Mads Mikkelsen may be the Danish film’s most charismatic and sensitive hunk, but he has never had to do the heavy lifting in front of the camera. In the grotesque lönnmördarthrillern “Polar” on Netflix gets his nypensionerade torpedo tortured for three days and forced to have nakenslagsmål in the snowdrifts when younger colleagues want to silence him for good.

completely idiotic for a 53-year-old to run around naked and do a lot of crazy stunts in freezing temperatures. But I seem to not know better, says Mads Mikkelsen on the other side of the telephone line to the united states, and make a small konstpaus:

– But I couldn’t resist the combination of an exceptionally vivid graphic novel and a crazy director like Jonas Akerlund…

Mikkelsen as the assassin Duncan Placed in the Jonas Åkerlunds “Polar” which premieres on Netflix on January 25th.

Victor Santos grotesquely descriptive novel with the same title and is a ultravåldstripp which often turns into a kind of violent pornography. Mikkelsen plays the ordkarge and antisocial Duncan Placed, alias ”The Black Kaiser,” whose specialty is to murder his victims in the most elaborate spectacular ways.

” Duncan is not the type who is plagued by feelings of guilt, for him, the job is that to cut someone’s hair if you are hair. We also didn’t want to make him a cool dude in a tuxedo and sunglasses that disrupts one liners around. He is a social incompetent average joe. Personally, I find his actions despicable, but he is not the one who questions the morality, ” says Mikkelsen.

In one of the scenes avenge Duncan Placed on a bizarre gangsterboss by perforating his forehead with a slagborr.

” of course It is a horrible thing, but it was very fun to do on film. My opponent had an implant in the forehead in the form of a metal plate. I still had to drill carefully to not slip on the plate and hurt him for real. Our agreement was that he would give to know if I would stop the drill. The codeword was ”Mads”, but the character would for obvious reasons be in a state of complete panic and I think he forgot my name, haha…

”I like to talk but am also a huge fan of the silence” says Mads Mikkelsen. Photo: Joel Ryan

in any case, has not forgotten the charismatic dane with the dark brown sammetsögda gaze and high kindknotorna. Next week will Mikkelsen to Gothenburg, sweden to receive an honorary award for a career that kick-started with debutfilmen ”Pusher” (1996), where he played a charming drug dealer who tjallade on his nervous friend’s (Kim Bodnia). A few years later, his his first festival visits at the Göteborg international film festival, in conjunction with the dark, freaked the comedy ”Flashing lights” (2000).

” For me who grew up with Swedish television and Swedish films, it was a great moment. As being a child in a candy store. That I get an honorary award feels absolutely surreal, ” he says.

for a few years in the early 00’s, he was in the was and another Danish film. In the beginning of the 10th century, he won the prize for best actor in Cannes for victimhood in Thomas Vinterbergs ”the Hunt” where his timid pre-school teacher was falsely accused of paedophilia.

a Few years earlier dazzled the Bond producer Barbara Broccoli by the dane in Susanne Biers ”Love you forever!” and gave him the heavy Le Chiffre in ”Casino Royale”. Since then, Mikkelsen has become one of Hollywood’s älsklingsskurkar in, among other things, “Hannibal”, the Marvel movie ”Dr. Strange” and the Star Wars movie ”Rogue one”.

– in the Past it was always the british, who had to play skurkrollerna, now it seems Hollywood likes villains with a scandinavian accent. I myself am terrified of becoming one of those actors who is so focused on his american accent that they forget the character, ” says Mikkelsen.

Mads Mikkelsen as the stranded pilot in Joe The överlevnadsdrama “Arctic”. Photo: Helen Sloan/SMPSP

and existential överlevnadsdrama ”Arctic” as shown in Gothenburg needed Mikkelsen, neither study scripts or work with anyone dialogcoach. ”Arctic” is a near two hours long soloshow in polarkylan where Mikkelsen plays a pilot who become stranded in the middle of the Arctic, and live as Robinson Crusoe in the middle the hard winter landscape. Clean drömrollen for a magnetic actor who can play with so subtle means.

” I like to talk but am also a huge fan of the silence. I love to see the small expressions in a face. Sometimes you can make a scene even more powerful without the dialogue. For me is ”Arctic” just as superbrutal poetic film about the crucial difference between surviving and being alive.

”the Arctic” is a both a physically and psychologically stressful existential examination also for the spectator. The recording is the toughest he has made. Due to the extreme weather conditions could the crew just filming 19 of the 30 inspelningsdagarna.

It was dangerous really. But we tried to “go with the flow” and use of the elements rather than fighting against it. Because the climate plays the main role, we got a lot for free. At the end of the recording I was completely drained of all energy and could barely walk. The story, surprisingly, was much more emotional than what you could see in the script.

Mads Mikkelsen together with the actor Maria Thelma Smaradottir and director Joe Penna from the movie ”Arctic”. Photo: Arthur Mola

Gothenburg have dane no thoughts on retirement. After more than two decades, one he is still on his professional identity.

– I am discovering all the time new layers within me, but has tremendous difficulty putting words on what I’m doing, and what I learned about acting. The only thing I’m absolutely sure of is that everything stands and falls with the interaction. If we do not work hard to make each other good, then all bad.