To celebrate five years of Close-Up Culture, we are welcoming our favourite interviewees back onto the site to see what they’ve been up to.
Actor Krista Kosonen joins us to talk about the incredible success of Beforeigners and her role as Alfhildr.
Hi Krista, welcome back to Close-Up Culture! How are you doing?
Hi there! I am doing great, thank you for asking! Lots of interesting projects and since spring is here I can really feel the energy levels rising here in dark Finland..
You’ve been involved in many exciting projects since we last spoke in 2017. One of those I’ve heard a lot of praise of is Beforeigners. How much have you enjoyed being part of that show?
Beforeigners is for sure one of my personal favourites of all the jobs I have done. It is such a unique and strange concept and it always makes me laugh because it can be very silly. I really hope that there will be more seasons.
It is also wonderful to see how it has been received all over the world. That feels crazy to me – that we do something here in the north and then someone, for example, in Australia loves it. Love it.
You play Alfhildr, a woman from the Viking Age who inexplicably appears in modern day Oslo. Can you talk about the challenges of playing Alfhildr and what it’s been like to evolve the character over the last two seasons?
Alfhildr is such a badass and I love playing her! I really feel like there’s a lot to play with as an actress – you can do really dramatic scenes but also there is so much comedy to play with. The challenge for me is definitely the language, since I am not Norwegian and I don’t speak Norwegian or Old Norse (well, nobody does anymore) it was definitely a challenge to learn all my lines everyday.
In season 2 we get to dig deeper into Alfhildr’s story and find out more about her, well, unique past…
Season two has great reviews – I can’t wait for it to be available in the UK. What are your hopes for the future of the show and Alfhildr?
I am hoping that there will be plenty of seasons more! My dream is to play Alfhildr even when I am old. She probably ages in a lot cooler way than I do. In season 26 she will have grey hair, leather pants and the same Viking attitude.
Asides from Beforeigners, can you tell us about a project that you’ve really enjoyed working on in the last few years?
I spent last summer in Italy shooting a sci-fi series called ”The Swarm.” It is based on Frank Schätzing’s best-selling novel and I have a feeling it might turn out really interesting and terrifying. It will premiere at Berlinale 2023.
As I mentioned, it’s been four years since we last spoke. How do you reflect on your journey over that time – personally and professionally?
Well, a lot has happened in the world in the past four years and I feel like it is getting crazier all the time… Personally I have been trying to take it easy, spend a lot of time with my friends and family and have been reading a lot of books in the last few years. That has been wonderful.
Staying healthy and taking care of others has really gotten a new meaning in the last years.
Professionally I have been working on really interesting projects so I really can’t complain.
If we were to have another interview in five years time, where would you hope to be?
I don’t care where I’ll be as long as I’m alive, healthy and my family is the same!
Of course, I will be super happy if I am still working on interesting projects in film, TV and theatre. This is such an interesting profession – it never bores me.
Do you have any other upcoming projects you’d like to tell us about?
Keep your eye on ”The Swarm”- it is coming for you!
Title image by Elina Simonen