material and sort of cuts out everything that is edgy or controversial or dangerous. That’s sad. It has to do with the money invested in a film. Bankers are really afraid to lose their money. But Liam Neeson is supposed to play my role, and he’s very good.
Are you interested in home decor? I am. I have an aesthetic interest. I’ve built a couple of kitchens that I’ve designed myself.
What inspired you to take that on? I’m a foodie—I love cooking. When I build a kitchen it has to work for me. I’ve never wanted something that looked like it was ‘designed.’ I mix styles and time periods to make them look as if they have been there forever but have been changed and improved gradually. That gives a kitchen a very personal feeling. They don’t look like an architect who doesn’t care has drawn them. A home, to me, has to breathe and express the people living in it. It’s about more than just aesthetics.
Do you get in there with a hammer and do it yourself, or are you more of the overall mastermind? No, I just design it. I am really lousy with building. I’ve tried. I wanted to build some beautiful outdoor furniture in oak with a slightly Japanese design, very simple and very delicate. It took me forever to build. Oak is hard to work with. Three weeks after it was finished it turned out that the oak hadn’t been aged enough, so it started to bend and everything fell apart. I gave away all my tools to my more able brother.
Do you have any specialties you like to cook? I have eight children, and they have girlfriends and friends. There are always at least ten to 15 people around the table. I cook everything. When I’ve been shooting somewhere, I try to pick up as much as I can of the local cuisine. I always eat what they cook in the country I’m in. I spend about a month experimenting with that cuisine, then I move on to another cuisine. I do a lot of Italian because it’s pure. I also love doing French because I love making stocks. I have in my freezer chicken stock, beef stock, veal stock, and others that I’ve made, so I can always make a good sauce.
Are you self-taught or do you use cookbooks? I learned from my parents. Both my father and my mother cooked a lot. But I have a huge collection of cookbooks. I read cookbooks, and some things I just invent myself. Usually I start by trying somebody’s recipe.
What’s your home like? I live in Stockholm, the southern part. It’s a former working-class area, and now it’s more of a hipster area. A lot of artists live there. It’s the most fun part of Stockholm. We’re in a beautiful old 1908 apartment with a lot of life.
If you could own one work of art for your home, what would it be? Oh, there are too many to pick one. It’s like asking me for a favorite color. I cannot say which is my favorite color.
What about music? Is there anything that’s been playing in your house as of late? We are playing all kinds of new stuff. My wife listens to a lot of jazz music. I have kids that listen to some horrible stuff. You have to let them enjoy it—even if it’s very terrible.
Aside from this movie, what is the best-designed set you’ve ever worked on? There was something old Hollywood about [2015’s] Cinderella. They built everything: the ballroom, the castle rooms. The costumes were fantastic. Cinderella’s blue dress is probably the most incredible dress I’ve ever seen. The pure aesthetics of that film were fascinating. It was very beautiful.
As an actor, does it help you to have a great set? Yes, but as an actor, you are used to being able to do it without props or walls or anything, like we did in [Lars Von Trier’s] Dogville.
What do you keep on your bedside table? Books. Right now, I’m reading a book called Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, by Tony Judt. He was a historian in Europe and has written several beautiful books. He died of ALS a few years ago. This is a fantastic book, mainly about Europe, but about history after World War II. It’s really good knowledge to have in these dire times when we see the extreme right and the extreme left sort of popping up again.
What was the best movie prop you’ve gotten to take home? Some people save their scripts or the back of their chairs or something, but I don’t. I think I have too much, anyway. I want to have as few possessions as possible.
Do you have a favorite architectural site that stuns you every time you see it? I stay at the Bowery Hotel whenever I’m in New York, and I’m really happy to see the Chrysler Building every night when I go to bed.
