Already ten years ago, Mats Strandberg wanted to make a film of his book "Färjan". Maybe it's no coincidence that it's this fall the series finally premieres as a TV series, he ponders.
There's a horror wave now and it's clear that it's fun to be a part of it, he says.
This fall, Strandberg's "Hemmet" will also premiere on the big screen, which he calls "more eerie horror". "Färjan", on the other hand, plays with the contrast when a motley crew of party-hungry passengers want to have fun – but end up in a claustrophobic death trap on the Baltic Sea.
It's not nihilistic horror that you get anxiety from, but I'm somewhat damaged. People don't get tortured hour after hour. Something wildly "splattery" happens and then it's over.
No tips
The series takes place on the Finland ferry Baltic Charisma, where the vampire Edith and her son Walter roll on board in a worn-out caravan – and they are far from the cliché image of sexy high school vampires.
The role of Walter is Kolbjörn Skarsgård's biggest so far. His brothers Bill and Alexander Skarsgård have both played vampires, but he hasn't received any advice from them.
I love them and they're great actors, but I don't really like getting tips from my brothers. The more tips I get, the more hate I get, and I'm called a nepo-baby. I do it independently, to be able to prove that I have some kind of talent, he says.
In the film, Walter says "people are cattle" and to get in the right mood, Kolbjörn Skarsgård thought about what it's like to hunt.
I thought I would focus on how they move and where they look, I pretended they were a wild boar or something, he says.
Safety valve
Mats Strandberg was in Kolbjörn Skarsgård's age when he started getting interested in horror. But he wasn't allowed to watch scary movies back then and read Stephen King instead. The American author's "Salem's Lot" has been an inspiration to "Färjan" – Mats Strandberg wanted to create a microcosm of Swedish society on board.
For him, horror has been a safety valve. When he worried about nuclear war and AIDS during his upbringing in the 80s, it made him feel less alone.
Kind of like now, it's such dark times. I hope people can feel inspired by the series, that ordinary people can become heroes and be braver than they themselves think. And that empathy pays off.
Elin Swedenmark/TT
Facts: "Färjan"
TT
"Färjan" will be shown in six episodes with a premiere in SVT Play on September 26.
The main roles include, among others, Björn Bengtsson ("A completely ordinary family"), Jessica Grabowsky ("Top dog"), Tuppence Middleton ("Downton Abbey"), and Kolbjörn Skarsgård ("Clark").
The script is written by Mats Strandberg, Malin Lagerlöf, and Chris Andrews. The director is Jonas Alexander Arnby, who has previously made "Helikopterrånet", among other things.
