Erik Poppe’s The King’s Choice to resume filming next month
- Jesper Christensen and Anders Baasmo Christiansen will play the Norway’s King and Crown Prince
Danish actor Jesper Christensen and Norwegian actor Anders Baasmo Christiansen will play members of the royal family in Norwegian director Erik Poppe’s The King’s Choice [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Erik Poppe
film profile], which will resume filming next month (February), after the first scenes were shot last year at the Oscarsborg Fortress.
Christensen will be King Haakon VII (originally Danish Prince Carl) and Christiansen Crown Prince Olav in the historical epic set during the German invasion of Norway in 1940. On the afternoon of 8 April, the King was faced with the Germans’ demand for capitulation, a passive government and a Crown Prince ready for action.
Scripted by Norwegian writers Jan Trygve Røyneland and Harald Rosenløw Eeg, “the real events that turned a brave man into the people’s King” include Haakon VII’s refusal of the ultimatum and the Nazis’ response: the naval attack that the fortress repelled, sinking the German heavy cruiser Blücher.
“Christensen and Christiansen were our first choices, and we could not have had any better actors in these roles – they are the King and the Crown Prince,” said Norwegian producer Stein Kvae, who will stage the film with Finn Gjerdrum, for Paradox.
Christensen has performed in more than 100 movies, including titles by such directors as Lars von Trier, John Madden, Sydney Pollack, Jan Troell and Jean-Marc Vallée. He has twice been cast as the villain opposing Agent 007, James Bond, in Casino Royale [+see also:
trailer
film profile] (2006) and Quantum of Solace [+see also:
trailer
making of
film profile] (2008).
The first person to receive all four major Norwegian acting prizes – the Hedda, the Amanda, the Cannon and three times the Gullruten – Christiansen last year played in three local hit films: Captain Sabertooth and the Treasure of Lama Rama, Børning and In Order of Disappearance [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Hans Petter Moland
film profile].
Poppe most recently directed A Thousand Times Good Night [+see also:
trailer
interview: Erik Poppe
film profile], starring French actress Juliette Binoche and Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, which won three Amandas – Norway’s national film prize, including for Best Film – adding the Special Grand Prix of the jury at the Montreal World Film Festival in 2013.
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