Vikings
returns tonight, but before it does, we had the chance to chat with
Alex Høgh Andersen about what lies ahead for Ivar the
Boneless as well as the other Vikings. When we last saw Ivar he had
brutally murdered his brother, and the repercussions from his actions
will likely haunt him the rest of the season. Spoilers are likely to
follow, so consider this your warning!
Be sure to check out our recap of
tonight's episode for the code word to enter our contest! Contest
details below.
Without giving away any spoilers how
do you think Ivar’s really changed going into Season 5? I mean is
he - do you think he’s more of a leader? What do you think has
really changed about his personality?
I don’t know if that much has
changed. Of course he, being part of the leading group of the Great
Heathen Army, has obviously matured him. And you will see a way more
mature Ivar as much as it is possible. But he is still the same
determined young man.
In the beginning well in Season 4 I
would describe him as a boy. I think he’s becoming a young man
eventually throughout Season 5 because there’s a lot of things
happening. And then this whole responsibility of maybe leading a
Great Heathen Army takes a toll on a human being.
I think Ivar is
really ready and up for the challenge but it is a challenge and he’s
going to learn from the mistake that he’s going to make. But he’s
still the same determined guy who will never let anyone stand in his
way of his goals. He’s so progressive. And he’s not afraid of
using violence to get his ways.
Ragnar had told Ivar that he needs
to use his anger differently but is Ivar capable of doing that?
Yes. I think he’s capable of doing
that. But as you probably know what happened at the end of Season 4
when we killed his dear brother Sigurd he lost control of himself. He
let his emotions take over. So yes you do have a point in the fact
that he is challenged in terms of that.
I think he understands that is his
massive weakness. That he is too driven sometimes by his emotions and
that they can take over and make him lose control. And I think that
is part of the reason why he is so much in remorse in the beginning
of Season 5. He’s in remorse because he knows that the killing of
his own brother created a wound between him and his brothers that I
don’t think he will be able to ever heal again.
And part of it is also him realizing
that he lost control and he let everyone see it. He let everyone see
his weakness and that he really struggles with. I think you will see
him try his very best to control his emotions throughout the seasons.
Yes.
Ivar lost control obviously and
killed Sigurd and caused that riff between him and his brothers. Can
you talk a little bit more about how Ivar’s relationship is going
to be with his brothers and how that kind of stands going into Season
5 and if that’s going to deteriorate as the season progresses?
Well obviously as you say there’s –
there was a riff already and I don’t think that he’s capable of
healing it again. But in the beginning of Season 5 you will see him
being genuinely sorry. And he tells his brothers that. But is that
again a way of him manipulating them and trying to make them feel
sorry for him or bringing them in onto his team a little bit again to
be able to control them or not making them be too hostile against him
because I think he’s aware of the fact that he needs them to reach
his goals.
And I think you will see a lot of
discussions between the brothers, a lot of unspoken things, a lot of
love and also hate. Those are the scenes that I think all of us, all
of the brothers, really love to shoot because they’re very intense
and there’s a lot of things happening there’s a lot of drama. But
- do they still love each other or is that bridge burned? That’s
the whole thing about it.
I think it’s our greatest goal as
actors to always keep the audience guessing and for me especially
with Ivar because he is such an extreme character and manipulative.
And he can easily become one-dimensional. So my main objective is to
keep him balanced and to have scenes like in the beginning of Season
5 where he’s genuinely sorry for his actions and that he almost
hates himself right? I think that’s the key of this whole
relationship. Yes.
You've talked in the past about how
vulnerable Ivar can be. Then he turns around and is sort of sadistic
and sort of a madman. Tell me about how that – is that - so is he
going to get harder the more he tastes power and not be so vulnerable
or the first episode he’s pretty vulnerable but could you sort of
talk about that difference in his two sides I guess?
Yes. I mean he will always be
vulnerable. He will always be three-dimensional. That is my main goal
as an actor. And I can never ever judge him. I can do my very best to
make people understand him because the last thing we want is a
one-dimensional character. And then he did I mean Michael Hirst wrote
this character so brilliantly that we can’t do that to him. He
doesn’t deserve that as a character. He will always be vulnerable.
As much as I love the crazy scenes
where I’m killing a lot of Saxons and I’m yelling old Norseman,
I’m crawling around as much as I love those crazy, crazy scenes
they are a lot of fun. What my heart really longs for as an actor is
the vulnerable scenes where he is maybe alone in a room and you can
see that a lot of these scenes where you see them being on top and
he’s quick, and he’s smart, and he’s intelligent, and
manipulative and being Ivar you see that most of it is an act because
he is so controlled on the outside. That is what people are when they
are very broken on the inside and don’t want to show people.
So he will always, always be
vulnerable. And we will – and I will always do my best to show
that. That is the most important thing of what I do with this
character.
Ivar is such an interesting
character because he is ambitious, and motivated to succeed in a
system that’s built not to generally respect or honor differently
abled people but he has for the most part, despite his flaws, seen a
lot of success. And I’d like to know why you think that is? And
whether you think, he’s going to continue to succeed despite his
flaws and his weaknesses?
Well I think most of it is since he’s
brilliant. He’s so smart. He’s so intelligent. People know that
he has his flaws and he knows that he has his flaws. But when he
shows up on the day of proving yourself, on the day of battle and
where everybody’s life is at stakes, he’s the one organizing the
whole thing. And he’s the one more or less at the end of Season 4
we see that he is the reason why they get through it.
I think actions speak louder than
words. Some of his actions are good and some of his actions are so
very, very bad. But I think you also have to remember that this is in
the Viking era where death is a way bigger part of life. It’s way
more acceptable. I mean Vikings grew up only thinking about death
right and how to die so they could get into Valhalla.
So even though it sounds horrible in
contemporary minds the fact of him killing his brothers is probably
not that big back in the day’s right? Of course it’s horrible.
But I mean people with no personal relation to him but only see him
as this leader probably didn’t give a damn I mean because all they
care about buy the end of the day is winning the next battle or dying
in a tremendous beautiful Viking way.
The Great Heathen Army and the troops
of the Great Heathen Army understand that Ivar is probably the one
that will get them there yes in the best way. I think that he
understands that he is very, very confident. And especially after
what happened in Season 4, at the end of Season 4 winning the battle
against the Saxons there and trying to take over the Great Heathen
Army. He just becomes more and more confident and rightfully so. That
makes him very, very dangerous, very dangerous.
Going into the season, how will
Ivar’s relationship with Lagertha be affected? Now that he’s
rising to power is this – are they going to see a little bit of
power struggle? Will that dynamic shift during this upcoming string
of episodes?
Oh definitely, definitely. I mean I
think it’s great because Lagertha is maybe the complete opposite of
Ivar. She is such a great and perfect and humane character. And it’s
great to see those two characters clash together and see this wild
and crazy guy who’s so determined and probably only thinks about
himself against this power woman who’s all about the people.
It’s great to see those two
characters clash. Yes there’s going to be a massive power struggle.
But this whole Civil War as you can see it’s going to be very, very
intense and it is Vikings fighting Vikings. I remember when we shot
this stuff and when we read the scripts and, where this whole thing
was going when we started to realize that there was going to be a
Civil War the biggest talk was like how are the audience going to
take this because nobody really wants to see Vikings fighting against
Vikings. They want to see Vikings against Saxons or whoever right?
So it’s very, very interesting. It’s
very interesting. I’m very excited to see how the audience is going
to take this. But I mean we did our best and I have a great feeling
about it. The stuff that we shot looks amazing. This season in
particular is probably the biggest we’ve ever done. And some of the
executives I’ve heard are very pleased so no pressure but we are
happy as far as I’m concerned. So yes I can’t wait to see that
stuff myself. I haven’t seen any of it.
Ivar is an antihero but also filling
the void left by Ragnar. How do you approach marking him sympathetic
or likable or is that even possible?
Yes is that even possible? Yes that’s
a big struggle with Ivar and has always been. It’s a great thing
you mention Ragnar because I like to think of it this way. Ragnar is
an antihero. And he’s more of a hero then he’s anti. I think
Ivar’s a bit more of the opposite. He is an antihero with an
emphasis on anti.
And that’s a great thing about it
because I love to challenge the audience. And I – there’s nothing
more interesting I find to make the audience guess all the time and
sit down and actually think do we like this dude or do we root for
him and do we not because that just challenges the audience. That’s
the whole point of the art right to make people actually think and
not to sit down and be relaxed.
Bet yes he is – he’s quite a
trouble to make him, make people feel sympathy for him. But so what I
do is - and of course working with Michael all the time we have a
great dialogue with him. And we’re both aware of the fact that we
need him to have these small scenes once in a while where we see the
real human where he is him and where he’s not acting, he’s not
manipulating people.
And we need to - we really need to have
those. Because otherwise you will become one dimensional and that’s
the worst thing I know. But also the whole physicality of him, the
visceral part of him is very important to me to keep in a crawling
mode so to speak as much as possible because I’m a - I believe that
every single time we see him crawl it’s a constant reminder of what
he’s been through and what he’s dealing with on a daily basis.
And I think it’s hard for people to
fathom what he’s been through. It’s hard for me and I’m playing
the dude. Every single time we have a chance where he can crawl or,
he’s not just sitting in on a chair because if he’s sitting on a
chair he looks like everybody else. But if I have the chance to
either choreograph the scene in a way that makes it obvious that he’s
crippled or you create a reminder that this is what he’s been
through and what he’s dealing with I think that’s one way to keep
him as being an antihero so to speak.
But there’s still good in him there’s
empathy in him - for him. But yes it’s a challenge. It is a
challenge. But – on the outside he’s a controlled maniac but on
the inside he’s a poor boy. So for me I’ve never had trouble
having sympathy for him. And I think that if I ever lose that I think
the audience will as well and the opposite way I will always have
sympathy for him I think the audience will as well.
At the end of last season, Michael
Hirst, talked about that this new character Bishop Heahmund played by
Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He’s this warrior Bishop and he’s being
introduced as kind of an adversary to Ivar. I was hoping you could
speak to that a little bit and in what ways this character is a
formidable adversary.
Jonathan Rhys Meyers who plays Bishop
Heahmund is just well Johnny, Johnny is phenomenal. So it’s a
great, great pleasure working with him. He is outstanding. And he’s
so intense. It was great to work with him.
And what his character is, is really
what Michael and I talked about when well when Michael told me about
the idea of bringing him in and creating this kind of an archenemy to
Ivar because if Ivar didn’t have someone who was as similar to him
I think it would be kind of close to unbearable with me or close to a
walk in the park for Ivar.
He needs to have some enemy that is
just as extreme but for a different cause but just as extreme and
determinant and such a powerhouse as well. And Johnny really, really
brings that to the table. And having these two characters square off
together is phenomenal and you’ll see a lot of scenes with these
two together.
I think what’s very interesting with
the two characters is that they understand each other. You know that
thing about you that even though it’s your biggest enemy and you
hate him you do understand him because you are very similar and you
come from the same place. You have the same ideas. You have the same
goals. So there’s some mutual respect. And you’ll see that
there’s mutual respect between these two guys.
The dynamic between these two strong
characters I think are going to be very interesting. I believe that
some of the stuff that we shot when they were squaring off is going
to be very, very good. And I have a great feeling about it. And
Johnny is just absolutely tremendous.
When you got the script tell us a
little bit about how you got the role of Ivar?
Okay. So back in – back when we
started oh when I took on Ivar – when we did the last audition I
didn’t even audition for Ivar actually. I was auditioning for all
of the other brothers until Frank Moiselle Casting Director poked me
on the shoulder and told me that I should read for Ivar. And then
after that I was sitting trying to remember his scene for half an
hour. And I was sweating. I was sweating like I’ve never been
before.
And then we did it. And when I got the
part my agent well my agent called me and said that I’ve gotten the
part. And I had to ask which one because I literally had no clue. So
to take on Ivar was quite a thing in the beginning. I mean and just
the fact that he’s so - he’s such a complicated character. I mean
- there’s tons to the character. And
I’m so privileged to have been able to work with him on a daily
basis. He’s a gift really.
Of course there’s a lot of research
in terms of understanding his disease. It’s a very authentic show.
And it takes pride in being authentic. So I need to when I’m
portraying a character that suffers from a real-life disease I need
to be as authentic as well. And that is - has been since day one in
the back of my head with every single thing that I do. Not that long
ago we started shooting Season 6 where I was like we had to change it
because he wouldn’t be able to do that physically whatever happened
in that scene.
I’m so limited in my acting because
of his disease. I just can’t, go and do this or do that or anything
because he first of all he can’t walk. And second of all if you’ve
been crippled for your entire life you’re also used to the fact
that, you would just sit down and you would get people, other people
to do stuff for you. So it was – it’s been quite frustrating
actually in the beginning to not be able to choreograph your scenes.
And also the technique of acting is a
bit different because you have to compensate with your upper body
acting wise now that you can’t use your full body. So what happened
was just naturally and organically we just became about his eyes. And
so I - and me being a fan of less is more and trying to act as much
with the eyes instead of the entire body I think that’s a bit more
interesting in some cases.
That’s what we’ve been trying to do
with this character me and the directors. And it’s a learning
experience. It really, really is. It’s tough to be so limited but
such a learning experience. And I’m very grateful for it actually.
Ivar and Floki, Floki and Ivar. Can
you talk a little about Ivar’s relationship with Floki and how much
Floki leaving affects him and if we will sort of see that throughout
the season?
Yes. Was that - is that the end of the
question Floki leaving and how that affects him?
Yes, yes.
Okay perfect. Yes you see Floki has
always been I probably think Ivar’s only friend. And in terms of
everything that’s happening in the beginning of Season 5 the
aftermath of Ivar killing Sigurd he really needs that support and
that friend in Floki. So it is the absolutely worst timing when Floki
decides to leave.
And I think that is really, really,
really for the worst for Ivar. And imagine losing a friend in the
moment you that you need him the most and especially everything
that’s going on I think it makes him more cold, and determinate,
and hard. And that’s not, that’s rough on everybody else. But it
is very much also rough on Ivar because I don’t think that, that is
what Ivar wants but that is his way of surviving 100% sure of that.
And it’s a very, very tough, tough loss.
I’m fascinated with your
relationship with the actor, with Jordan Patrick Smith’s character.
I’m also fascinated with your arc with Floki this season. Do you
take Floki leaving as abandonment or do you cheer him on? And what’s
your – how do you describe your relationship with Ubbe?
So okay if you take Floki first. I
think it’s – I think he feels both ways. I think he feels
abandoned but I - again that’s something that he’s used to right?
It’s just another damn person that he loves that left him. So it
just adds to this horrible, horrible line of damaging.
Floki is also a friend. Ivar
understands why he needs to do what he needs to do. He really wants
him to stay but he also understands him. And I think he takes it as a
sign that now he’s on his own and now it’s only it’s the Ivar
show from now on up in his head.
While that brings me on to Ubbe because
that doesn’t bode well for Ubbe. That is the great thing about what
Jordan and I have talked about when went through these scenes and
tried out what was their relationship we were pretty agreeing on the
fact that we both thought Jordan’s character Ubbe was – has
always been the bigger brother the more concerned bigger brother who
is taking care of his little brothers and especially Ivar.
So we created this thing that Ubbe has
always been Ivar’s legs in a way. There’s a great line in Season
5 where we actually got that line in. It was just great. But so I
think also that Ubbe feels very betrayed. He also feels that he
failed in terms of helping upbringing this kid and not creating a
monster out of him and seeing him become one a very hurt monster -
just really hurts him. And I don’t think you can ever settle down
with that. I think he feels very disappointed in himself and in Ivar.
He has his own goals and ambitions of
course. So to see your younger brother just full on ahead and take
over and don’t care who was in his way I mean that’s got to hurt
as well. So there is some very interesting dynamic between especially
Ubbe and Ivar. Yes.
Before you leave, I have to ask.
Anyone who has been following the show for a while knows that your
set is known for shenanigans among the cast members. So, I was
curious if the veteran actors welcomed all of you guys with any epic
pranks? And whether with Travis gone if anyone has taken up the
mantle of the chief merry prankster on set?
There was no big special prank thank
God because I would probably have been scared away. But, every day
shooting with Travis is a prank in itself. So not that he is not
phenomenal to work with and that he doesn’t take his job seriously
he’s the quite opposite and he such a great actor to work with.
It’s always fun when you’re around Travis.
That has also translated to the entire
crew. I mean every single day at work is so much fun. We are throwing
food at each other and it’s horrible but it’s so great it’s so
great. It’s a small family of 300 people and I love them to pieces.
They’ve helped me with so much.
The thing that I’ve achieved so far I
could not have done without them. It’s also cheesy but it is so, so
true. And part of it is because we were so good at keeping a light
atmosphere on set which I think is very, very important because it’s
such a dark show, it’s such an intense show and there’s - it’s
some long days in the worst conditions when we’re shooting in
January, February and I’m crawling in the woods and it’s snowing
sideways, raining sideways. And I can’t feel limbs I mean well some
would say that it’s forced method acting and it seems very, very
organic.
And the reason why we look wild in
those scenes are because we feel like it. So it’s all good I guess.
But it’s very, very tough. And especially those days you need to
just throw some food at each other. I mean you need to do that. But
yes we’ve taken upon us to keep that atmosphere there and I think
everybody has. And it’s just great so great.
I can't not mention San Diego Comic
Con. This year History Channel did an amazing thing where they let
the audience experience a Viking funeral for the character of Ragnar.
And getting to watch you and the cast interact with the audience was
really, really cool. Did you find the same catharsis experiencing
that as the fans and the audience did?
It was absolutely amazing. I’m so
happy you bring that up because at this stage all I’ve been doing
until Comic Con was working on this thing nonstop because Season 5
was 20 episodes. So we shot that for 11 months straight almost. I
never had the proper interaction with the audience I’m so familiar
with and that’s nothing compared to meeting people in real life.
And it was just an extraordinary,
extraordinary experience to see how happy people were and how much
they loved the show. It was very, very overwhelming. It’s a day
that I will definitely never forget. I was a nervous wreck sitting at
the panel, trying to sound clever, and smart, and charming and
intelligent in English is a challenge alone for me.
To see 2000, 3000 people showing up
just to the panel alone was just crazy. And then we went to the
funeral oh my God that was almost even worse. It was phenomenal. It
was such a phenomenal experience. And people were so nice, and happy
and appreciative. And I was even more appreciative of that day and
for all the people that showed up. It was a great experience. And
what it really does is it makes all the hard work that we do all the
crawling through mud in February it makes all that stuff worth it.
And it was just great. You really feel – I really felt alive that
day really felt alive. It was extraordinary.
Contest Details.
This year while
attending San Diego Comic Con we picked up a few of the drinking
horns from Ragnar's funeral celebration. I have three of them to
giveaway this season! Since tonight is the premiere we'll be giving a
code word out in our recap.
To enter: Send an email to
giveaways@museled.com
Subject: Vikings
Be sure to include your name and address and the code word in the email! Winner will be notified on Tuesday, December 5th!
“Blade Runner 2049” was produced by Oscar nominees Andrew A. Kosove & Broderick Johnson (“The Blind Side”) and three time Emmy winner Bud Yorkin & Cynthia Sikes Yorkin. Multiple Oscar nominee Ridley Scott (“The Martian,” “Gladiator”), who directed the first “Blade Runner,” is an executive producer. Bill Carraro served as executive producer and unit production manager.
