French Marie Claire Interview

In Paris, it is eight o’clock. In Toronto, noon. Sitting in my kitchen, I Skype Mads Mikkelsen, situated in a Canadian office wearing a wool cap. His face of a Sami reindeer hunter, with high cheekbones and slightly slanted eyes, appears on the screen. His mouth smiles easily, becoming cruel if a role requires.

To successfully describe the Danish actor is a risky business, you could use many adjectives without being accurate. A confusing mix of calm and power, sex appeal and distance. He acts without asking, suddenly disappearing from the screen to grab a cigarette. Beautiful actor whatever the question.

Son of a nurse and a union worker, in a relationship of over twenty five years with a former dancer. This indescribable man knighted by the Queen of Denmark talks for the promotion of Charlie Countryman, debut Fredrick Bond feature. In this energetic and zany film Mads Mikkelsen plays a jealous killer. A relatively minor role compared to his interpretation of the figure in Casino Royale, where he appears as one of the best James Bond villains.

In his eclectic filmography he acted in Clash of the Titans, a dealer junkie in Pusher; a stubborn and rebellious leader in Michael Kohlhaas. An innocent man accused of pedophilia in The Hunt; a dandy psychopath in the TV series Hannibal, broadcast on Canal +. His roles reflect his aura of a Rubik’s Cube, the puzzle that aligns suddenly in moments of grace. Mads Mikkelsen flows into his characters. Radical, down to earth, mad, elegant, or brutal.

A long distance encounter with a great actor:
Marie Claire: In Charlie Countryman, you play a killer. In The Hunt, you track deer. As you often play the hit man, I was wondering if you had already killed a living being except a mosquito?
Mads Mikkelsen: No, although I am not against the idea. I love meat, and I think that to survive we should be able to kill a cow, a sheep or a chicken. In the supermarket, as a result, we have no idea where our food is from. I think I’ve never killed anything other than a big spider. Ah, yes! I’ve killed a rat.

You started your career later, at age 30, after being a dancer. Why did you become an actor?
It is a combination of circumstances. I was a gymnast and, coincidentally, I became a dancer. It was never my dream. I loved the drama, not really the aesthetic side. I auditioned for an acting school, and I was accepted.

You said you could very well accept the role of Hitler. An actor is there as a defense lawyer, must he accept to play anyone?
Yes, it is a real dilemma. This is not the film’s role to defend Hitler. You will hopefully make a portrait that will teach us something about human beings. But if you agree to play Hitler, you can not disassociate yourself, otherwise it becomes a sketch. This is the distance from the script. But if the film was propaganda, I would not do it, of course.

With your interpretation of Hannibal Lecter, you need to seek the psychopath who is in you …
Our job as actors, is to be able to recognize these emotions in us and magnify them. That does not mean that playing a psychopath for two years will make you crazy. Love, hate, jealousy, desire to possess someone… We have all kinds of emotions within us, to varying degrees. This is what makes us human beings.

You defend a very radical acting freedom. And, according to you, the actresses do not have this freedom, a highly codified behavior is expected of them…
There are some, like Noomi Rapace, who can, but this is rare. In cinema, the male characters have a mission, they are created to do certain things, which allows them to be irrational, boring, ugly. The writers do not write roles like that for women. And the public is not accustomed to this type of female character.

You became an international star, yet you seem to keep feet on the ground. How do you manage it?
It is a combination of three things. First, my own nature. Second, the place where I come from, Denmark, where everyone is careful that everyone keeps their feet on the ground. Finally, I am 48 years old. It is easier to keep your feet on the ground when you are my age. I became an actor and later I became known in Denmark around 35 years old. A time in life when you are more mature, you know the system. When success falls on you at 15, you do not understand: you think everyone loves you, you are exceptional. At 35, you say, now it’s me, tomorrow it will be the weatherman. The reputation is a media creation.

What impact has your success he had on your life?
I think twice before going out for a beer, I choose a place well. But my life has not changed much. I can buy a bigger TV, but I do not have time to watch it. I do pretty much what I did before: work, spend time with my family and try to stay myself.

Have you ever refused a role to stay with your family?
Yes, it has happened to me. I’ve said no to scripts that I have not even read. For long it was impossible, we had to be together. This is a really weird world, everything happens very quickly. You have to stay in the race and you decide very quickly. Sometimes you make the wrong choice. But to stay with the family is always the right decision.

Is your family harassed by paparazzi ?
To a lesser extent than American actors, but it is still very hurtful to my children. It’s like this… I feel they are not doing badly, it’s part of their life now, unfortunately. Once, I pursued a newspaper for justice. It made things worse, the war went for years. If you express yourself in the media to restore the truth, people do not believe you, they believe the newspapers. Ignoring them is the only thing to do.

Age is a problem for many actors. How do you feel about the idea of ​​growing old?
There is a large problem for not so young actresses, because there are few roles for them. The actors do not have this problem. I think age is interesting, if I can continue to do what I want physically. When I no longer can, it might frustrate me a lot. Actor or not, aging is a problem. We have fun on Earth, we do not want to leave.

In Scandinavia, is the dictatorship of the youth less extreme?
It is still a cultural issue. In Scandinavia, you can have a 60 year old appearing their age and being considered a great actor: people will come to you because the film is interesting. What the public does not want to see is old people trying to look 25 years old… until the end of their lives.

The actors who have an international career earn large paychecks. How do you spend the money you earn?
There may be twenty actors in the world who pocket a lot of money. Many of us, like me, out earn our living, but are not over the top. We bought a house a few years ago, we have not yet finished repaying it. I’m often shooting away, so I spend a lot of it on airplane tickets. Apart from that, I have no extravagant spending, or a luxurious hobby. And I want to put money aside for my children.

http://www.marieclaire.fr/,mads-mikkelsen-acteur-monstre,717232.asp#?