Mother's Elling - Mors Elling (2003)
Elling - nicht ohne meine Mutter!
Das Interview mit Per Christian Ellefsen, Hauptdarsteller in Mors Elling
Es war 20° warm an diesem Mittwoch. Die Stars riefen und OutNow.CH [ON] folgte dem Ruf. Im zürcherischen Hotel Arabella Sheraton Neues Schloss wartete ein ganz spezieller Interview-Gast auf uns. Per Christian Ellefsen [PCE]. Besser bekannt als "Elling", der in Zürich Promotionsarbeit für den zweiten Teil Mors Elling machte.
Nach einer kurzen Plauderei und dem Auffüllen unserer Gläser mit eisgekühltem Wasser, machten wir uns an die Arbeit und versuchten dem netten, knuffigen Norweger einige interessante Neuigkeiten zu entlocken:
OutNow: How many times have you seen the movie?
Per Christian Ellefsen: I saw three versions before the opening. It was nice to see what decisions have been made in cutting, especially concerning the ending. We had some extra scenes at the end, that they took away. It's always like this. The editors work very hard at the end. Editing is a very important thing. It's always very exciting before a movie comes out. Even more after the success of Elling.
ON: There is going to be a third movie Love me tomorrow. What can you tell us about that?
PCE: Yes. They're gonna shoot the third one in October, November.
ON: Are you looking forward to that?
PCE: Yes. I am. That story is called Love me tomorrow from the novel. It's very nice. Elling is much sicker in the beginning, but then his friends really help him and clean up his flat and then he gets a lot better. He is trying to date a young lady in a sausage bar. But that doesn't turn very well.
ON: Is it easy for you to become Elling for a movie?
PCE: You know, I started to do this character around 2000 in theatre. That way actually the first time I gave a face and the voice and the body language to Elling. To be honest, I feel very much that I have a character, so in that case I feel quite safe. But of course it still has to function in the movie. The film has to be told in a good way. So it's always extremely exciting and you never know, especially when it's the film after Elling. There are a lot of expectations from the audience. Around 800'000 people have seen it in Norway. That's a huge amount of people. But when we started with this film I was very happy about it as well because it gives another point of view from Elling. Elling is now talking to and is connected with his mother - the very small woman - and not with Kjell Bjarne (co-character in Elling). So the audience gets a different feeling of it. You can look at him as a little bit more rude, more brutal. He is very much the same but he is not that much aware of his condition as he is later in the institution (in Elling).
ON: What does Elling in Mors Elling that you'd never do?
PCE: Well a lot. But to put in the other way, there is a lot of things that I do and that you do as well. I think that's one of the things in the material that made this character so popular around the world.
ON: So he isn't so much different from us?
PCE: No. He has very much of a human being that we all do. He is a little bit more than most of us but still, he deals with the same problems that we all have. So I think he is very human. He reacts very natural. For example when he is asked "Why can't you go to Mallorca?", he says: "We don't travel. We stay here. Why should we travel?". So that's also a very human, instinctive way of behaving. And he later says yes, not because he wants to help his mother, but he understands how important it is for her. And of course he starts to think about half naked girls at the beach and since he meets no one except his mother, he is very excited about going. Even though he knows that there are going to be a lot of problems going travelling with his mother, he says: "Ok, let's give it a try.".
ON: You played Elling on stage and twice for the screen. Are there many differences? Or in other words: Where is it easier to bring Elling to life?
PCE: I brought him to life on stage and I think that was a very good way of starting it because the theatre play looks more into the soul of Elling and Kjell Bjarne. You don't have the sceneries, while driving in a car, no cottage - Sommerhaus - so it goes more into the point of it. The transforming from the novel into a drama happened very much as team work. It was hard at the start. We had a huge script and we concentrated on simple things which we wanted to bring to the audience. It was a balance of humour and drama and we tried very much not to go for the humour, because that's easier and we tried to go little with the wave when the audience started to laugh and you feel them say "Ok, give me more!".
ON: Did you miss co-actor Sven Nordin for Mors Elling?
PCE: Yeah. Be he wasn't there. We meet each other other times as well. And we worked many times together. But as I told you earlier I did not miss the difference from Elling. The message is different. When Elling responds to Kjell Bjarne it's more funny. It's like - how do you call these two actors "Helan und Halan" (?, Anm. d. Red.), from the old black and white films. The tall one and the fat one?
ON: Laurel and Hardy
PCE: Yeah. It's a little bit like that. So I missed a little bit the possibilities with the mother.
ON: Yes. How was acting with Grete Nordra?
PCE: Great. She is so full of energy. She is the last leaving a party. She is a fantastic woman with a lot of energy. I really loved to work with her.
ON: You were offered a part in Something's Gotta Give as Jack Nicholson. Did it bother you much that you couldn't take it?
PCE: I saw the film 14 days ago and I enjoyed it very much. It was a thrill to see that it could happen. The casting company had seen Elling and these two ladies were so eager to get me in and that was so exciting. Diane Keaton watched my video, which I sent to them. I had a lot of help from the Norwegian Broadcasting Company with making the video and with translating it to the American system (PAL to NTSC, Anm. d. Red.). It would have been very nice to have gone and meet them, but I had other engagements and that's just how acting life can be. Same with the part for Elling. I was part of a production for the National Theater, but that was cancelled one week before they called me and so I could play Elling.
ON: I have some pop-up questions for you here. I'll give you single words and you tell me what comes to your mind.
Switzerland
PCE: For me very much a drive through country. When I flew in I thought it's really much like Norway. I think we could be friends (laughs). I think we have the same way of thinking. I don't know, I ask you, but aren't you a little bit independent (meaning introverted, Anm. d. Red.). For the Norwegians you'll find the same as well, before you get to know us. We take some time.
The last time driving through Zurich with a DS - a Citroën - and we were in a hurry to get to Naples to catch a ferry and it was a hell of a drive. I asked for a nice meal, but wasn't so sure about what I was ordering. So I just chose something and got this huge plate of Sauerkraut. I'm not so happy about Sauerkraut. It was a mountain of it and two small sausages. And that was the dinner I had for the journey.
ON: Internet
PCE: Yes. I'm getting more and more used to it these days. In Scandinavia we are getting quite good at it. I'm the bankman. I do all the banking myself. It's a new media with huge possibilities, even if I'm a little late to get to know it.
ON: Favourite Movie
PCE: I'm very happy about Jack Nicholson. I like his movies a lot. Something's Gotta Give is very nice.
Er ist ein ganz netter, dieser Per Christian. Mit dem hätten wir locker noch länger plaudern können, das wäre uns bestimmt nicht langweilig geworden. Und während er unsere Bilder und Postkarten unterschrieb, erzählte er fleissig weiter (nun auf Deutsch), was er noch so vorhabe und dass er noch ein Weilchen in Zürich bleiben würde.
Also, wenn dieser sehr sympathische Mann das nächste Mal nach Zürich kommt, wird OutNow.CH sicherlich die Chance wieder wahrnehmen und mit ihm ein Plauderstündchen abhalten. Dann vielleicht in einer Beiz? Wer weiss....
