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simplyclaesbang.com  -  unofficial fansite dedicated to Claes Bang
Simply Claes Bang is your first and largest fansite for everything about actor Claes Bang. You may know him for his role as 'Dracula' in Dracula by BBC or as 'Christian' in the film The Square. Here you'll find all the latest medias, videos, interviews, high quality photos, and more. For all news related to him be sure to check out our twitter account.

Onet.pl

English translation:

Although Claes Bang has been in the profession for nearly three decades, the wider audience got to know him only thanks to the hit “The Square” by Ruben Östlund. That role earned him the title of Best European Actor. Later he was in “Girl in the Spider’s Web” and in the series “The Affair” and “Dracula.” He was invited to collaborate on his project “Dirty Diana” by Demi Moore herself. He is currently working with Nicole Kidman on the set of Robert Eggers’ The Northman. After more than half a year of delay caused by the coronavirus, the sensual and dangerous “Picture of Desire”, where Bang accompanies Mick Jagger and Elizabeth Debicki , finally hits Polish screens .

194 cm tall, dark hair, beauty of a lover. The directors are eager to use his impeccable appearance. Apart from acting, he is also involved in music, but film remains his greatest love. He has over 50 roles on his account. In “Picture of Desire”, the closing film of the last festival in Venice, he portrays the pathically ambitious art critic James Figueras. His promising career was struck by one mistake. Years later, the man gets a chance from a wealthy dealer (played by the Stones’ frontman): an exclusive meeting with a great artist who is hiding from the world. Condition? Extracting from him an image that he does not want to present at all. To succeed, Figueras will stop at nothing. The “picture of desire” is neo-noir cinema, focusing on a dense atmosphere, brilliant dialogues and great acting. Apart from Jagger, Bang is accompanied by Donald Sutherland as a painter and Elizabeth Debicki as Figueras’ lover, Bernice Hollis.

Anna Tatarska: In “The Image of Desire” you play, don’t be afraid to use this term, asshole. And it is very specific, ambiguous. How did you penetrate the head of this character?

Claes Bang: I always assume that if someone wants to hire me, it’s because they saw something in me that the protagonist has. That is why I start by looking for something that I am able to relate to, in which I can see myself. Whether the script gives me such an opportunity and what I have in common with a given character, I know right away, after the first reading. This is already a strong starting point. If something more is needed, we carefully color the sketch together with the creators.

Ambition – that’s what I first thought about after reading the script. In “Picture of Desire” I play James Figueras, an art critic who has fallen out of circulation. Great museums and prestige are for him a song of the past. So he makes trivial lecturers for tourists in tape, just to get out of financial problems. This is a terrible situation for a guy with such morbid ambition. This ambition is so strong it blurs everything else. James thinks he is destined to be great things. He can’t see at all that here is Bernice (Elizabeth Debicky), a really lovely, beautiful woman who tells him, “Leave it alone, you’re not happy, let’s run away together.” He is so fixated that he walks forward like in a trance, which will eventually get him into great trouble. I am also super ambitious probably someone would consider me a perfectionist. But I know the limits. I would never achieve what James allows himself …

I hope! “Picture of Desire” is a psychological thriller, but at some point it becomes almost clammy with blood …

It was very interesting for me to delve into the psyche of someone so ambitious, to get the most out of it. Explore the boundaries. But I wasn’t worried that Figueras and I were too close. It’s a different arrangement, different people, different words. Yes, I take a piece of myself, but put it along with all the rest in a new space. Only this builds the character.

I found it very funny how focused this character is on being cultured, sophisticated. Even so, it is primarily an animal, primal force that ruins everything James wants.

It is this ambition that is almost animal in his life. Whenever something stands in the way of him from following his own plan, all systems shaped by culture and education weaken immediately. The world ceases to count, a hungry predator driven by instinct awakens. I think James would like to be free of it in a way. But it would take maturity and self-reflection, and he’s not ready for it. He does not want to see that he has a destructive force in him.

You worked with Mick Jagger on the set. A legend man!

When I was about to meet Mick for the first time, I felt like a little girl. I wanted to ask for an armchair because I might collapse if I saw it. Fortunately, the meeting took place unexpectedly and I didn’t get stressed out. I was on the phone with my agent, turned around, and Mick was already standing a few steps away from me. The next day we were going to shoot a scene together, so I said hello and went straight to talking about the details of the work. I didn’t pass out! In such work, the impression of distance and communing with the star passes quickly. A relationship with man appears. Of course, he is still an extraordinary man, because Mick is a legendary musician, songwriter and singer. Here he found himself a little outside the comfort zone – he wrote and played at the same time. But I found him gentle and modest, even charming. He had no problem discussing his doubts. No,

You have only appeared in international films for a few years, so you are a new face for many viewers. Is it annoying for someone with so much experience?

I have been an actor for 30 years and have had quite a successful career behind me. I think I reached my heyday at least two decades ago ( laughs ). But it doesn’t bother me if some people think that I’m just starting my acting adventure. If someone thinks so of me, it means that they saw me for the first time. I can only count that it will not be the last! I owe this sudden interest, of course, to the magic that was triggered by the winning of the film “The Square” in Cannes. As a lead actor, I have become visible abroad. Now a lot of industry representatives, directors and casting bosses, when they sit down to work, think, “Who would be here … and this guy, what’s he like, what was nice with Östlund? I think he would suit my next project. I’ll check him out.” The success of the film opened up many possibilities for me,All the time I get role proposals, scripts, there is much more than before and also much higher quality. I take it as a privilege. I feel happy and extremely grateful.

Skarsgård, Mikkelsen – Scandinavians are popular across the ocean. Great physical conditions, good English, careful workshop. Do you think he’s facing a label trap like “sexy Mexican women”?

No, I am calm. It is also thanks to “The Square”, because this film combines conventions. The protagonist I play finds in a variety of situations, struggles with a wide variety of emotions. It does not fit in with any “regional” stereotype of masculinity. One of my agents jokes that this movie is the best showreel [clip showing the actor’s achievements and capabilities – ed. ed.] he has ever seen ( laughs ). Well, I think so too! In my subjective opinion, I only shot one thing that was predictable. In “The Girl in the Spider’s Web” I played a two-dimensional, clichéd villain, complete film. But “The Square”, “The Affair” and “Dracula” all escape stereotypes. Creators and viewers know many of my faces. A drawer? It’s not for me.

When did the role of Count Dracula appear on the horizon? I hope and it turns out that you went to the set of the series right after the last slap of “The Image of Desire”.

The persons responsible for casting for “Dracula” contacted me while I was shooting “Picture of Desire”. We met, but the decision was made for quite a long time. We finished shooting at the end of October 2018. I returned home to Copenhagen, and after a week I got a call: “Here’s it! You’re gonna play Dracula!”. I packed my suitcase and headed for Berkshire …

This role was played by many prominent actors in front of you. Have you had a chance to add anything from yourself?

Most of this character’s key features were embodied in the script that’s just fucking good. These twists! You probably know this rhythm from “Sherlock”, because the series was created by the same people: Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat. This Dracula is not mine – he belongs to them. At best, it is common. I didn’t think I should add anything because the material I got was complete. This is probably also due to the fact that I do not see myself as an interpreter. I see it differently: I am the director’s piano.

Does this piano sound better in the original language or in English?

Hard to say. Probably someone from the outside should judge it – I can not hear it. It is certainly very easy for me to work in English. I feel as if I am naturally connected with this language and work culture, as with my native Danish. But I have a feeling that I have to play more in German. My German is not at this intuitive level yet. I can manage, but it requires a lot of work from me. Did you know that I dubbed myself in German on “The Square “? The whole fucking movie …

It’s quite amazing considering that Germany has its own voice-over actors. There is German Arnold Schwarzenegger, Stallone… And you were yourself.

And apparently people were mostly satisfied with it. As a Dane, I probably sound like someone from the northern part of Germany, I do not have a neutral German accent that they use. But some complained, “Why doesn’t he speak hochdeutsch ?”.

The world career also has its dark sides. There are tabloids, the press that wants the actor to get into bed. Kristen Stewart revealed that she was advised not to hold her girlfriend’s hand if she wanted to star in a Marvel movie.

You have to be careful about what you do privately, that’s true. But I don’t think I need to be afraid of that at this stage. Besides, I’m not too eccentric, I don’t really do weird stuff. I also don’t think it’s weird to hold your girlfriend’s hand … What happened to her is terrible. You should never submit to such pressure. You should do your own thing, be yourself.

One of the most interesting things I remembered from my last conversation with Danish director Thomas Vinterberg was the thread of Danish identity. Its inscribed emphasis on being an exemplary, very happy, very democratic society.

I know what he is talking about and I notice it too. For about three years in a row, we voted for ourselves as the happiest nation in the world! But at the same time in Scandinavia – Denmark, Norway and Sweden – I observe one very interesting phenomenon. It’s called “Jante’s Law”, the term comes from the novel “The Runner Crosses His Trail” by Aksel Sandemose . This is not an official code, but rather something like our local Ten Commandments. Don’t think you are special; Don’t think you are better than us; Don’t think you are good at anything; Don’t think that anyone will care about you … You can’t take up too much space, talk too much about yourself, be too visible. One has to be, as the Swedes say, lagom – that is, “in between”, “appropriately”, “not too much”.

Behind our Scandinavian heads there is a voice, ready to be activated whenever you decide to raise your forehead too high. The complete opposite of the mentality I see in the States. Rather, the American hears slogans like: “If you want to do something and you think you can, damn it, do it.” Of course, they overdo it a bit, go to the next extreme. But those who believe in themselves have a better chance of success than those who think they can’t. That’s what I’m trying to be American in.

Source: Onet
Date Created: October 30, 2020 12:01 PM









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