As Season Two of Modus comes to its dénouement, the WGBH Drama Club is finding ourselves only getting more attached to our favorite characters from the series — and more suspicious of the ones we (love to) hate. What does Warren Schifford have up his sleeve? How will it affect our two favorite detectives, Inger and Ingvar? And will they find President Tyler?
Okay, that might have sounded like gibberish to those of you who have not yet caught up on the second series of this much-loved Swedish mystery series — so here’s the skinny: Modus follows criminal profiler, Inger Johanne Vik (Melinda Kinnaman), and detective Ingvar Nyman (Henrik Norlén) as they team up to solve high-profile, high-risk crimes. This most recent season watches as they set out to protect the first female president of the U.S. (Kim Cattrall) on her visit to Sweden — only for her to be kidnapped from inside her secure apartment in the middle of the night. Audiences follow along as Vik and Nyman investigate the President’s disappearance, along with her highly suspect head of security, Warren Schifford (Greg Wise).
If that sounds up your alley, check out Modus on WGBH Passport.
We recently took a deeper look at Melinda Kinnaman, the wonderful actress behind the driven Inger Johnane Vik. This week we flip the script, taking a closer look at Henrik Norlén, the actor behind the moody Ingvar Nyman:
1. Norlén grew up more of a jock than an actor.
As a child, the actor’s dream was to be a sports commentator. It wasn’t until he was 25 years old that he found his passion in theater.
2. In fact, he still loves golf…
Norlén still plays golf to this day, and loves attending the British Open in Scotland to cheer on fellow Swedes like Alex Noren and Henrik Stetson.
3. … And football.
Norlén is a fierce fan of Chelsea Football Club. Not only does he enjoy attending games when he’s in the U.K., but his Twitter is packed with memes expressing his fandom.
4. Norlén’s family isn’t performance-related either.
Often in the U.K. and Europe, we’ll see actors with family trees filled with performers or media moguls. Not the case for Norlén, who comes from a lineage of surgeons — a history he got to play out in his role as Dr. Max Hansen in the Swedish series Syrror.
5. So when did Norlén begin acting?
At the age of 25, Norlén found his passion for performance. He quickly turned this into a role on the popular Swedish Drama Skilda Varldar (“Different Worlds”), about two twins who reunite on their 20th birthday after being separated at birth. Now an accomplished actor, Norlén has not revisited this role, embarrassed by the lack of training he had at the time.
6. Theatre takes training, too!
With a few episodes of TV under his belt, Norlén pursued his love for performance at the Theater Academy in Stockholm, graduating in 2002.
7. From there Norlén took off…
From stages to screens — big and small — Norlén’s career has been going at a steady pace, including a turn in the indie horror hit, Midsommar.
8. With some incredible work on the boards.
Norlén’s appeared on stages across Sweden in Macbeth, King Lear, Peer Gynt, and The Crucible. And 2017 saw him as Nick in a production of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? alongside Lena Olin, Peter Andersson and Josefin Ljungman.
9. His choice of roles on-screen.
Norlén was Mai Brostrøm and Peter Thorsboe’s first choice for Modus. After guaranteeing his availability, the writing team detailed Nyman with him in mind — though they wouldn’t tell them what the project was at first, shrouding the production in mystery.
10. Norlén’s still going strong.
Keep an eye out for Norlén’s next project, Tsunami, a story of the effects the 2004 Tsunami had on a group of visiting Swedes.
Want more of Modus? Check it out on WGBH Passport, today!
