In six months Kristofer Hivju makes his debut as Martin Beck’s new sidekick in the hit Swedish detective series Beck. What does he think about it? And what about Game of Thrones?
Given what happened in the Season 5 finale of Game of Thrones, it appears that Jon Snow really did know nothing. How will that particular turn of events affect Tormund Giantsbane, the breakout character played by Kristofer Hivju, the first Norwegian in the hit show’s international cast?
In an interview with Sweden’s Aftonbladet, Kristofer Hivju, the 2015 Guldbagge Awards winner for Best Supporting Actor (for Force Majeure, aka Turist), shared his thoughts about it, as well as some tidbits about his character in the new episodes of Beck.
Filming completed on those four episodes earlier this month, the first of which will premiere in January 2016 in Sweden and introduce Hivju’s character, Detective Steinar Hovland, as the replacement for Gunvald Larsson, the much-loved character played by Mikael Persbrandt for nearly twenty years.
Said Hivju about the series, “Beck is in a league of its own — the mothership of Nordic noir. Beck tells the story of the people behind the investigations, and why the people have committed those horrible crimes. It fascinates me.”
About his role in Beck, Hivju enthused, “It has been an amazing journey! […] I play Steinar Hovland, a police officer with a beard. He is a compassionate man. A modern policeman with modern methods, who thinks it is society’s fault that people commit terrible crimes.”
He added, “I understand the major cultural phenomena that Beck and Gunvald are. And Persbrandt is a fantastic actor. But when I go into something, it doesn’t help me to think about how awesome he is. I’ll try to be amazing myself. Hehe.”
On playing a cop in Beck and a Wildling in Game of Thrones, Hivju noted, “[In GoT] I have a suit that weighs 18 kilos and [in Beck] I walk around in a T-shirt. And in Game of Thrones, it is a Shakespearean style of performance. It is big — life, death, kill! [In Beck] I play on the finer strings. It feels like I’m going from playing bass to violin.”
As for what will happen with Tormund in Season 6 of GoT, following the Jon Snow incident, Hivju offered this: “What happens now is up to the gods […] I tried to get out of George R.R. Martin what will happen, but he said nothing.”
So there you have it.
With filming wrapped on Beck and two upcoming films (Wendyeffekten and The Last King), and production starting soon on two more films (Exodus: Humanity Has a Price and Mango – Lifes Coincidences), Hivju is taking some much-needed time off.
“Anytime I have a day off, I’m at home in Oslo. It’s all about priorities. I say no to certain things, because I am a family man. The family has been here, and when my wife, a documentary film director, is working, I go with her. We are a little nomads, and the kids love the hotel rooms.”
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