AS TOLD TO
CAROLINE BISHOP
PHOTO
REX FEATURES
The
Wallander
star on playing Ingmar Bergman, bringing Swedish theatre
to the London stage and why his children just don’t understand him
Krister Henriksson
I was so proud
when I heard that the
British had accepted the
Wallander
series, because as a Swede I was
brought up with British television
and BBC drama series. No country
does crime like the British. Wallander
has taken four years of my life, more or
less. I feel a relief that it’s over and I can
do other things. I loved doing it, but
enough is enough.
I was asked to come to London
a year ago to play
Doktor Glas
.
You
could say the book, by Hjalmar
Söderberg, is the best Swedish novel
ever written. It’s about love, murder and
sex – it’s full of passion. I told them I
could do the play in English if they gave
me a year [to learn], but they said no –
they wanted me to talk in Swedish. With
Wallander
and the other Scandinavian
series that are being shown on TV in
Britain, people accept the Scandinavian
languages. They think they’re beautiful.
People go to the theatre a lot in
Stockholm.
It’s one of the cities with
the most venues per head in the world.
There’s a lot of fringe theatre, as well as
established venues like the Royal
Dramatic Theatre. Ingmar Bergman
asked me to come to the latter for
The
Winter’s Tale.
We fell in love with each
other, if you know what I mean. He even
asked me to play him in
Faithless
,
the
film he wrote about his life and his love
affairs. He was a very humble and kind
man. I was surprised because rumours
had suggested otherwise.
When I travel,
I’m interested in
trekking. Up north in Sweden, in Kiruna,
on the Kebnekaise mountain [Sweden’s
highest peak] – it’s wonderful to walk
there. Many years ago I did a little
trekking in Scotland, and this summer
I’ll try to do that again.
My father was a fisherman
and it
was a fantastic thing to be brought up
in [the coastal village of] Grisslehamn.
I didn’t appreciate it that much when I
was young, but that’s natural. I always
try to go trekking with my children
and I become so irritated with them
when we turn up at Kebnekaise and
I say, “Come and look at this view,”
and they say, “No, we don’t want to look.
It’s not remarkable at all.”
Ystad [where
Wallander
is set]
is
one of my favourite places in Sweden.
Not during winter – it’s cold, dark and
wet, and everything is closed. But
during summer it’s a fantastic place.
It’s near the sea, there are lots of
restaurants, you can go to the beach
and go cycling along the coast.
I go to Berlin a lot
because it has
such interesting history. As a Swede, if
you’re interested in theatre you go to
Berlin or London. Berlin has a big
theatre industry. I haven’t worked there,
but I studied German when I was a
student and I’m fascinated by the history
of Berlin and Germany.
When I go to England
I feel like I’m
at home. When I’m in Berlin or Paris
or New York I feel like I’m abroad,
but London is like Stockholm. It’s too
crowded for my taste, but I really
love the people. We share a Viking
history. They are just like the Swedes.
Krister Henriksson stars in
Doktor
Glas
at Wyndham’s Theatre, London,
from 16 April – 11 May
☞
Turn the page for Krister’s guide to Stockholm
Thanks to the Scandinavian
shows that are on TV,
people accept the
Scandinavian languages –
they think they’re beautiful
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