People Need People

Well, like with every other audition, I had 3-4 auditions and it ended up with like 11 guys in Dublin for 6 hours of casting at the studio where we actually shoot Vikings. And we were almost there, we just needed to get the part. They picked us and mixed us up to find the 4 brothers. I never really auditioned for Ivar. Yeah. I auditioned for the other brothers, but 4 1/2 hours in, they came down to me and asked if I could read for Ivar. And I was sitting there sweating, nervous. I had to borrow scenes from my colleagues and learn the part in like a half an hour. And I couldn’t remember the words for the first 3 takes. Then I got it right, and I was playing opposite Jordan [Smith] who ended up playing Ubbe. It was a scene between Ivar and Ubbe, and I remember thinking for half of the day, that I have no idea whats going down with this thing. I ended up getting Ivar and I think Michael Hirst told somebody about that whole audition thing – it was my eyes and my movement. Having a physical challenge. suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta means doing more with the eyes instead of the legs.

I'm very happy that there was a turn of events that brought me to where I am right now, but at that time, I really needed to take a break.