Photographer: Yannick Wolff

CASPAR PHILLIPSON

On a visit to Los Angeles, which he called home for one year, Copenhagen-based Danish actor CASPAR PHILLIPSON recalls visiting LA for the first time for the Oscars for Jackie (2016), in which he portrayed John F. Kennedy. He talks about two other instances playing JFK, in Blonde (2022), and in his newest film, Hammarskjöld (2023). And he teases about his Danish tv series The Orchestra, and his very funny late night show on the piano singing Tom Lehrer songs.

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It’s simply not possible that that should happen, that you get an amazing part in a huge film just like that. The fact that that could even happen to me, was just out of this world, simply magical, amazing. And obviously it’s changed my life completely.
— Caspar Philippson
What I found really interesting is with these different portrayals of Kennedy, it’s obviously still the same inflection of language. It’s still the same body language. But for each project, it’s been a very different side of the person.
— Caspar Philippson
After having completed the film, a lot of people are shocked by the scene between me and Ana. I was expecting a lot more anger, and what I’ve actually met much more is respect for the acting.
— Caspar Philippson

00:01
Caspar Phillipson
P.S. Krøyer's painting Boys Bathing at Skagen. Summer Evening. It's a painting of a completely still late evening. The sun doesn't properly set in Skagen when it's midsummer. Well, it's a couple of bathing boys with the moon shining into the water and this incredible blue. It's joyful, it's beautiful, it's hopeful, it's positive.

00:28
Caspar Phillipson
I'm not saying that art only should be that. We live in times that are challenging. I mean, Krøyer struggled with depression himself throughout his life, but he insisted on depicting the beautiful side of life as well.

00:42
Caspar Phillipson
I've been Krøyer in a big musical in Denmark, so I geeked Krøyer in a big way at the time. And the funny thing about playing a part, or at least it is for me, I feel some sort of ownership. So if people aren't properly positive about his artwork, I get slightly personally offended.

01:08
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
My name is Tina Jøhnk Christensen, and I'm the host of Danish Originals, a podcast series created in partnership with the American Friends of the National Gallery of Denmark and the National Gallery of Denmark. Our goal is to celebrate Danish creatives who have made a significant mark in the US.

01:25
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Today, our guest is Caspar Phillipson, a Danish actor. Welcome, Caspar.

01:31
Caspar Phillipson
Thank you very much.

01:32
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Thank you for being with us today. Later on, I will let our listeners know that you are much more than an actor, actually, but we'll get to that. I saw you a few weeks ago in Los Angeles and I know that you go back and forth between Denmark and Los Angeles quite a lot. What were you doing here last time?

01:51
Caspar Phillipson
Oh, last time we were preparing some ADR for a film that I have shot with Bryan Fuller. I also had a casting meeting with a director on a movie that will be shot in Holland, but the director lives in LA and I've stayed with him before. And then, we are busy trying to put together material that will finance a film that a director friend of mine and I, we're trying to lift, which is a huge task, but that's the way it is, it's very exciting. We did various shots at his place in Malibu. So, a very busy two weeks. Yes.

02:27
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Is it a secret who the director is?

02:29
Caspar Phillipson
No, not at all. His name is Roko Belic, and he's nominated for an Academy Award as a documentary director or documentarist. He is moving into fiction with this, he's done some short film fiction work, and now this is a feature.

02:44
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Very exciting.

02:46
Caspar Phillipson
Yeah, yeah. Very.

02:47
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
So, many of our listeners have mostly heard you speak Danish or American English. Well, you were in a few movies where you do speak with a British accent. But I will assume that the audience mainly knows you, for instance, as Kennedy with your American accent there. And maybe your British accent is surprising to them, so maybe you would explain to them why you speak with this accent.

03:13
Caspar Phillipson
Yes, of course. My father is English and is from London and I grew up with him throughout my childhood, most of the time in Denmark, in fact. But I also went to boarding school in England for a couple of years, the same school that he used to go to and so on and so on. So, that probably explains the more British sound.

03:31
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Which boarding school did you go to?

03:32
Caspar Phillipson
Oh, it's not famous at all. It's just a basic grammar school, boarding school, called Cranbrook School. I was at an event with Queen Margrethe's sister, and we spoke about boarding schools because there has been a lot of debate about Herlufsholm boarding school in Denmark. And I obviously have a different opinion, I think, than most Danes, because I've been to a boarding school as well.

03:58
Caspar Phillipson
And I mentioned that, and she said, oh, which boarding school did you go to? And the Danish expression is the formal "you," "De," of course. And I said, Oh no, you don't know this school. And she said, oh, which school is it? Let me try. And I said, it's Cranbrook School. And then she says, oh, I went to Benenden, it's just around the corner. She knew perfectly well where that school was. Yes. Benenden is a very fancy school and our school was not.

04:22
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And the debate in Denmark is not very positive at the moment, we should add, unfortunately.

04:28
Caspar Phillipson
No, no, that's true. Yeah, there have been a series of unfortunate events at the school, and the problem is, of course, that there is only that one school. So when that school is in trouble, then it's the whole concept of boarding, which becomes an issue. Whereas in the UK, there's lots of different schools and obviously lots of different approaches to what it is to be at a boarding school.

04:52
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Let's turn to LA again. How did you end up coming and going to Los Angeles in the first place? Was it the adventure with Chilean director Pablo Larraín's Jackie, which was released in 2017, where you played John F. Kennedy for the first time?

05:08
Caspar Phillipson
Oh, it was absolutely 100% that one film. Yes, clearly. I had done a lot of musical theater in the past, so I've also visited New York quite a lot and had a dream of perhaps getting to work off Broadway or on Broadway. But it's extremely difficult to get to play on Broadway as a Dane because it's a very closed circuit and obviously there's a ton of talent in town.

05:37
Caspar Phillipson
I had never been to LA before Jackie. We were invited to the opening of Jackie, which was at the Chinese Theatre, and so on. And obviously, it's the land of dreams and so on for movie actors as well. And I went to this premiere with my daughter, my middle daughter, and we had an absolutely magical time.

05:58
Caspar Phillipson
It was just insanely wonderful to be in LA. And funnily enough, in fact, I had made friends with Beth Grant, who is in the movie as Lady Bird, and her friend is Bryan Fuller. And we met at the premiere and we bonded because I went to drama school with Mads Mikkelsen and he obviously had done Hannibal for several years with Mads, and so we bonded in our common love for him.

06:24
Caspar Phillipson
And then he said, I think you should come and stay for a while and try and spend some time in town. Basically for pilot season, I had no idea what that even was. And I suppose now with the streamers, it isn't even such a big thing as it used to be.

06:39
Caspar Phillipson
On his suggestion, I then spent five weeks in LA. I think this was sometime in the fall and I spent February and part of March that following winter. So I was there when Natalie was nominated for an Oscar and all that, which was amazing.

06:59
Caspar Phillipson
I rented a room in the house of Beth Grant's friend, Randal Kleiser, who happens to live in Runyon Canyon Park. And every evening I just sat in his living room looking out across this black velvet, diamond-studded velvet that is the view of LA, of course, and fell deeply in love with the place and have been coming ever since.

07:24
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Runyon Canyon has this beautiful hiking place too.

07:27
Caspar Phillipson
I was hiking there all the time. I think there are two houses. His is Runyon Ranch, I think is the official name of it, and that was built, and he lived there, when the city of LA bought the land and decided to create a public park there. And obviously the two houses that are there, you can't kick people out. They just live there in the middle of this park. It's amazing.

07:49
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
The focus of Jackie, as the title suggests, was on Jackie Kennedy and how her life was affected by John F. Kennedy's assassination in Dallas when he was just 45 years old. I actually went to the museum there and was at the area, which I feel is still haunted by this event. It's impossible to be there without thinking about it. You were far from the lead in this film, but your role was not small. What was it about this film and the role that attracted you?

08:23
Caspar Phillipson
Lots and lots and lots of things. Working with Natalie, of course. Working with Pablo, of course. The whole script is incredible. And it's full of amazing talent. As I mentioned, Beth, and Peter Sarsgaard, and so on and so on and so on.

08:38
Caspar Phillipson
And obviously this was my first venture into an international movie as well. When I was casting, I had no idea what it was. Because I was being cast by a production company and a casting director in Paris, Mathilde Snodgrass. And I didn't know what it was. I thought maybe it was some educational film or something.

09:02
Caspar Phillipson
So I was shocked when she called me after a couple of audition tapes went back and forth and told me what it actually was, I mean, that's an opportunity that — I was 45 or 46 at the time, had done some film and TV in Denmark, mostly theater — it's, I mean, less than one in a million.

09:22
Caspar Phillipson
It's simply not possible that that should happen, that you get an amazing part in a huge film just like that. The fact that that could even happen to me, was just out of this world, simply magical, amazing. And obviously it's changed my life completely. There is a before and after, categorically in my working life as well. Yes.

09:45
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And Natalie Portman, as you mentioned, plays Jackie. And back in 2017, I spoke to her about this experience. And I also asked her about you and she had very nice things to say about you and your acting abilities. What was your impression of her and your other American cast members? Did you fit in right away in this new environment because doing an American production is different, or did you have to get used to it?

10:14
Caspar Phillipson
This is one of the really strange things, because I very quickly realized, I was made up quite heavily for it. There was a prosthetic nose. I mean, I've been Kennedy a few times since, and it's never been used, but it was very important for Pablo that I looked exactly like him.

10:38
Caspar Phillipson
Once I was made up, and the hair was as it should be, and I was in a suit, everybody around me changed. It was as if, because I looked so much like him, it was shocking, in fact. And I think one good thing about it is that I was by then obviously an experienced actor — I've been acting since my early 20s — I understood that it was better not to make much of an effort.

11:09
Caspar Phillipson
So, I became the president by the way everyone else was acting towards me. And there wasn't an inkling of unwelcome or there's the Danish guy or anything. Everyone was extremely eye to eye all through it and friendly and wonderful. It was really a sort of a fairytale entry into international filmmaking. It was wonderful. And everyone was incredible from Natalie, of course, and everyone else. Yeah.

11:38
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And you got to work with Greta Gerwig who has impressed the whole world right now with her blockbuster hit Barbie. She's directing that one. She was acting in Jackie.

11:49
Caspar Phillipson
Yeah, Greta was great.

11:51
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And you also worked with Peter Sarsgaard. How is it to work with actors of this caliber? And Peter has some Danish roots from Sønderborg.

11:59
Caspar Phillipson
He does indeed, yes.

12:00
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Did you guys get a chance to chat about this, for instance?

12:3
Caspar Phillipson
Absolutely, yes. But that's the other thing about being away on set for everybody. All the interiors were shot in Paris. Natalie at the time lived in Paris, so she went home, but everyone else was in Paris at the same time. So we had times to spend together, could go out for meals together. So there was a lot of bonding, in fact.

12:26
Caspar Phillipson
And obviously with Peter, bonding over his Danish connection. Absolutely. We've met up since in New York, although I haven't been much to New York in the meantime. It really was a positive experience. And obviously I was just watching everyone doing their incredible work and trying to do my work as best as possible as well.

12:47
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And you were in Los Angeles for the Oscar celebration of Jackie when it was nominated in 2017. And you participated in the Danish event at the Sunset Marquis where the Danes usually celebrate all their Oscar nominations. Viggo Mortensen was there too. And he was a bit of an outsider like you because the two of you were not in Danish productions.

13:11
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Viggo was nominated for his performance in Captain Fantastic, but the team behind Land of Mine and the short film Silent Nights were there. What was it like seeing the Danes be so successful at these events? How does one feel when one is part of this and can feel the vibes in the air and the atmosphere with all the excited filmmakers?

13:34
Caspar Phillipson
Everyone is excited and happy to be in Hollywood, of course. And it's a huge thing for Danish filmmakers to be part of the whole Academy Award circuit. So it makes you incredibly proud as a Dane.

13:49
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
You were not at the event itself, the Oscar event. You were at an official Oscar party. What was your Oscar experience like?

13:59
Caspar Phillipson
My Oscar experience was together with Beth Grant and her family. We were at the Kodak event at the restaurant Nobu, where they were serving incredibly delicious sushi throughout the evening. I suppose I had heard but I didn't in that sense realize that the Oscar event itself obviously has a seating which is much smaller than the movie making scene.

14:28
Caspar Phillipson
So there are a number of events all over town at the same time. And in fact, spending time at Nobu with friends, watching the event, I'm sure it's much more fun than sitting in the rows. Because it's quite a long evening. And we had a great time. And I met up with Pablo and Juan, his brother, afterwards at the Chateau Marmont.

14:50
Caspar Phillipson
They were disappointed. We were all disappointed. It would have been great for Natalie to get the prize. And I think the film was nominated in categories, I think, costume and music, Mica's music.

15:2
Caspar Phillipson
It's a film about Jackie after Kennedy died. And in that sense, it's a small part. But there's a lot of memories of him. There's a beautiful dance scene at the end, which was improvised, which was in the script, but not that much. It was shocking to me to see how much I was in the film when we actually got to see the film.

15:22
Caspar Phillipson
I had a ticket to come across for this month, five weeks at Randal's place. And then, an email ticked in with an invitation from the Hollywood Reporter for the nominees night party. So I had to change my ticket to come to that, obviously, which just adds to the whole fairytale feel of this thing and being the guy who portrays American royalty, I'd say, with the Kennedy family.

15:45
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
You took your daughter to a premiere, and I'm not sure if it was her, but you lived with one of your daughters in LA for a while.

15:53
Caspar Phillipson
That's her sister.

15:54
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Was it a great adventure or not as great as one could expect? What was your time in LA like with your daughter?

16:00
Caspar Phillipson
She spent an academic year at high school up in La Crescenta, which is northernmost Glendale, and I found a nice little place for us up there. It was wonderful to be there, absolutely, definitely. At the same time, I'm used to working quite a lot and always have been at home.

16:18
Caspar Phillipson
Whenever there's time I do voiceovers and cartoon work and theater work and so on. And coming to town and not necessarily having much work, but there to look, working to find work was a different situation for me. So the first few months I found myself walking a little bit around in circles. When she would go off to school and I would be doing my daily routine and so on, but still hmm — hang on, what, where, what, where, what can I do now? What can I do today to push things forward?

16:55
Caspar Phillipson
I was very fortunate to quickly get a film, Odd Man Rush, which we ended up shooting in Upstate New York. So I packed all my summer gear for LA and then I needed all my winter stuff cause we were in freezing temperatures in January out there.

17:11
Caspar Phillipson
So things started happening in a very nice way. We shot the pilot for Gone Hollywood where I had the honor of being another piece of American royalty, Robert Redford, for that, which was wonderful. We shot my scene in a studio at the Paramount lot, so just living the dream, in fact, yeah.

17:30
Caspar Phillipson
And then at the same time, it was for a year. My wife, her mom, came and visited us several times, but we have our house and life here. I had to go back to work in Denmark, and she needed to go back and continue her high school in Copenhagen.

17:45
Caspar Phillipson
So it was wonderful and also challenging. I mean, just trying to be in town and see what might or might not happen. At the end of that year, I had a fairly long casting process for Blonde, which I then came back and did from Denmark. As I said, I fell deeply in love with Los Angeles when I stayed at Randal's and it hasn't waned at all. I really like it a lot.

18:12
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And you also got to experience a glamorous side of LA, and sometimes you were treated like a star.

18:19
Caspar Phillipson
The funny thing, of course, was that, I mean, for Jackie, for example, and that's repeated itself every time I'm Kennedy — listen to that, saying every time I'm Kennedy.

18:28
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
You have been Kennedy five times and now the sixth time, so you can say that.

18:33
Caspar Phillipson
Yes, yes, yes, yes. So obviously that was a very new experience to me. It seemed as if, at least, in the public's eye, I was him. I represented him. So all the love and adulation for JFK came my way. And that was obviously wonderful because nobody had any idea who I am or what I've otherwise done. But because it was President Kennedy, then all of the starlight on him was sent in my direction. And that was great, really wonderful.

19:10
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And it's not a small thing, a premiere in the Chinese Theatre.

19:14
Caspar Phillipson
No, no, no, it was incredible. It's one of those iconic sites in old Hollywood. We were picked up at our hotel by a huge black car and were whisked down to the premiere, received by the person who was there to take care of us that evening. Movie premieres in Denmark, well, you might splash out on a taxi or —

19:38
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
You go on your bike!

19:40
Caspar Phillipson
We mostly go on our bikes. Yes. You arrive on the red carpet, and if you are not very famous, you might have to tell the photographers, "the reason I'm standing here is because I have a part in the movie," which can feel a little humiliating. Whereas for Jackie, it's so professional.

19:58
Caspar Phillipson
This wonderful person, whose name I've obviously forgotten, had my name on a sheet of paper. She would take us to — I don't remember which was first — red carpet as well as all the rolling cameras for interviews. Nobody had any doubt who I was. Well, I mean, nobody had any doubt which part I was playing either. But it was so professional, respectful for the artists as well, I'd say.

20:26
Caspar Phillipson
So I mean, it can be a stressful experience, but the American way of doing it, which was the same with Blonde as well, which was also in the Chinese Theatre, in fact, the premiere of that, it's such a sleekly oiled machinery and you do feel very well taken care of. And, of course, everyone wanted a piece, as you said, everyone wanted a piece of Kennedy for this. And I sort of realized that, yes, it does appear that I do seem to look like him, especially when properly made up for it. Yeah.

20:58
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And the casting experience is probably a little less glamorous, some of them memorable, some of them might be less memorable. But maybe you can talk a little bit about your experiences, what it's like going to these auditions, these casting events.

21:14
Caspar Phillipson
Yeah, they're very, very different. More and more casting happens, initially at least, online with casting tapes, which is great if you are based in Copenhagen, so you can actually send off some material instead of having to turn up at the casting director's doorstep or office. That's a huge help. But it also varies a lot.

21:42
Caspar Phillipson
To play Kennedy in Project Blue Book, for example, the casting was a Skype meeting with the series creators. And in that sense, just to chat about the project. And casting for Jackie was also all done by tape. Whereas casting for Blonde, I was at the casting office in West Hollywood three times with a week or two in between.

22:11
Caspar Phillipson
So that was a much more — thorough is not the right word — but a much more sort of extensive casting process. Possibly because I had done Jackie and they wanted to see whether it was enough or whether we could put Jackie behind us, in a sense, when doing Blonde.

22:28
Caspar Phillipson
But casting is, once you understand that the casting directors and the casting situation is all about finding the right person for the part, and the fact that you are even casting at all means that you are one of the potential right persons. It becomes a fruitful part of the process. Obviously, it's disappointing if they decide on someone else, but that's the way it is. Sometimes it's yours and sometimes it's not.

22:55
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And I mentioned that you've played him five times now and you're going to play him again. And you recently played him in Per Fly's Hammarskjöld. You portray him in very different ways and we'll return to the Blonde one because that's a very particular portrayal of him.

23:13
Caspar Phillipson
Controversial —

23:14
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Yes, controversial.

23:15
Caspar Phillipson
Controversial to say the least.

22:16
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
But how would you say the versions that you've portrayed him are different?

23:22
Caspar Phillipson
Well, this is the thing. An acting great friend of mine, Spencer Garrett, was saying, do you think it's about time to stop being Kennedy for the variety of work? I mean, you don't want to end up being the guy who only did Kennedy. But thankfully there's a lot of other stuff going on as well.

23:38
Caspar Phillipson
So, the very clear and quick answer to that, no, absolutely not, because Kennedy is, or was, such an enigma. Such an interesting person. So I'll be hanging on for dear life as long as I can. Obviously, I'm now far older than he was. So it'll stop in due course, of course.

23:58
Caspar Phillipson
But what I found really interesting is with these different portrayals of Kennedy, it's obviously still the same inflection of language. It's still the same body language. But for each project, it's been a very different side of the person.

24:18
Caspar Phillipson
And in that sense, I suppose it's like, traditionally movie stars in Hollywood, you would have an actor playing him or herself in a way, the persona. You've got this star playing this part, this film, pretty much playing the same part in this other film or in this third film. And that's how it's felt being Kennedy. So Kennedy has been playing different parts in these different movies.

24:49
Caspar Phillipson
So for Jackie, for example, it's the icon, and obviously it's the person who was assassinated. In Project Blue Book, it's the whole Camelot myth that Jackie managed to create around President Kennedy. It's the up and coming senator who is interested in what Project Blue Book was, which was the alien sightings in the '50s in the US.

25:14
Caspar Phillipson
And in Hammarskjöld, it hasn't opened in the States yet, but it's a very powerful, strong film about politics, about the United Nations, about how Dag Hammarskjöld, who is the Swedish head of the United Nations, wanted to facilitate the decolonization particularly of old African colonies, and all the troubles that gave because there were a lot of people who have interests in the former colonies — natural resources and all that.

25:44
Caspar Phillipson
So there was a lot of money being made in the colonies. So there were a lot of interests who worked against him. And in this film, Kennedy plays the part of this very strong superpower that the US also was, of course. For Dag Hammarskjöld, it was incredibly important to have this superpower on his side.

26:06
Caspar Phillipson
Because he was causing disruption to some of the stronger powers of the world at the time, and many people were trying to topple him as head of the United Nations. But the US supported him, meaning he could stay in his position. Then he started taking steps that the US also had difficulty tolerating. And to get the rest of that story, you need to see the film.

26:29
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Okay, we will do that.

26:30
Caspar Phillipson
But that's why every time it's been very intriguing to see which part of Kennedy in this.

26:36
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And I wanna turn to Andrew Dominick's Blonde

26:40
Caspar Phillipson
Of course.

26:41
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
It is about Marilyn Monroe, with Ana de Armas as the American actress. She became an icon, Marilyn Monroe, but died tragically, only 36 years old. The film has John F. Kennedy have an affair with her, and he's not exactly portrayed as the iconic and beloved democratic president that you described in Jackie, and the one we usually see. So did you worry a little bit about that? Because he comes across pretty awful in this film. And we'll return to why in a second.

27:15
Caspar Phillipson
Yes, I read the script and was terrified and mortified. I was on location in Santa Fe at the time doing something else and I had a meal while I was reading this and then I had a fairly long walk back to where I was staying through this dark desert night. And all these thoughts going through me about — how can we do this? Can I even do this?

27:43
Caspar Phillipson
We're going to make a lot of people unhappy, so lots and lots of considerations, deliberations about whether or not to do this. At the same time, also seeing how it, as an actor, is an incredibly interesting challenge, and also bearing in mind that as an artist, you should, as much as possible, push yourself or let yourself be pushed outside of your comfort zone.

28:16
Caspar Phillipson
So there were a lot of pros and cons. I didn't come to the conclusion immediately. It took me some time in fact, really, because I was worried, as you asked. And I clearly decided for it. The film is very loyally based on Joyce Carol Oates's novel. It's an incredible literary work of art, the book. And I think Andrew has envisaged this very loyally.

28:42
Caspar Phillipson
For me, it's a work of fiction. The part is The President. There are no names as such. And I think I understand it as representing the powerful patriarchy of the time that was exploiting young women and that was ruthlessly going with one's own urges.

29:06
Caspar Phillipson
And obviously, that time, as many other times, as we've also understood in #MeToo, abuse of power was rife. I settled on my understanding of the part as being a symbol of the way things were and a symbol that we need to look upon with a critical eye. And also part of the whole process that is still ongoing of equality between the sexes, which is important.

29:41
Caspar Phillipson
After having completed the film, a lot of people are shocked by the scene between me and Ana. I was expecting a lot more anger, and what I've actually met much more is respect for the acting. Clearly, you can see it's a challenge for an actor, and people appreciate that, basically. And as you can hear, I've given this a lot of thought, because I was very, very worried when I read it.

30:12
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
I understand why, because it has a scene, a rather disturbing scene that, you know, I can still, that I can still see, where Kennedy forces Marilyn Monroe to have oral sex while he's just on the bed in deep conversation with the FBI or something, I'm not sure.

30:31
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And it's such a power trip for him and so humiliating to her. And as you say, it represents how powerful men treated women at the time. And it's not just Marilyn Monroe, probably a lot of other actresses were treated like that by men in power in general.

30:48
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
You said a lot of thought went into it and I know on sets like this you have intimacy coordinators and you talk it through. But how did you and Ana make sure that you were both comfortable? Because I can imagine for a decent guy like you, it's very uncomfortable doing a scene like that, and treat a woman, your fellow actress. I mean you are acting.

31:11
Caspar Phillipson
Well, exactly. You're absolutely right and you're pointing to a very important thing. I am raised in a Scandinavian feminist family. Respect is incredibly important whenever there has been this kind of work for me. What the #MeToo movement has also meant is this use of intimacy coordinators on set. And that's just brilliant. I welcome it, absolutely, and think it's a very good thing and I hope it's here to stay. I'm sure it's here to stay.

31:38
Caspar Phillipson
Because, where I would, in the past, otherwise be the one who is — Is this okay? Are you okay? Obviously, it's still my responsibility in the work, but there is also someone else whose overall responsibility it is, and to talk it through with us. And that means that it's handled very, very professionally, which is good, very good.

32:01
Caspar Phillipson
Obviously, Ana has to go, as an actor, into deep humiliation, and I, at the same time, have to be an abuser. But there's never any doubt between Ana and me, that this is something that we are doing for the camera.

32:20
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And we should probably add that there were also a lot of men who were treated this way.

32:24
Caspar Phillipson
It's a power issue.

32:25
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
It's a power thing.

32:26
Caspar Phillipson
And remains a power thing. Ana was also nominated for an Academy Award —

32:31
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And a Golden Globe.

32:32
Caspar Phillipson
Absolutely, so this seems to be a thing. I'm very proud that this has happened to these leading ladies with Kennedy.

32:39
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Do you love being like an encyclopedia on Kennedy, who knows, for instance, details about his testosterone level? And please explain why I said that.

32:48
Caspar Phillipson
It's been a complete eye opener to me, his health at the time, while he was president. All the health issues that he was struggling with, really, in a big way, and how this was treated. He was, as you say, treated with suppositories of testosterone, which obviously have an effect.

33:11
Caspar Phillipson
And you've got to imagine Kennedy was being pumped with testosterone and amphetamines and painkillers for his back and prednisone, lots and lots and lots of different types of medication — which the whole Kennedy family obviously were really keeping as a secret in the run-up.

33:28
Caspar Phillipson
I think it's very fair to say that had the public known of his health issues, it would have been a different situation for him as a candidate for the presidency. And the thing is, of course, working on Hammerskjöld, I do come with a bit of authority to the part, which is nice, definitely, yes.

33:48
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And you play more than Kennedy. We can't talk about all the roles that you play, but people have probably seen you in Mission Impossible, for instance. That is quite a franchise to be part of. Were you nervous in a movie with Tom Cruise where he's basically a hardworking superstar who does his own stunts and is quite incredible professionally, I've heard.

34:17
Caspar Phillipson
As the producer said, he's the perfect number one. On a cast list, there's always a number next to your name. And, Tom Cruise's number is number one and he is the perfect number one. He remembers everybody's names. He's very welcoming. He's an incredible lead. Yes, that was my experience.

34:36
Caspar Phillipson
To return to the talk of casting, casting for this, I did a couple of rounds of scenes, which had nothing to do with what I ended up doing in the film. I basically got the part and came to set a few days prior to shooting. And the incredible writer director, Chris McQuarrie, wanted me there because he wanted to write the scene after having personally met me.

35:05
Caspar Phillipson
He knew what he wanted with the scene, but he wasn't sure quite how it was going to be. I turned up, and he made sure I met Tom Cruise and felt comfortable, I think. I had a session with the stunt team as well, and obviously costume and makeup and so on. And then Chris went off and wrote the scene, and sent it to me.

35:28
Caspar Phillipson
So I was very, very, very, very nervous, because this scene was written basically for us. And I was trying to work out in this very nice hotel in London, okay, what will I bring to set the following day? Obviously these are the words, but how is this going to be, how will it match the acting power of the rest of the cast led by Tom Cruise, of course?

35:56
Caspar Phillipson
I was very, very nervous, and had troubles. I can't have slept much that night. But then again, the way Chris McQuarrie and Tom Cruise captain that ship, which it is, it's a huge crew, is so warm and friendly. We did the scene, and I gave them my attempt at what I thought would be right, and they were just very, very happy and glad. And it was good, but it was nerve racking, definitely, yes.

36:26
Caspar Phillipson
The funny thing is, part of work as an actor is you go through all sorts of mental processes of, how will I physicalize this scene? And one of the things for this scene was, I'm there to sell some uranium. And one of the things I was going through mentally was, what can freak me out?

36:43
Caspar Phillipson
My youngest daughter, she can completely shut off her facial expression. She can freak us all out by just sitting there looking at us. Good friends of ours taught our family poker at one point, and she wins every time. It's a while ago now, but she used to always win. Because of that poker face. So, to be scary, I was thinking of my youngest daughter.

37:05
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Oh, wow.

37:06
Caspar Phillipson
Which is a bit odd, yes.

37:09
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
A little odd.

37:10
Caspar Phillipson
But it was very helpful.

37:11
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
But with the explanation, you understand it. Casper, you also sing and dance and play instruments. And those were the things I was talking about in the beginning. You're not just an actor. You have many talents. Talk about all the other things you do apart from act in movies. You were at the Danish version of Dancing with the Stars, and you sing professionally too. Please brag about all this.

37:37
Caspar Phillipson
Oh yeah. My American manager at the time was trying to teach me to not be humble. And it's very difficult for a European to just sort of — you need someone else to feed you, in a sense. It's really difficult, I'd say. But yes, as I said, I've done lots of musical theater, so I do sing a lot.

37:57
Caspar Phillipson
I sing a lot of concerts with various orchestras. I'm singing with the National Danish Symphony Orchestra in August in Tivoli. I've had a number of jobs there. I do a sort of a late night show where I sit at the piano, basically singing Tom Lehrer songs and playing the piano and then a bit of a, it's not a stand up routine as such, but a bit of comedy between the songs as well.

38:23
Caspar Phillipson
Yeah. I'll be bringing that to the States. That's the idea at least, because the songs of course are American, and a lot of Americans don't know Tom Lehrer, which is a great shame, because it's very funny.

38:34
Caspar Phillipson
There's a TV series called The Orchestra, which is right now airing season two on Danish national television, which is a satire based on a symphony orchestra, which has been a lot of fun to do and is doing extremely well. And that is now available in the UK and in Australia with English subtitles.

38:54
Caspar Phillipson
That's the thing that I'm very proud of. The dynamics of a symphony orchestra, the hierarchy, the various things that go on could be in any workplace. There's a solo clarinet and there's a second clarinet and the second clarinet might aspire to become the first clarinet or the solo clarinet and so on. It's a series that grapples with a lot of the issues about gender and equality and all with lush classical music in it as well. So that's a lot of fun, yeah.

39:23
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
We should not forget all the Danish movies that you've been in. I assume one could say that Hammarskjöld is Danish with Per Fly as the director?

39:32
Caspar Phillipson
Well, it's a Swedish/South African production basically. And the casting of that was not through Danish channels at all. It was an international casting call. And then I was in touch with the producer who was Swedish, Patrik Ryborn, he is a great producer. And then it turned out, oh, Per Fly is directing.

39:54
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
So there is a bit of Danish in there.

39:56
Caspar Phillipson
Absolutely.

39:57
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
And my final question for you today. What do you still want to achieve in your career?

40:03
Caspar Phillipson
Well, I think we need that Kennedy biopic, don't we?

40:07
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Yes?

40:09
Caspar Phillipson
Yes, I mean, he plays a tiny but decisive part in all the things he's in so far, with me at least, but I think it would be wonderful to properly dive into that character in a proper story. That would be wonderful. Yes. I think.

40:25
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
Caspar, thank you so much for your time on Danish Originals. We appreciate your time.

40:30
Caspar Phillipson
Thank you. Thanks, Tina. Thank you so much.

40:36
Tina Jøhnk Christensen
For today's episode, Caspar Phillipson chose P.S. Krøyer's Badende drenge en sommeraften ved Skagens strand, or Boys Bathing at Skagen, Summer Evening from 1899 from the collection of the National Gallery of Denmark.

Released August 1, 2024.