‘The Last Viking’ Interview: Mads Mikkelsen

Mads Mikkelsen in ‘The Last Viking’. Photo: Rolf Konow.

Opening in US theaters on May 29th is the new Danish comedy ‘The Last Viking’, which was written and directed by Anders Thomas Jensen (‘Riders of Justice’).

Release Date: May 29, 2026

Run Time: 1 hr 56 min

The film stars Nikolaj Lie Kaas (‘Frankenstein’) and Mads Mikkelsen (‘Rogue One’ and ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’). Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Mads Mikkelsen about his work on ‘The Last Viking’.

The actor talked about his first reaction to the screenplay, his research, his character’s relationship with his brother, rehearsing with the band, if there is a connection between Vikings and The Beatles, why he likes working with director Anders Thomas Jensen, and working with Martin Scorsese on the upcoming ‘What Happens at Night’.

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Mads Mikkelsen stars in ‘The Last Viking’.

MF: To begin with, what was your first reaction to this screenplay and what spoke to you about the story?

Mads Mikkelsen: My reaction reading this screenplay was pretty much the same as I always have when I read an Anders Thomas Jensen script. There is something poetic, something profoundly human and big he wants to tell us or sell us, and then he wraps it inside insanity. So, it’s always the package of insanity, but at the core of the insanity there is a very heartfelt story, and that was the exact reaction I had. The characters are insane, the situations are insane, but the relations are honest, and even though there’s no way around it, this is a comedy, but it’s also poetic and there is a heartfelt story always in his works.

MF: The film is very funny but also deals with some serious subject matter. Can you talk about the challenges of balancing the comedy with the drama, and as an actor, is tone something you are concerned about, or do you just trust the script and rely on the director for that?

MM: Oh, tone is very important. The thing about when you jump into a world like the one that Anders Thomas is creating, it’s very specific. It has a specific look, and it has a specific feel. If you visit that, you can be a little nervous but some of us have done it six times and we know what ground we’re on, but he picks fantastic actors every time who knows exactly what the tonality of the whole thing is. Yes, if we’re doing jokes for the sake of jokes, we lost sight of what we’re doing. So, sometimes we just must throw out little things that we find very funny but does not serve what the purpose of the film is. So, we must kill some darlings occasionally and it’s hard when it’s necessary.

MF: Did you do any research into dissociative identity disorder and if so, how did that help inform your performance as Manfred?

MM: Well, my research was confined into watching five, six, and seven-year-old kids. We did not want to give him a diagnosis. We didn’t want to open the can of worms of specialists saying, “Oh, but that’s not how it is,” because that’s not what the story’s about. This character has stopped his development in the sense that he stopped when he was six years old. He still lives in a child’s world, but he’s obviously an adult person. He’s embraceable and lovable as a six-year-old but also super annoying and super narcissistic as a six-year-old. This is what we wanted to do. I think that there might be one case in our film that has a real diagnose with multiple personalities. The rest of the characters have their own reasons for going down that path of identities. This guy, he wants to be a Viking a little like you want to be Superman or Spider-Man when he’s a kid, and he still wants that. But then he picks John Lennon because his dad loved John, everybody loves John, and there might be a chance that his brother will love John. So, it’s a simple math for this character. He just wants his brother to love him.

(L to R) Mads Mikkelsen and Nikolaj Lie Kaas in ‘The Last Viking’. Photo: Rolf Konow.

MF: Can you talk about Manfred’s relationship with his brother Anker and creating that on screen with Nikolaj Lie Kaas?

MM: It’s obviously the only person who may not have understood him completely, but at least supported him since he was very small was his brother. He’s always been there for him until the day he disappears, which is obviously the biggest blow of my character’s life. So, when he’s anticipating him coming out of jail, he just desperately wants him to stay close to him forever. That’s the kind of relationship my character has with Anker. Anker, of course, has a big heart, but at a certain time in life he needs to be himself. He needs to let go. He needs to get some freedom and get away from his father, get away from his mother, his sister, and specifically his brother as well. But destiny and Manfred doesn’t want it like that.

MF: Manfred experienced trauma and abuse as a child, do you think that is what stunted his emotional growth?

MM: No. So does Anker, my brother, as well, but he developed in a different way. No, there was also always issues with my character when I was a kid. I’m the older one, so it’s my kid brother taking care of the older one. Yeah, he wants to be a Viking, that can be a metaphor for whatever you want it to be, but he comes from a family where it’s not allowed to be Vikings, and his brother is supporting him, hiding it, and helping him. So, it’s as simple as that. It doesn’t stem from there because he takes pain well as opposed to Anker. So, he’s gotten some rough skin.

MF: Manfred is obsessed with both Vikings and The Beatles. Is there a connection between the two?

MM: No. The Beatles thing, the John thing is obviously we get a payback for why he picked John later in the film. It’s as simple as that, that you can hardly find anyone in the world who doesn’t love John Lennon. So, he picks one that there’s a good chance his brother will love as well.

(L to R) Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Mads Mikkelsen in ‘The Last Viking’. Photo: Rolf Konow.

MF: Did you rehearse the performance scenes with the band and practice guitar, or because Manfred really doesn’t know how to play, did you choose not to prepare for those sequences?

MM: We did. Some are more adequate at the instruments than others, so it was nice that we rehearsed together. It was interesting, obviously the only one who’s not in the band, Nikolaj, he’s so musical. He can play any instrument in the world. I think his heart was just breaking listening to us complete amateurs. But I rehearsed quite a bit. I’ve never played the guitar. I’ve played quite a few different instruments for films, and I’ve tried to pick up the guitar a couple of times and I found it so impossible for me, my fingers don’t want to do that. So, I got a guy, a couple of people helped me out, so I could do as good as I could and then do it even worse because it’s Manfred. I had to be kind of on top of what I was doing to make it worse. It’s a little like singing out of tune, you must be able to sing before you can sing out of tune. So, I could play the numbers, but they were not sounding well. Manfred was even worse than me, thank God.

MF: You’ve worked with director Anders Thomas Jensen several times before, what is it that you like about working with him as a filmmaker?

MM: Well, it’s hard to say. I look at how he is with other people because we are friends, we’ve been doing this for many years. I just think he’s very open and he gives a lot of liberty, but he’s at the same time very precise of the tonality of the film. There are certain things that will go in a different way than he anticipated. He can love it and he will use it in the film, but he will always go back and say, “Let’s do one version where it’s this,” because it’s a certain puzzle for his film to make sense at the end. He’s wonderful, and I don’t know anyone who’s making films like these. On one hand it just gives you cramps laughing of something that is insane. On the other hand, suddenly, we are just sitting there and almost tearing up because of something one of the most ridiculous characters is saying. I think it’s quite an achievement what he’s doing. It’s a special genre.

Martin Scorsese in ‘Mr. Scorsese,’ premiering October 17, 2025 on Apple TV+.

MF: Finally, and speaking of great directors, you are currently working with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese on his next movie, ‘What Happens at Night’, which also stars Leonardo DiCaprio. What was your experience like being directed by Scorsese? Was it everything you imagined it would be?

MM: Yeah, it’s a dream come true. I got a couple of days left on the film. It’s amazing. There will be plenty of time to talk about him, but there’s a saying, “You should never meet your heroes,” but it doesn’t work with this guy. He is absolutely everything you dream of. He’s so funny, so energetic, and so smart. He is eighty-three years-old but it’s like, “Oh my God, he’s got twice as much energy than me.” It is fantastic to meet him and work with him. I’m so happy that he called me.

‘The Last Viking’ will open in US theaters on May 29th.

What is the plot of ‘The Last Viking’?

After serving fourteen years for robbery, Anker (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) is released from prison and reunites with his mentally ill brother Manfred (Mads Mikkelsen), who alone knows where the stolen money is hidden but has forgotten its location, sending them on a journey to recover the loot and confront who they are.