So is this your first festival attending with a film?
Er...[thinks] Yes. First festival abroad.
When did you get here?
Thursday? No, Wednesday. And then we've just been hanging out and had our first screening yesterday. So...
And it's your first leading role, right? I mean, you're carrying the film.
I had one big one before, but I guess this is, yeah.
And in the first scene you're totally naked and receiving explicit fellatio! They're just throwing you right into it, aren't they?
Yeah. I know it's boring to say, but it's really technical. It's not mine. It's all fake, basically. The scene wasn't that hard to do, actually. I had no problem with it. And it's good that it's there because it kind of shocks the audience, and they have no clue where the film is going to end up. It's like, "What the hell is this?" It's a good scene. It's important.
How early did you realize you wanted to act?
I wanted to act ever since I was a kid, basically. I got my first film role when I was 9; I played a younger brother to my oldest brother Alexander. But then, because we're four actors in the family -- me, two of my brothers, and my father -- as I grew up I thought, "I don't want to be another actor in the family. But I didn't really know what I wanted to do. So I chose a science program; in Sweden you can pick your high school program. It doesn't mean anything unless you want to be a doctor or something, in which case you have to do the science program. So I went and did that. But then I got a role in Arn (The Knight Templar), and by the time I was 16 I understood what acting was all about it. When you're 9 years old you just remember the lines. That's all you do. You don't think about the meaning of it or how you say it; you're 9 years old! But when I was 16, I was sort of like, "So this is what acting's about!"
So what was acting about?
Just making it true. Making it real. My father's in Arn, and my brothers as well, and seeing how they question lines. "I don't understand this or that..." All the stuff that's logical and doesn't add up. So it's like, "Oh..." Because you know, I'll see films and I say, "I don't believe this." Or, "Hey, OK, this is a bad script." So it's just about making it vivid, making it real, making it true. I think it's a really cool thing to do. You're creating a character. It's amazing.
So you kind of are still interested in science! Did you ever consider the technical precision or the logic that the disciplines have in common?
You can say that. I wasn't that into the science thing, actually. My mom is a doctor, and one of my older brothers is a doctor, and they were like, "Bill, it's wise to choose this program if you don't know what you want to do. If you want to be a doctor, it would be good to have this study." But I didn't like it at all. We have three years of high school in Sweden, and I realized, "I do not want to become a doctor; I do not want to become a scientist." And that was good! I did learn from that experience: I'm 100 percent sure I want to do this.
You'd better be after this movie. How did it come to you?
I got called up for an audition. I went to it with the casting director, got called back and met with Hannes, then got called back again to meet with Hannes, then I one more... I think there were five or six in the end. After one they gave me the script -- I wanted to know the story, and I completely fell in love with it. I think it's a fantastic story. Te role is amazing; you couldn't ask for a better role. I had to do it. I sort of convinced Hannes. He went to a film I was in where I had a smaller role -- he was at the premiere -- and I said, "OK, now he's watching this film, judging me on-screen." At the party afterward I confronted him and said, "I read your script and it was amazing. I want this chance to do this fantastic role." He believed me!
Martin is a highly moral young man with many convictions, yet he commits -- or submits -- himself to a major criminal enterprise. Why?
I think it's that age. When you're 17, 18, you're growing up and you're so naïve. And Martin is a bright guy, but he's naïve. It's easy for him to get used like Gösta in the film. He just gets involved in this thing, and when he's involved with it he realizes, "OK, maybe this isn't so good after all." You must understand, it's not like nowadays. You get from school and the media and everything that drugs are really bad and what the consequences are. But in the '70s, I don't think they had that knowledge of what drugs are and what they can do.
Martin also seems to know he brings a sense of integrity to the operation that it didn't have before he got there.
Yeah. That's what Gösta thinks. He sees this loyal guy, and he works with the other two guys he can't trust anymore. So he needs a hand, and Martin is a really bright guy. He's a quick thinker, and I think Gösta sees that in him. And that's why he says, "I need you to be with me; we need to do this together." He needs someone like Martin, even if he doesn't know at first why Gösta wants him. But it's a coming-up story. You don't know who you are at that age, or what you want to do, so you're easily drawn in to these kinds of things. You could be a teenager going into Nazi gangs or whatever; you want an identity. So it's a dangerous age in one sense.
The idea of the naivete, though... I mean, the notes explain, "Before Martin really understand what is going on, he finds himself in the middle of one of the greatest scandals in Swedish criminal history." That said, he clearly begins anticipating two or three moves ahead.
Definitely. You understand that more and more. He's understanding of what's going on, and you see that in the end when he's confronting the rich fellow -- his father's friend who helps him out. It's like, "Oh, really? I know why you're being nice to me." I think that's one of his strengths; he knew the situation before the audience did, really.
What do you think prompted Martin's sudden candor at the birthday party? To just blurt out with equanimity, "Yeah, my dad's a horrible drunk and my mother is codependent; it's best they're not here"?
He's obviously coming from a destructive family, and as the child of an alcoholic he's living this lie, you know? "My father sends his regards." No, he doesn't! You're living this lie, and the people around you start to lie to you. "Oh, it would be great to meet your father" -- even then knowing that your father is an alcoholic. Martin doesn't want to hear that bullsh*t anymore, you know? "No, it wouldn't be great. It would be terrible."
The violence in Behind Blue Skies isn't especially bloody or anything, but you subject yourself to a lot. How much were you prepared to take?
That's funny. The scene with Kenta [who graphically, repeatedly slaps him]... the guy who plays him, Peter Engman, he's really energetic. He works in theater, and he said beforehand, "I've done this for years. I've been knife fighting, stabbing at people within inches of the eyes... I know how precise I can be. You can trust me." So when he's hitting me -- because he's really hitting me, you know -- I said, "OK! Let's do this! We can do one or two takes, but let's really do this. Don't hold back; hit me." He says, "It's going to be fine, it's going to be fine." He has all these theatrical things, like hitting people with the fingertips so his doesn't hurt as much... that kind of thing.
And the first thing that happens it getting hit -- bang -- right across the ear. So it's like, "Riiinnnngggg..." My ear starts beeping. I'm like, "What the hell?" And then he does it again and again. My jaw was hurting; it was not precise. He hit really hard. I said, "Hey guys, I don't know if I can do one more take." My cheek was burning. But it was good that we did it that way, because I'm ready to offer something for this film. I'm ready to take a beating to make that scene feel realistic. And I think it did. It felt right.
Wow. Now that you've clearly recovered, what's next for you?
I've been filming two other leads in Sweden this year, one that premiered last week and another one that's going up in February. And I'm flying back to Lithuania to shoot another on Monday. After that, I don't know, honestly.
Just no more science.
No more science. That's for sure.