When "Where the Sun Always Shines" returns this fall, it has gained another leading actor. Kristofer Hivju, known from "Game of Thrones" and "Beck", plays the role of an eccentric artist who has a large - and not always positive - impact on Swedes in Mallorca.
After roles in Ruben Östlund's "The Tourist" and a major role in "Game of Thrones", Hivju's career has taken him between the US and Europe. He has often played "bad guys", but now he feels like doing comedy.
Art dealer with a “man-cave”
In "Where the Sun Always Shines," he plays Anker, a wealthy art dealer who lives in a fancy house outside Palma. There, he has set up a "man-cave," where Tom (played by Per Lasson) ends up, something that his wife Petra (Lisa Linnertorp) is not keen on.
Hivju says:
Felix and I talked about this even before season one had started. He said he had an idea for a character for me. Sometimes you have to sell the bear before it's shot.
The second season of "Where the Sun Always Shines" will be shown on SkyShowtime and SVT this fall. At that time, Hivju will also be starring in the Norwegian crime drama "Sogn Murders", which is co-produced by TV4.
It's about Norway's smallest police station. It only has four or five employees and is about to be closed down. The police officer I play doesn't dare tell the employees - he's in crisis. Then a murder happens and an assistant from the Norwegian Säpo arrives.
Will Steinar return?
Norwegian crime, then. But what happens to Swedish "Beck" after twelve films - will Hivju return?
Who knows. Steinar will come and go. It's amazing what an impact that series has had. I get recognized in the oddest places.
Do you ever get offers for roles where they want you to shave off your red beard?
"It happens, but there are enough men out there in the world without beards. My beard is a commodity. You buy that commodity," says Hivju.
Now a busy summer awaits back home in Norway - Hivju will make the family film "Uncle Egg" and will also go on tour, including to Sweden, with his band Hivju and the Garbage King.
"I sing and I write songs, a little bit inspired by Leonard Cohen and Nick Cave," he says.
Corrected: In a previous version, Lisa Linnertorp had an incorrect last name in the caption.
Facts: Kristofer Hivju
Name: Kristofer Hivju.
Age: 47.
Family: Wife Gry, two children.
Lives: Oslo.
Occupation: Actor.
Selected roles: "After Earth", "An Icy Bastard", "The Tourist", "Game of Thrones", "Lilyhammer", "The Fate of the Furious", "Cocaine Bear", twelve "Beck" films, "Red One".
Current: Main role in season two of "Where the Sun Always Shines" and "Sogn Murders" on TV4.
