Leaded by “Severance” star ólafur darri ólafsson, “Reykjavic Fusion”, one of the prominent competitors in France Cannes FestivalThe CEO Eric Barmak described it as the content of the wild sheep as “Breaking Bad” meets “the bear”. “
When the protagonist Jonas comes out, a talented chef who is supposed to have tax fraud, comes out and opens a restaurant supported by the head of the crime, his life becomes a daily exercise in controlling damage, as his life escalates in the crime.
All Jonas wants is to develop his passion for Haute food, which includes “Icelandic ingredients cooked in the Asian -style cooked, with all kinds of secret transformations”, and explains to his colleague negatives. But he soon hesitate to kill and drown with debts, and is exposed to conditional danger, life, and loved ones.
Elegant, conclusive, fast -paced, full of movement near the Icelandic chain such as car chases, “Rekjavik Fusion” plays on a much larger fabric than almost all the Icelandic series.
Besides U..s/Icelandic star ólafsson, which ranges from the 100 plus credits from “The Secret Life of the Mitti” and “The True Investigation” to “trapped”, the Icelandic actors in Hera Helmmar (“fatal engines”, “Section” take. Former Catherine, who is played by Lara Johanna Junsdotur (“besieged”).
In cooperation with the wild sheep content from Eric Barmak, the show is the first project produced by Act4I created the Oldson banner in 2023 with producer Horur Reynarson, the general creator of the exhibition, the co -creator and writer Birker Blopn of Anguvenon and writer Jonas Margier Ingulfson. Besides the Icelandic Commissioner Simins and the ARTE participating partner, broadcasters or platforms on the plane include AMC Iberia, Viasat, Yle, Err and SBS. The local launch of this fall has been set with MediaPro Studio distribution sales.
diverse Sit with Olafsson and Rúnarsson at Majestic Hotel in Cannes. They both talk away from Scandi Noir, their love for cooking and mixing American/European components for perfect integration to be tasted worldwide.
This is the first Icelandic series chosen for the Canneseries project and the first ACT4 project. What does this mean for you?
ólafur darri ólafssonIt is extremely important for the first Icelandic series to compete here, which is a great milestone for us in ACT4. Getting a company from the ground is difficult, but we are happy that we are able to do this and have the first series here after two years of launch.
Thanks to Hördur, Birkir, Jónas, and thanks to the participating managers Samúel [Bjarki Pétursson] And Gunnar [Páll Ólafsson] Those who are experienced in commercial advertisements but have not done a series before, we wanted to stay away from the traditional Scandi Noir, and we do something that has been released quickly.
How did you get the idea of mixing cooking with the crime?
Renarson: We have begun to give a different flavor in terms of designs, writing, crew and crew, and we wanted a series that will be based on the city of Reheervik.
Basically, I love cooking and my father was chef. The idea of the show was originally from a conversation with a chef I know. He was working in many restaurants and said: “I am doing all the hard work with other players who earn all the money.” Then he said: “I have a friend who got out of prison and opened a restaurant! I was cooking for some bankers who were in a small security prison that provides all luxury ingredients. So I was like” this is an interesting story. “
ólafsson: Yes, it is actually drawn, more than you think.
Hördur rúnarsson and Olafur Darri ólafsson
Credit: Annika Fam
Can you describe your personality, jónas? What made you appeal to you?
ólafssonBasically, he goes to prison because of a crime he did not commit, but he is not innocent in the sense that he was forced to serve time for what he did in life.
In Iceland, we have a saying to go to prison, which means you are going there to become a better person. But the paradox is that prisons are a place where they already meet real criminals. Then we wanted to explore what is happening when it comes out of prison. For example, Jónas loses his family, and his fiancée has cut off ties with him and does not want his child to visit him in prison. It is full of shame. The only person who is in contact with him is his father. We were interested in exploring it. Going to prison is a better person, but going out and realizing that society does not want anything to you. Fortunately in Iceland, Iceland [the prison system] It is a hundred times best from the United States, as people lose the right to vote, for example.
However, there is a lot of story: dynamic with his fiancée who has a new man in her life, as the latter was the father of his children, then his relationship with his children. Also, Mary’s character [the right-hand to the criminal who loans him money to open the restaurant] Very entertaining.
The key is how to involve the audience so that it wants to continue to watch the show and root of your personality. Can you expand your multi -layer interpretation and body language that says more than words?
ólafssonWell, Jonas constantly interacts with situations. This is fun as an actor when things continue to happen. I love Jónas as a multi -layer character, the fact that it is defective. Regarding the physical, it comes instinctive with each part.
In general, now after you have a familiar name as an actor, and you may be able to choose your roles, how do you choose it?
Olason: I said it before, but when I started in my acting career, perhaps in 2005, I worked with Stellan Skarsgård. I have always looked at him as a SCANDI who did everything [internationally]But continue to work in Scandinavia. I picked up a lot of it. I asked him: “Do you not want to work with the Coen brothers?
I always try to stick to that. Then the other elements enter the play: who is another in it, and the money, whatever it is.
Also, sometimes people say actors can play any role. I really don’t agree with that. You can do incredible things, but there are certain parts more important, according to the place where you are in life. Anytime you play, you use your experience and knowledge.
In short, when I choose a part, I follow my bowels. I read the story, and if I thought I could make the story better, it is attractive to me.
What are you digging from yourself to play Dramund in “Severance” then?
ólafsson: I think there was a lot (laughs)! I was already thinking about the people who terrified me when I was playing Drummond. We have a specific government now in the United States, we are in an interesting place where some people seem real believers and will do anything for a specific individual. I think Drummond is this type of individual and killing will not be at least! This attracted me to that character. It is fun as an actor to put yourself in a mentality for a person you will not necessarily have.
I also made a presentation titled “Nine Corps in Mexican morgue” last year [for MGM+] She played a man who really believes in Trump and in the stolen elections. It was incredibly fun. It was not about making a stereotype. People believe in all kinds of things and sometimes learn the difficult way that was complete nonsense.
The offer is produced by Erik Barmack from Wild Sheep Content on the one hand, and ARTE on the other hand. You are like the joint between the United States and Europe and mixed the United States and European novels. Do you agree to this?
Renarson: definitely. It is a mixture of Monday and Iceland in several ways between the United States and Europe. We look forward to the United States, although we are in the northern European.
Olafur Darri, as the United States/Icelander, do you also feel a division between the two or definitely rooted in Iceland?
ólafsson: I worked a little in the United States, but I have always kept my base in Iceland and saw no reason to leave. When I started working, the world had just opened to self -dishes and people continued to say: You have to move to Los Angeles to go out internationally. Now, everything has changed. Nobody should live in Los Angeles, and unfortunately, there are very few buds that occur there these days. With ACT4, we are proud to collect these two worlds.
Returning to the show, from the first picture, the cooking opens on the screen our senses and appetite. I think you have a chef Michelin – þráinn freer vigfússon – as a consultant. How was the work with him and did you like cooking personally?
ólafsson: Cooking is a mix between meditation and chemistry. It is the perfect thing. At the end of the working day, you go somewhere and start cooking. Usually I put some good music, and if you are lucky, you open a bottle of red and you have a cup. My family loves when I cook Bourguignon.
I like to eat good food, a good company. What happened is that I got to know this chef þránn, which runs two restaurants in Reykavik – óx and Sümac – and I got to know him well. I felt he would be perfect as a consultant and he went further, as he designed the entire list for the restaurant and cooking food on the collection. It was in the kitchen, which makes me look good !!
What is the following for ACT4?
ólafsson: We have a new series called “Horse’s Death” [part of the New8 Alliance, commissioned by RÚV]. It is the mystery of a murder with a development in the sense that, the victim of murder is a horse. The owner submits an insurance claim and the investigation begins. This creates an interesting hypothesis because it wonders about our relationships with animals – cats, dogs or horses – especially in Iceland – which we consider part of our family and certainly a large part of our lives.
Do you behave in it?
ólafsson: No, I will leave it to other people. We have an impressive collection of actors to choose from in Iceland. Jonas and Perkir are from the contestants.
Renarson: The financing is closed and we shoot in July. We will soon announce our sales partner.
