Mads Mikkelsen shares theory on why he’s a bad choice in American movies – Deadline
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Mads Mikkelsen has distinguished himself throughout his career with his ability to move between successful productions in his native Denmark and big Hollywood franchises like James Bond, Doctor Strange, Star Wars, Fantastic Beasts, and Indiana Jones.
The actor was questioned at a masterclass at the Marrakesh Film Festival on Saturday about the fact that he tends to be stereotyped as a flawed hero in Europe and the bad guy in Hollywood, like Marvel supervillain Kaecilius or Le Chiffre in Casino Royale.
“It’s very simple. It’s the funny accent. It’s that easy. It was the Germans, then the British; then the Russians, then for some reason they fell in love with the Danish accent. That’s definitely part of it,” he said.
Then if Americans see something they like, they tend to try to imitate it, right? But I’ve been lucky enough to play different villains in different universes. There’s a big difference between Marvel and James Bond… but I never think about it too much. In Denmark, we don’t divide it into good guys and bad guys, we tend to look at more complex characters.
Mikkelsen received an honorary Gold Star award at this year’s Marrakesh Film Festival, which is also holding a celebratory screening of his new film and Denmark’s entry for the Oscars. Promised Land.
The masterclass saw him speaking to a packed cinema filled with a lively young audience of aspiring actors and filmmakers.
A young actress asked Mikkelsen for advice about acting in a film in a language other than her mother tongue.
“I’ve done quite a few films in different languages, and I don’t speak any of them or at least I don’t speak them fluently,” he said. “The trick the first time I did anything in English was to practice it and practice it, and then, once the scene was shot, it was all over. You don’t think about it anymore. If there are mistakes, if people say, ‘Oh “Oh my God, what an accent.” So be it. That’s all I can do.
“Forget about it once you get there, and focus on the scene. You can’t be on stage or in front of the camera, focusing on the language. The worst case scenario is that you can fix it later in later ADR sessions.”
The actor said it’s important for the director to be on the same page and willing to accept the featured performance.
“If they expect perfect language with no accent at all, you should ask them to find someone else.”
In response to a question about whether there is one director with whom he feels a special relationship across his nearly 60 film and television works, Mikkelsen said that he would not compare “apples and pears.”
“I try to make them all equally important. Everything I do is the most important thing, and the next thing I do is the most important thing in my job. It’s going to be the best field in history. That’s the goal. Fortunately, we never achieved that, so we got a chance.” Other.”
“I’m not going to compare oranges and apples. Every one of them changed my career, or was a stepping stone to something else, and everyone was a part of that. So, if they’re not equally important, I love them all.”
