SECOND CHANCE
THRONES’ STAR GETS
WORDS // WILLIAM SKELLETT
O
scar-winning Danish filmmaker Susanne
Bier says working with Game of Thrones
hunk Nikolaj Coster-Waldau on her chilling new
drama was “a bit like sex”.
In A Second Chance, the actor, known to millions
of TV viewers as “Kingslayer” Jaime Lannister,
is seen playing a drunken, womanising detective.
Film-goers will see a more vulnerable side to
44-year-old Coster-Waldau as he is driven to
cross a moral line after a family tragedy.
Bier explains: “There is a Scandinavian tradition
of dealing with complicated police officers, that
has always intrigued me. Having an eye to a
thriller and yet really dealing with profound
human dilemmas.”
“I’ve seen Nikolaj around and always wanted to
do a film with him but it had to be the right film.
He’s very sincere, as an actor and as a human
being. That particular trait was so perfect for this
film. And he’s very handsome,” she laughs.
“He’s a very interesting mix of being powerful,
forceful, competent, and at the same time he’s
got a real vulnerable side.
“I don’t like showy performances — human
beings rarely behave in a showy way, they
might behave in extremes. I like that there’s an
enigmatic quality to what Nikolaj is doing.”
Explaining how she prepared Coster-Waldau
for the movie, Bier continues: “We have a few
readings and we go over the script. But then I
also tend to be obsessive with costume.
“Once you have the right clothes and the right
look, a lot of the character comes into that.
I spend quite a lot of time with makeup and
costume and the actor to discuss that.
“I do feel that talking too much about the
psychology tends to kill it. It’s a little bit like sex,
If you talk to much about it, it dies.”
The Copenhagen-based director says that the
Danish cinema industry is particularly healthy at
the moment, but prefers to work away from her
homeland.
She says: “If I’m really honest I prefer not
shooting at home, I quite like being in a ‘movie
trance’ and just not thinking about anything
else. Just allowing for a few months to be totally
obsessive about it…You’re creating a world and
it’s really exciting just to be in that world.”
A Second Chance, distributed by Vertigo Films,
is in cinemas soon.
