#vgtv

H: Aww, that’s nice M: Are you going to miss Isak and Even, Even foremost? H: So much. There’s a whole part of their story that has not been told yet. I’m going to miss the chemistry Tarjei and I have had these two seasons. It has been so much fun to film. M: You’re so flirty. You’re such a passionate guy. H: Yeah, I’ve been told that since elementary school. M: My knees get weak when I talk to you. H: My teacher in elementary school wrote on the paper “I didn’t think it was possible that a boy could charm me, but Henrik did.” M: Perhaps you wanted to sleep with the teacher. M: I almost forgot my question. What has Even meant for you? H: I’ve put a lot of effort into Even. Both myself, since I had to use a lot of myself in the character Even and figure out what makes Even, Even. At the same time, Even’s braveness. I’m not as brave as Even in real life. M: Few are. H: Right? And that’s what you can learn from the characters you play. What are their characteristics, why don’t more people have their characteristics, if you know what I mean? That’s what I’ve learnt from Even. He doesn’t give a fuck about anything or anyone, as long as the ones he cares about are doing well, and his intentions are right. M: The future. You’ve got a new management, and there was some mess afterwards. I was pissed at your management because they said you were never going to play a gay character again… H: That’s not true. M: … and a lot of people from fan groups reacted. You wouldn’t mind playing a gay character again? H: Of course I would. I think Lene, my agent, also wants me to play a gay character again. M: She just worded it wrong. H: I get that you think so. M: Did you yell at her? H: I didn’t think there was any reason to yell at her. M: There wasn’t. There were just some people that told her. H: Someone let her know. But you know, that article in Dagbladet (newspaper) was blown out of proportions, and I didn’t get the chance to answer myself, so then I just decided to stay away from it all. Because I know that everyone who knows me and my agent, know that we don’t have anything against gays. I’d love to play a gay character, no matter if it’s about homosexuality or a gay character, it’s a pleasure and I hope you know that. M: Yes, I know that. I knew it wasn’t you. H: I think what she meant was that as an actor you need challenges. And that’s also what I look when choosing my next projects. I don’t want to pick something that’s close to myself. I want to choose things that I haven’t experienced before, so that I’m able to grow as a person, and learn through that, similar to how I’ve learned things through Even. M: Someone told me to ask you how much you’ve improvised in your character? H: That’s hard to say. We’re given the opportunity to express words, but the script’s very detailed and Julie has a lot of teenager slang that she uses.   M: There are two scenes that I remember in particular from season 3. The Oslo Plaza scene and the Nils Bech scene where we didn’t know how Even was doing. What was it like to film the Oslo Plaza scene? H: It was the most difficult one. M: I’m getting goosebumps just by mentioning it. H: It was the most difficult scene, 100 %. M: You did a really good job! H: Thanks! That’s very nice of you. You have to be really careful when you portray a bipolar character. That’s what the director told me and what I’d imagined. I didn’t want to create a stereotypically mentally ill character, because a lot of mentally ill people live a full life. What I was trying to look for was, okay, if I was struggling with a mental illness, what would I have expressed, what would you have seen of me? That would’ve been a more hyped person, and at the same time all the way down there. So the span became much wider. Imagine that I’m here, while Even’s here. So, to act with these mood swings has been a challenge, to not make it too dramatic and make it into a parody. Because you must have respect for those whom you portray. M: You did that very well. H: Thank you. M: Speaking of those early morning bed scenes, how did you manage to act sleepy, how did you do those morning scenes? It seemed like you’d just woken up. H: You think so? M Yes, it was really weird. H: Funny that you asked, because some of those scenes, it was early morning, and I don’t know if it’s just me, but I have this thing where you can see my eyes move rapidly if I close them when I’m not sleepy. So in that scene where we’re cuddling and Even’s depressed, I think they edited my eyes to make them still so that it looks like I’m sleeping, or else they’d be shaking. M: They shake? H: Yes they shake, and I didn’t notice it myself so we had to cut and cut and cut, Julie was like “What are you doing with your eyes? Are you that excited?” No, I’m really tired and I’m about to fall asleep. My eyes went from side to side. M: What’s your next project? H: I don’t want to mention anything specific. M: Hint? H: I might try something English or American. M: Seriously? H: I’m half American. M: Damn. H: So I want to challenge myself with an English script. M: Amazing. Why not just conquer America? H: You can’t just conquer it, now that Donald Trump is president. M: But if he succeeded, then you will at least succeed. H: Perhaps that’s what I should do. Become president. M: It’s been a long time since James Dean died, we need him here again. H: Then I need to get a motorcycle licence first. M: Yes, and not die when you’re 27, because he did. H: I won’t. I’m going to live until I die. M: It was nice talking to you. Enjoy this evening. H: You too.