Mads Mikkelsen interviews Indiana Jones 5

mads Mikkelsen is not afraid of anything. He’s not afraid to do things that would send shivers down the spine of many of his colleagues (a character inspired by the figure of Wernher von Braun, a Nazi engineer believed to be the brains of the American space program). And he’s not afraid to say things that many of his fellow publicists would send shivers down their spines (instead of praising the rejuvenation that in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny brought him back to his 28 yearsand we assure you it’s quite impressive, he commented: “It was like a plastic aftertaste”).
Mads Mikkelsen is a European whom America loves very much, despite continuing to play the European. It’s usually guys like him who cast the villain.

After all, the entry into the cinema dates back to heroin dealer Pushers by Nicolas Winding Refn in 1996; he then gained worldwide fame thanks to Casino Royalethe first Bond of the Daniel Craig eraput the icing on the cake by becoming a cannibal in the series Hannibal. In Fantastic Beasts – Dumbledore’s Secret took over from Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald on 48 hours notice.

Mads Mikkelsen, the bad guy born good

The Danish actor with the profile of a pagan idol carved in stone gives vigorous handshakes to the reporters. And, surprisingly, his rich vocabulary does not include, unlike many complaining Hollywoodians, the expression “typecast”, or ”pigeoned into a role”: «Why do they see me like this in Hollywood? I don’t think I was born to be a “bad boy” (the bad, ed), oh God no, maybe the accent…».

Mads speaks German – «we’re neighbors» – and, he swears, for this film he practiced a lot on sibilants. “The point is that when you do something well in America you get asked to do it over and over again. But if nothing new comes along, two villains back-to-back are also fine. There are people like me at home waiting for the phone to ring, I don’t want to complain.’

His phone, we are sure, rings often. And the call for the fifth installment of the franchise starring the famous archaeologist perhaps it was expected. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, which after the world premiere presentation at the Cannes festival will be seen on June 28 at the cinemaafter all, it is a film about time (involving Antikythera, the diabolical invention of Archimedes the Syracusan) and about the end (of the character, of the actor – Harrison Ford turns 81 on July 13 – of humanity, there is always an end of the world around the corner).

How could he resist such a proposition – a film that talks about old age, vestiges, rubble – the actor who, at least when he is in Europe and can afford it, gets involved with directors to negotiate “unhappy ends”? For The suspect, a film that guaranteed him the Palma at Cannes in 2012, «we had shot a finale where my character is shot to death, I loved it, so brutal and so surprising, I fell to the ground like a deer. Then someone said: “Sorry Mads, you can’t”».

The swan song specialist

None, in the limited universe of gods films that cost 300 million dollarstackles such dark themes all together, including death, while keeping the spirit of childhood and adventure intact, like this one very successful series born in 1981 with Raiders of the Lost Arkdirected four times by its creator, Steven Spielberg. And it is no coincidence that this last chapter has been entrusted to director James Mangold, a specialist in the swan song of the great American myths (of the western with That train to Yumaof the superhero monoculture with Logan in which Wolverine is an outdated cool and Professor Xavier an old man with dementia).

To usher into retirement a clearly too human hero like Indiana Jones for the age of superpowers required a counterpart capable of embodying none other than the idea that the gravest of dangers lies in the past (and in nostalgia). And Mads Mikkelsen is the type who, when he reads the script and finds a chilling scene in it (his character, we are now in America, in 1969, in the days of the moon landing, tries to humiliate a black waiter who dared to clean his desk , but ends up humiliated in turn when he discovers that the man is among the multitudes of fighters responsible for the defeat of Nazism) reacts as follows: «I adored that scene. A man like Jürgen Voller, who had invested everything in the victory of a bloodthirsty and totalitarian ideal, has in front of him something he doesn’t understand: a former black soldier who had contributed with his actions to the failure of the Nazi ideal. We were all nervous when we shot it, but I think that scene makes us realize how dark the human heart can be.

Is anyone missing from his pantheon of monsters?
If I could go back in time I would like to meet Genghis Khan. God, Genghis Khan is too cool! Just forget that he killed a lot of people…

Digitally rejuvenated

Both you and Harrison Ford were digitally rejuvenated in the film. And the process has come a long way since it was used to The Irishman by Martin Scorsese. Did he recognize himself in his 28-year-old self?
Oh no, if I was so toned at that age I would have become a basketball player, I wouldn’t have insisted on studying. But I was curious how they would deal with me. For Harrison they had a lot of pictures of Indiana from the 80s, there was none of me. First they dyed my hair black, I looked in the mirror and saw the image of a middle aged lady at the beautician. So I told him: «Guys, you have to make an extra effort if you want me to look thirty years younger».

Before becoming an actor, he was a dancer for a decade. He also studied in New York at the Martha Graham Dance Company. For those who observe it, it is evident in the bearing of her characters. Do you feel that everyone vibrates on a different frequency?
Oh, I hope it’s good vibes. It’s been a long time, it feels like another life. New York was the first place I went outside of Denmark. Everything there was like in the movies. But I was a kid in the 80s, I had no idea what America would be like for me two decades later.

How has the relationship with Hollywood changed since Casino Royale in which it was Le Chiffre weeping tears of blood?
I got an agent. I’d been in a James Bond movie, it was clear something was going to happen. Popularity came late in life, fortunately. But I don’t think I would have been impressed even if it had come earlier. Stars don’t make a big impression on me. And I prefer sport to cinema. Maybe because cinema has never been my dream and what I’m doing, even if I like doing it, doesn’t make me sleepy.

Better Harrison Ford than Bruce Lee

His first experience with Indiana Jones when was it?
I was 15, 16 years old. I rented a “movie box” with my brother, a box set with five films. The second we looked at was The Lost Ark. Wow! So instead of watching the third one, we decided to watch that one again. All actors of my generation have seen Indiana Jonesit was essential. Bruce Lee also fascinated me, but Indiana… it was a revelation.

And how did you react to the sight of Harrison in the flesh and costume in front of you?
We were supposed to meet on set to discuss the script. I expected him to be in plain clothes but instead I step out of the trailer and see him in a leather jacket and whip. And he was already in character, grumpy just like Indiana: “What am I doing here?!” he asks me. Harrison is one of the youngest people I have ever met and he is 80 years old! But he acts like a 16-year-old, mischievous and passionate. I’m like that too anyway, we found each other.

Not masculinity, please

What do you think of the ideal of masculinity embodied by Indiana Jones? Unlike other serial heroes, such as James Bond, considered too macho for these times, he never needed updating.
I do not understand the question.
(Even for Mads, wanting to find a flaw in it, the red alert has been triggered which now arouses the word “masculinity” even when the question is innocent).

The idea of ​​man that Indiana represents would seem good for all ages and cultures…
I like the character, I don’t think about his masculinity when I look at him. AND a man who deceives, lies, drinks, is even vile, and is super charming while doing all these things. I don’t put it in a compartment related to sexuality.

Do you often meet legends?
Not of this type. Harrison arrives on set and his charisma sets everything in motion.

Will there be another one after him?
We can’t do sequel And reboot (the reboot of a film series, a new beginning, ed) endlessly. We have to look for the humanity in things. But why not, after all? I’ve always wanted to be a zombie.

iO Woman © REPRODUCTION RESERVED