You may have noticed in last night’s Oscar broadcast that the actor who will play Beorn in the upcoming ‘The Hobbit’ films, was the lead actor in ‘In a Better World,’ the film which one The Best Foreign Language Award. In the film, Mikael Persbrandt (who plays Anton) is a doctor who commutes between his home in an idyllic town in Denmark, and his work in a Sudanese refugee camp. Congrats to Mikael and the entire team involved with the film!
Category: Mikael Persbrandt
Our geeky Swedish message board member “macfalk” has pointed us to a couple of interviews with Mikael Persbrandt over at SVD.se concerning his role of Beorn in the upcoming Hobbit films.
A rough translation as provided by “macfalk” on our dedicated Hobbit Movie message board follows:
In Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, Mikael Persbrandt plays Beorn, who has the ability of transforming himself into a bear. It was revealed that Tolkien was a childhood hero for Persbrandt.
“I read all the [Tolkien] books. I went to second-hand bookshops searching for the first “Bilbo books”. I was a fantasy geek. Jackson’s Tolkien-movies are absolutely magnificent. He’s the man. The whole project will be so exciting. It is about 700 people in the crew, I am to stand in a corner and try to be pliable.”
Persbrandt compares his role in The Hobbit to his first job as an extra for Ingemar Bergman, and the performance anxiety that occurs.
“I think I share that sense with many of the people in my profession, we never allow ourselves to be truly happy – instead, we begin thinking about the impacts. How am I as a bear? One start thinking about stuff like that instead of thinking that this could be damn fun.”
Continue reading “Mikael Persbrandt Speaks About Getting Into The Character Of Beorn”
Photo by Craig Simcox for Dominion Post
Ringer spy Kristi alerted us to these clips of Mikael Persbrandt, cast as Beorn in the Hobbit. “This one’s all in English. It’s especially interesting near the end when Mikael talks about entering a special world that some directors are able to create,” Kristi says. Mikael Persbrandt interviewed by James Lipton.
This clip, showing his work as a Unicef ambassador in Afghanistan, gives us another insight into Persbrandt’s character. “This is a role outside his acting career, and I think it does him credit, and shows a Beorn-ish side that the filmmakers must have seen in him.”
Our Swedish message board member macfalk has alerted us to a story over at Swedish website Nöjesbladet (the same that had previously broken the news that Michael Persbrandt had been cast in the role of Beorn) that talks about the Swedish actor prepping for the upcoming Hobbit films.
Here’s the English translation of the relevant bits of the article courtesy of macfalk:
This spring, Persbrandt has a super-tight schedule. February 15 is the day when filming begins for “The Hobbit” where he plays Beorn, a shape-shifter character on the good side. According to Nöjesbladet’s sources, Persbrandt is now working out twice a day to get in shape for the two films besides taking lessons to improve his English before debuting in Hollywood.
Find the rest of the transcription over at our message boards.
Read more about Michael Persbrandt and his character Beorn over at TORN’s exclusive Hobbit section.
Here at TheOneRing.net, we will be posting series of profiles for cast and characters we expect to play a role in The Hobbit films. Today’s highlight: Beorn.
Beorn
Alias: Skin-changer
Cast: Mikael PersbrandtLittle is known of Beorn’s origins. He once lived in the Misty Mountains near the Goblin’s cave, but at the time of The Hobbit he lived in the edge of the mountains near the Carrock. Beorn was a skin-changer and could transform himself into a great bear. On the first night the Party stayed in his house, he warned them not to stray outside ‘on their own peril.’ Later that night, Bilbo heard growling and scuffling outside and Gandalf later told the Company he witnesses ‘a regular bear’s meeting’ that night.
The enchantment associated with Beorn didn’t stop with his ability to turn into a bear. His servants were animals that could walk upright and talk. He aided the Company by providing them food, and the use of his ponies as far as the eaves of Mirkwood. Later, Beorn killed the goblin Bolg in the Battle of Five Armies. Beorn’s descendants were valiant men who aided Aragorn during his search for Gollum (Unfinished Tales – “The Hunt for the Ring”). At the Council of Elrond, Gimli credited the Beornings with keeping the High Pass through the Misty Mountains open for travel between Rivendell and Dale.
[Read the Full Profile]