"I love characters who are ambivalent, complex, misunderstood, who are trying to survive," he says on the phone from his home in Copenhagen.
Asbæk had his breakthrough in Scandinavia with the prison drama "R" and the TV series "Borgen." This led to the role of the evil Euron Greyjoy in "Game of Thrones."
There he was so convincing that he has since been given a number of villain roles - which has led him to happily play ambivalent characters in the Danish TV series "Snake Killer" and "Secrets".
Sweden news with Evin Ahmad
In the Danish series "Secrets", which is currently airing in Sweden, he plays teacher Mads, who risks his family (his wife is played by Swedish Evin Ahmad) and health due to his recurring drug abuse. He has a close relationship with his sister (Iben Hjejle), who tries to help him, but who has her own relationship problems.
He's not a loser, he's a phenomenal teacher, but that doesn't make him happy. He has a dark side that makes him always look for the next fix. He's ambivalent. I love that," Asbæk says.
He emphasizes that he is not his character, but that he can relate to certain parts of him:
I based him somewhat on someone I know who is addicted to drugs. He watched one episode and then said, "No more, it's too close."
Being able to make series like "Snake Killer" and "Secrets" has allowed Asbæk to show that he can play more than black-and-white characters, he says:
"It's fun to do nuanced role portrayals. I've never been the first lover, I've played the guy who's on the outside," he says.
Not watching "Game of Thrones"
Does he follow all the spin-offs of the hit "Game of Thrones" himself? Nope.
I stopped watching the series when I got the role in it myself. It felt too strange to sit and have lunch with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Kit Harington - it took away the realism and the illusion. But I've been thinking about watching that comic "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," he says.
Facts: Pilou Asbæk
Name: Pilou Asbæk.
Age: 44.
Lives: Copenhagen.
Family: Wife Anna, one daughter.
Selected roles: "R", "Borgen", "Game of Thrones", "Hijacking", "The War", "Ghost in the Shell", "Salem's Lot", "The Investigation", "Snake Killer".
Current: "Secrets", which premieres on Viaplay on May 10.
