Latest news with #Ólafsson
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Severance's' Ólafur Darri Ólafsson on Cooking and Crime in ‘Reykjavik Fusion,' Hörður Rúnarsson on Breaking Away From Scandi Noir
Led by 'Severance' star Ólafur Darri Ólafsson, 'Reykjavic Fusion,' one of the highest-profile competition contenders at France's Canneseries, is described by executive producer Erik Barmack of Wild Sheep Content as ''Breaking Bad' meets 'The Bear.'' When protagonist Jónas, a gifted chef imprisoned supposedly for tax fraud, gets out and opens a restaurant backed by a crime lord, his life becomes a daily exercise in damage control, as his life spirals into crime. More from Variety Josh Holloway Says His 'Answer Is Always Yes' to J.J. Abrams as 'Lost' Duo Reunites for Crime Thriller 'Duster' Creator of the Original 'Bad Sisters,' Malin-Sarah Gozin Talks Canneseries Hot Ticket 'Dead End': 'What if We're the Serial Killers of Our Planet?' Wild Bunch TV Boards Spanish Crime Thriller Series 'The Clan Olimpia' Starring 'Carmen y Lola' Breakout as Housewife-Turned-Ringleader (EXCLUSIVE) All Jonas wants is to develop his passion for haute cuisine, featuring 'Icelandic ingredients cooked Asian style, with all kinds of secret twists,' as he explains to his fellow cons. But he's soon a reluctant accomplice to murder and drowning with debt, jeopardizing his parole, life, and loved ones. Chic, sleak, fast-paced, packed with action near unprecedented in Icelandic series such as car chases, 'Rekjavik Fusion' plays out on a far larger canvas than nearly all Icelandic series. Next to U..S/Icelandic star Ólafsson whose 100-plus credits range from 'The Secret Life of Walter Mitty' and 'True Detective' to 'Trapped,' the Icelandic cast takes in Hera Hilmar ('Mortal Engines,' 'The Oath') as Mary, an unpredictable side-kick to the crime lord Kristján (Thröstur Leo Gunnarsson, 'Driving Mum') and his ex-fiancée Katrín, played by Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir ('Trapped'). Teaming with Erik Barmack's Wild Sheep Content, the show is the first project produced by Act4, Ólafsson's banner set up in 2023 with producer Hörður Rúnarsson, creator-writer of the show, co-creator and writer Birkir Blær Ingólfsson and writer Jónas Margeir Ingólfsson. Alongside Icelandic commissioner Síminn and co-production partner Arte, broadcasters or platforms on board include AMC Iberia, Viasat, Yle, ERR and SBS. The domestic launch is set for this fall with The Mediapro Studio Distribution handling sales. Variety sat down with Ólafsson and Rúnarsson at the Majestic Hotel in Cannes. Both talked moving away from the Scandi noir, their love for cooking and mixing U.S./European ingredients for a perfect fusion to be savored globally. This is the first Icelandic series selected for Canneseries and first Act4 project. What does this mean to you? Ólafur Darri Ólafsson: It's hugely important to have the first Icelandic series competing here and it's a big milestone for us at Act4. Getting a company off the ground is challenging but we're happy that we've managed to do it and to have our first series here two years after launch. Thanks to Hördur, Birkir, Jónas, and thanks to co-directors Samúel [Bjarki Pétursson] and Gunnar [Páll Ólafsson] who are experienced in commercials but had never done a series before, we wanted to break away from the traditional Scandi noir, do something that was a little feast, quickly edited. How did you get the idea of mixing cooking with crime? Rúnarsson: We set out to give a different flavour in terms of creatives, writing, cast and crew and we wanted a series which would be grounded in the city of I like cooking and my father was a chef. The idea for the show came originally from a conversation with a chef that I know. He was working at various restaurants and said: 'I'm doing all the hard work with other guys making all the money.' And then he said: 'I even have a friend who came out of jail and he opened a restaurant! He cooked for some bankers who were in a small security prison that would supply all the fancy ingredients. So I was like 'hum-that's an intriguing story.' Ólafsson: Yes it's anchored in reality, much more than you think. Could you describe your character, Jónas? What made him appealing to you? Ólafsson: Basically, he goes to prison for a crime that he didn't commit, but he's not innocent in the sense that he's been forced to serve time for what he's done in life. In Iceland, we have a saying for going to prison which means that you're going there to become a better person. But the irony is that prisons are a place where you actually meet real criminals. Then we wanted to explore what happens when you come out of prison. Jónas, for instance, loses his family, his fiancée has cut ties with him and he doesn't want his two kids to visit him in jail. He is full of shame. The only person that he's really in contact with is his father. We were interested in exploring that. Going to prison supposedly to become a better person, but coming out and realising that society wants nothing to do with you. In Iceland thankfully [the prison system] is a hundred times better than in the U.S., where people lose the right to vote for instance. That said, there's a lot more to the story: the dynamic with his fiancée who has a new man in her life, with the latter acting as a father to his kids, then his relationship with his kids. Also, the character of Mary [the right-hand to the criminal who loans him money to open the restaurant] is hugely entertaining. The key is how to engage the audience so that it will want to keep watching the show and root for your character. Could you expand on your multi-layered interpretation and body language which says so much more than words? Ólafsson: Well, Jonas is constantly reacting to situations. That's fun as an actor when stuff keep happening to you. I like Jónas as a multi-layered character, the fact that he's flawed. As to the physicality, it comes instinctively with every part. Generally speaking, now that you're a household name as an actor and can probably pick your roles, how do you choose them? Oláfsson: I've said it before but when I starting out in my acting career, perhaps in 2005, I worked with Stellan Skarsgård. I always looked up to him as a Scandi actor who had done everything [internationally], but kept working in Scandinavia. I picked up a lot from him. I asked him: 'Don't you want to work with the Coen Brothers? He said: 'For me, what matters most is to see if I can add value to the story that's being told. I always try to hold on to that. Then other elements come into play: who else is in it, the money, sometimes people say actors can play any part. I don't really agree with that. You can do incredible things, but there are certain parts that matter more, according to where you are in life. Anytime you do a role, you're using your experience and knowledge. In short, when I choose a part, I follow my guts. I read the story, and if I think I can make the story better then it's attractive to me. What did you dig from your inner-self to play Drummond in 'Severance' then? Ólafsson: I think there was a lot (laughs)! I was actually thinking of the people who terrify me when I was playing Drummond. We have a certain government now in the U.S., and we are in an interesting place where some people seem to be true believers and would do anything for a certain individual. I think Drummond is that kind of individual and murder would not be the least of it! That drew me to that character. It is fun as an actor to put yourself in a mindset of someone that you wouldn't necessarily be. I also did a show called 'Nine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue' last year [for MGM+] where I played a guy who really believes in Trump and in stolen elections. It was incredibly enjoyable. It was not about making him a stereotype. People believe in all kind of stuff and sometimes they learn the hard way that it was complete bullshit. The show is co-produced by Wild Sheep Content's Erik Barmack on one hand, and Arte on the other hand. You're like a hinge between the U.S. and Europe and you're mixing U.S. and European narratives. Would you agree with this? Rúnarsson: Absolutely. It's a combination of the two and Iceland in many ways is in between the U.S. and Europe. We look towards the U.S., although we're in the Darri, as a U.S./Icelander, do you feel also split between the two or definitely rooted in Iceland? Ólafsson: I've worked quite a bit in the U.S., but I've always kept my base in Iceland and never saw any reason for leaving. When I started working, the world had just opened up to self-tapes and people kept saying: You have to move to L.A. to break out internationally. Now, it's all changed. No one has to live in L.A. and sadly, there are far too few shoots going on there these days. With Act4, we're proud to pull together those two worlds. Going back to the show, from the first image, cooking on screen opens up our senses and appetite. I believe you had a Michelin Chef – Þráinn Freyr Vigfússon – as a consultant. How was it to work with him and do you personally love cooking? Ólafsson: Cooking is a blend between meditation and chemistry. It's the perfect thing. At the end of a working day, you go somewhere and start cooking. I usually put some good music, and if you're lucky, you open up a bottle of red and have a glass. My family loves when I cook my pasta bolognaise or boeuf bourguignon. I love eating good food, good company. What happened is that I was introduced to this chef Þráinn who runs two restaurants in Reykjavik – Óx and Sümac – and got to know him quite well. I felt he would be perfect as a consultant and he did go above and beyond, designing the whole menu for the restaurant and cooking the food on set. He was in the kitchen, making me look so good!! What's next for Act4? Ólafsson: We have a new series called 'Death of a Horse' [part of the New8 Alliance, commissioned by RÚV]. It's a murder mystery with a twist in the sense that, the murder victim is a horse. The owner makes an insurance claim and starts investigating. That creates an interesting premise as it questions our relationships to animals – cats, dogs or horses – especially in Iceland – that we consider as being part of our family and certainly a big part of our lives. Will you act in it? Ólafsson: No. I will leave it to other people. We have a wonderful pool of actors to choose from in Iceland. Jonas and Birkir are showrunners. Rúnarsson: Financing is locked and we're shooting in July. We'll soon announce our sales partner. Best of Variety What's Coming to Netflix in May 2025 New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week What's Coming to Disney+ in May 2025
Los Angeles Times
01-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Review: The starry spectacle of Yuja Wang and Vikingur Ólafsson at Disney Hall
The Vikingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang tour reached Walt Disney Concert Hall this week. Demand for the superstar pianists' recital was such that Wednesday's sold-out performance led the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which presented the concert, to add a second date. Not a concert to be missed by any living being who could be squeezed in, the Wednesday night performance had one patron exiting Disney carrying a small dog. Two-piano teams tend to be for the like-minded. Pianists typically sit facing each other, so their eyes can meet, the pianos nestled together and the lid up on the rear instrument, creating in effect a double instrument of around 460 strings. Such rapport frequently leads to sibling duos (like the Labèque sisters) or husband-wife teams (like Dennis Russell Davies and Maki Namekawa). Little of that, however, applies to the unlikely Ólafsson and Wang pairing. The introspective Islandic and dynamic Chinese Canadian pianists sat side by side at Disney, their pianos facing opposite directions, their heads turning to make eye contact only when needing to coordinate a climax. Keeping to type, Ólafsson chose the L.A. Phil's old-school luminous Hamburg Steinway; Wang, the orchestra's more glamorous New York Steinway. The acoustic result proved an immersive glory in Disney while still allowing for transparency and individuality of both the pianos and the pianists. Ólafsson's full, liquid tone, particularly in the lower registers of the Hamburg keyboard, provided a rich, pillowy foundation for the sound, while Wang's treble sparkled. Small quiet pieces became piano magic. Flashy big works offered massive piano immersion to a fault. Thrilling — but also curious. The program included a little bit of everything, and the littler the bits, the better. To begin, the stylish pianists walked quietly on stage, sat down and instantly floated off into fanciful space with Luciano Berio's two-minute 'Wasserklavier.' Fingers barely graced keys in an evocation of the calmly rippling watery surface. Concerts rarely begin well when they begin in stillness, but somehow the pianists instantly stunned an antsy audience into silence (no unwrapping candies, no dog barking). This flowed into the rhapsodic lyricism of late Schubert, his substantial Fantasia in F Minor. Wang conveyed a brightly percussive melodic delicacy, while Ólafsson answered with suave lyricism. John Cage's short, Satie-esque 'Experiences 1' and Conlon Nancarrow's tango-like Study No. 6, originally for player piano, then introduced John Adams' 'Hallelujah Junction.' To hear these in Disney had special significance for the venue. Written for two L.A. pianists, Gloria Cheng and Grant Gershon, 'Hallelujah Junction' had its premiere in 1998 at the then-new Getty Center and was dedicated to Ernest Fleischmann. Without that imperious head of the L.A. Phil, who never took no for an answer, there would have no Disney Hall in which to produce the evening's incomparable piano aura. It was Fleischmann who began Adams' four-decade relationship with the L.A. Phil, something that the composer acknowledged at the orchestra's latest Green Umbrella concert, dedicating it to Fleischmann in honor of what would have been his 100th birthday this past December. Ólafsson and Wang captured subtle Cagean whimsy more readily than seductive Nancarrow shimmer before they went to town with 'Hallelujah Junction.' Both pianists have a history with Adams. He wrote his glorious, grinding second piano concerto, 'Must the Devil Have All the Great Tunes,' for Wang and his mellower third piano concerto, 'After the Fall,' for Ólafsson, who premiered it with the San Francisco Symphony last month. But for all that, the pair barreled through 'Hallelujah Junction.' They lacked the clarity and nuance of Cheng and Gershon, but Wang's exhilarated rhythmic grooves had lives of their own. Magic returned with Arvo Pärt's 'Hymn to a Great City' in the second half. Presumably written for and premiered in New York in 1984, this tiny score takes no bites from the Big Apple. No car horns for the mystical Pärt, who didn't make his U.S. debut for another two years (at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music outside of Santa Cruz). But prayer bells galore. Still, Pärt didn't like what he heard and withdrew the hymn, only to revise it years later. As it now exists, it captures the supernatural tingle of little bells, as well as the heart-throb of gongs, all sounding off in the misty distance. Here the pianists pulled off a feat of witchery, as Pärt once did himself writing his Fourth Symphony ('Los Angeles') for the L.A. Phil and Disney acoustic. Ólafsson and Wang went on to bring out the darker bell-like qualities of the two-piano version of Rachmaninoff's Symphonic Dances. Even so, the gloom of Rachmaninoff's final major work was dispensed by pure pianistic spectacle. The couple finally danced their way out of Disney with three encores. A Dvorák Slavonic dance and a Brahms Hungarian one were flirtatious and fun. Brahms' Waltz in A-flat Major was lovingly exquisite. But what might we have missed without that lucky pooch's ability to hear higher frequencies of the ethereal bell tones? Even to limited human ears, they linger long.
Boston Globe
24-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Ólafsson and Wang prove opposites attract at Symphony Hall
Ólafsson's performance attire of round glasses and natty but comfortable blazer could be described as 'chic professor,' while Wang's stagewear, much like her playing, wanted attention and was unafraid to seize it. Friday evening, she appeared in two gowns; a sparkly number reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe's 'Happy Birthday, Mr. President' dress, and a more avant-garde indigo piece with a high slit up the right thigh — the side facing the audience when she sat down, naturally. (She doesn't do coincidences.) Need I tell you who brought paper sheet music and a page turner, and who had scores on an iPad? Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up But while Ólafsson and Wang might make for strange bench-fellows, they were anything but at odds in their approach to their two-piano program. The program of mostly 20th-century repertoire was characterized by an invigorating sense of playfulness and exploration, a feeling in which they were absolutely united. The twin pianos were situated with the keyboards lined up end to end at center stage, while the bodies of the instruments pointed outward in opposite directions. Wang's instrument was in front, and accordingly she ruled over the higher range of the keyboard, while Ólafsson more often held down the rhythmic foundations in the rear. Heard against Wang's pianistic fireworks, which sparked the keys into rapidly blooming cascades of notes, Ólafsson's tone was mellow, smooth, rounded: water implacably murmuring over stones. Advertisement The dusky beauty of Schubert's Fantasie in F Minor was followed up with a midcentury avant-garde twofer; John Cage's 'Experiences No. 1' and Conlon Nancarrow's No. 6 from 'Studies for Player Piano' — the latter arranged for human piano players by Thomas Adès. The Cage piece demanded surreal synergy, and the two delivered; the piece's irregular phrases didn't feel like they ended so much as they vanished into wormholes. In the Nancarrow, Ólafsson reveled in the bass line's askew rhythms while Wang's vaudevillian melody cartwheeled and leaped through the air. Pianists Víkingur Ólafsson and Yuja Wang performing a two-piano program at Symphony Hall on Friday. Robert Torres In the past decade, both pianists have been muses for new concertos from American composer John Adams, who was represented on the program via the perpetual-motion vortex that is his 'Hallelujah Junction.' Here, in passages where the scores for the two pianos only differed by rhythmic offset, were the contrasts between Wang and Ólafsson illuminated most vividly. Both seemed to tap into volcanic energy, but where Wang's gestures exploded up and out, a la Vesuvius, Ólafsson gave the impression of a glowing molten overflow; two different flavors of unstoppable force, and woe to the would-be immovable object in their way. In the program's final piece, Rachmaninoff's two-piano arrangement of his own orchestral 'Symphonic Dances,' Ólafsson displayed the same propriety, care, and attention to detail with which one might converse in a second language, while Wang played with the fluent nonchalance of a native speaker. Ólafsson Advertisement There, they laid down two Brahms waltzes, then a Dvorak dance, then a Schubert march, and finally back around to Brahms. Some concertgoers (understandably) thought the show was over after the third encore, and they made it out the door into the brightly lit hallway before the opening strains of the Hungarian Dance No. 1 reeled them back in. Whenever Yuja Wang is involved, you can't be sure it's over until the house lights go up. VÍKINGUR ÓLAFSSON AND YUJA WANG Presented by Celebrity Series of Boston. At Symphony Hall, Feb. 21. A.Z. Madonna can be reached at
