Opening in theaters on October 9th is the new legal thriller ‘Fjord’, which was written and directed by Cristian Mungiu (‘Graduation’) and won the Palme d’Or at the 79th Cannes Film Festival.

The movie stars Oscar nominees Sebastian Stan (‘The Apprentice’) and Renate Reinsve (‘Sentimental Value’).

Moviefone recently had the pleasure of speaking with Sebastian Stan and Cristian Mungiu about their work on ‘Fjord’, developing the screenplay, why Stan wanted to play this role, and their experience working together on set.

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Moviefone: To begin with, Cristian, can you talk about developing the screenplay and did the story change at all while you were making the movie?

Cristian Mungiu: Well, I’m always starting from a preexisting story, and this one follows the same pattern. This is something that happened 10 years ago that I was following for a while. I decided to make a movie out of it the moment when I realized that in this period, with all the attempts of making the world more liberal, the world finally ended up by being more illiberal. So, I decided that through this story set in Norway, telling us how this conflict between a more conservative family in a more progressive liberal society, how this conflict develops, it’s a way of talking about the world in which we live today and about this need of being more open to have a conversation with others. What changed while working on it was that I understood that there isn’t just one answer, and we need to try to understand that we need to place ourselves in the shoes of the others to understand that there are different points of view about the same society, and this is how the dialogue can start.

MF: Sebastian, can you talk about how this project was pitched to you and why you wanted to play this character?

Sebastian Stan: It was a continuation of a conversation we’ve had for a few years about finding the right thing to work on together. This was, I think, timing-wise really perfect for both of us, because again, I think he was in a place where he wanted to explore doing a movie in multiple languages, and I was always trying to find my way into a Romanian film that made sense and was believable enough. Also, the story for me where I was in my mind, again, I was 43 and I was thinking about kids and family and all of those questions, so that was very real for me, what the movie was asking. I mean, I could relate to it or I could understand the importance of the film, the significance as it were, when we talked about it. So, it was very easy to jump in, and then everything’s about the script and the director, and that’s where it starts. Fortunately in this situation, it was a very specific, precise script, and everything we shot was in the script. So, you have to commit to that and honor that first before anything.

MF: Finally, Cristian, can you talk about why Sebastian was the right actor to play this role and what it was like collaborating with him on set?

CM: It is important to know a little bit the background of this father. Sebastian is at the same time somebody trained, and he was raised here with all the values of the Western society, but at the same time, he still comes from this very conservative country from where I also come, so he could relate a little bit to the kind of education that I got, that we got, and that our parents got. This is helpful in the film, because the film also speaks about how if we coexist today with people coming from a very different background than us, we don’t share the same values, also for some very rational explanations. We were raised in different societies. Just imagine that I come from this communist past, in which that was a very aggressive world. So, it wasn’t a problem to try to save your children by trying to impose some sort of an authority, which can be out of place today, but it doesn’t mean that you’re not trying to do the best for your children. So, it was important that Sebastian could relate to both these worlds and to his way of expressing a very complex kind of a character, in which on the one side, he has a lot of authority on the children. He wishes that the children respect precisely what he’s telling them, but at the same time, he’s trying to adapt to this new society in which he decided to raise his children.

Editorial Note: James White conducted this interview and contributed to this article.

What is the plot of ‘Fjord’?

Following the deaths of Mihai’s parents, Mihai (Sebastian Stan) and Lisbeth Gheorghiu (Renate Reinsve) leave their life behind in Romania and move with their children to a remote village in Norway, hoping to rebuild their lives near Lisbeth’s family. There, they grow close to their neighbors, the Halbergs, whose warmth gives them hope for a fresh start. But the fragile peace begins to unravel when the Gheorghiu family’s young daughter, Elia, arrives at school covered in bruises.

Who is in the cast of ‘Fjord’?

List of Sebastian Stan Movies and TV Shows:

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