This year’s Marrakech film festival’s « In conversation with » kicked off with a cozy sit-in with the freshly FIFM honored actor, Mads Mikkelsen, in which he outlined career milestones, acting methods and his lifelong dream of working with Martin Scorsese.
Director of the Sidney film festival, Nashen Moodly, moderated the meeting and allowed several professionals, students and fans to interact with Mikkelsen on a variety of subjects.
The event began with a screening of the opening shot of Mikkelsen’s latest movie « The promise land ».
He believed that the character he plays, Ludvig, is « a very stubborn man », and stubborn characters fall within the actor’s area of expertise.
Legendary actors Burston Keaton and Charlie Chaplin are some of his oldest heroes, watching their acting, in particular Keaton’s « I fell in love with the way he does things. He is an open canvas, when I was a kid I was just fascinated with him. »
About his role in the « Pusher » trilogy, a movie that kick started his career, he explained that the director did not want any professional actors on his set.
Mads, who was a dancer and a gymnast, auditioned for the film and got the role « because the director didn’t understand a word I was saying, and I was from that area (in the movie) », making him the perfect lead actor.
Mads evoked how he handpicks movies to start in. « The script is a major engine in this, I have to find it inspiring and then secondly the director, we don’t have to agree but we have to be able to communicate. »
One of his most memorable performances was his interpretation of Lucas in « The Hunt », a teacher accused of pedophilia.
The actor recalled that « It was a very frustrating read, and you wanna do something with your frustration and anger. It was a brutal journey and a brutal film but it doesn’t mean that it was difficult ».
On where this lack of difficulty in playing such a challenging role lies, Mikkelsen underlined that the script was very well written, making it not that difficult of a task for him to put himself in Lucas’s shoes.
The role landed him the best actor in the Cannes film festival.
The special win « Is a reminder that you’re doing something right and that you can go an extra mile. »
He attributes the film’s success and his smooth interpretation to the director, Thomas Vinterverg.
Mikkelsen, one of James Bond’s cruelest villains, almost never plays a villain in Danish films. However, in Hollywood, directors stereotypically cast him as one.
The actor believes that this duality is attributed to « the funny accent! They (Americans) fall in love with a Danish accent. »
On recently playing alongside legendary Harrison Ford in the latest « Indiana Jones » movie, Mikkelsen said « He is a legend but he doesn’t behave like one, he has a tone of energy as if it’s his first movie. »
While he worked with several directors who brought out complex emotions in him, resulting in the creation of unforgettable characters, Mikkelsen’s biggest dream remains working with Martin Scorsese.
« Give me a call Marty, » said the Danish artist, emphasizing that it is his lifelong dream to work with the unmatched director.
« Last Round » is a movie that shows a different playful side of Mikkelsen, and after a brief screening of the ending scene, displaying him playing a character dancing gracefully, while very drunk, the hall held a long standing ovation.
While the actor seemed very pleased, he said « well you all much rather I become a dancer again ».
As an ex dancer, he has a strong sense of rhythm that still lingers within him and transcends into every character he plays.
While the ending scene happens to be a very famous one, Mikkelsen did not like it after the first script read, as “it is a hyper realistic film.
The movie tells the story of four highschool teachers embarking on a journey to remain consistently drunk all day.
However, the actors all had to act being drunk on set as they agreed that no actual alcohol consumption would be tolerated on set. Still, to get in the character’s shoes, they had a drinking boot camp, to practice “drunk dancing.”
Mikkelsen even suggested that the director cut the scene, « good thing he didn’t listen to me ».
FIFM paid tribute to the artist last night, commemorating his life long achievements.
add your comment
Terms of publication : Not to offend the writer, people, sacred things, or attack religions or the divine self, and refrain from racist incitement and insults.