Henrik Dorsin and the others from the Jönsson League on the new film

A coin flip, planned down to the smallest detail, goes wrong. Charles Ingvar “Sickan” Jönsson ends up in jail and the piles of coins the league finds are old and completely useless. When Sickan gets out of prison, he has, of course, a new plan, but his companions have already had time for a new and honest life. Harry and his girlfriend Doris have joined a big family and are struggling with the puzzle of life in Bagarmossen and Vanheden has just been promoted within the family radio company. Sickan is left alone to carry out the most difficult coup in the history of the Jönsson League.

– These are four people who are absolutely impossible and desperate, who really do not belong to our society or just to our time. But together they work. They need each other, says Henrik Dorsin when DN meets the four actors in a video call.

Almost forty years have gone ever since the ingenious League of Thieves filled theaters and won the hearts of Swedish film audiences for the first time. The 1981 “Jönsson League Warning”, with Gösta Ekman and Ulf Brunnberg in the lead roles, was the starting point for a whole series of now-declared cult film classics.

In the new reboot “Beware the Jönsson League” directed by Tomas Alfredson, it is Henrik Dorsin who takes on the role of the iconic master thief Charles Ingvar “Sickan” Jönsson. Trying to fill Gösta Ekman’s shoes has been an anxious task, he admits, telling us that he overcame the anxiety by reviewing the original Danish model Olsenbanden and the Norwegian film series.

– It was a consolation that Swedish films were not the first. I have been able to see Danish and Norwegian films and see what Gösta Ekman has brought from them and what I can contribute myself. And then I tried to create an amalgam of all of them, says Dorsin.

Hans Sickan follows the model so that both are equally stubborn, with an almost pornographic interest in Frans Jäger’s safes.

– But my Sickan has a better record than the previous one. As a background, we decided that he is descended from a typewriter saddle, but that the company went bankrupt. He has the same obvious authority that the upper class can have, although in fact he is a maniac, an outcast, and unprivileged.

What similarities do you and Sickan have?

– Sickan is driven by revenge, he wants to enter the beautiful rooms. He’s also completely asexual, as most of my roles seem to be, haha. Sickan has no need, does not sleep or eat. If I ate anything, it would be seeds. All he’s passionate about is creating plans to show everyone that he’s the smartest in the room, says Henrik Dorsin.

Although the film broadly It is faithful to the traditions of the Jönsson League, there are those who distinguish it. Among other things, Doris has been given a much more prominent role than Birgitta Andersson’s gun in a red wig and high heels. In Hedda Stiernstedt’s portrayal, she has a natural role in the league as Sickan’s partner.

– It has felt important not to automatically turn Doris into a man, when now she is allowed to join the gang. Personally, I am quite tired of what often happens when women are allowed to take up more space and do physical roles, they often become just a man in a woman’s body. She wanted to keep Doris classically feminine attributes, she is motherly and warm and at the same time brave, says Hedda Stiernstedt, who made her way into SVT’s drama series “Our time is now.”

You play against three male comedians, you yourself have very little experience playing humorous roles. How was it?

– I am attracted to trying new things, and in this case it was Tomas Alfredson who attracted. I said yes before I knew what kind of movie it was. “But I’m not funny,” was the first thing I said to Tomas when I found out. So clearly I have been anxious to know how it should go, but everyone has been very careful and kind, says Hedda Stiernstedt:

– In the end, it has been a revelation for me to work with comedians, holding a ball in the air and improvising can be much more alive than sitting in your room and analyzing everything.

Comedian David Sundin, who plays the role of Doris’s awkward husband Harry adds that they learned from each other while filming.

– I’m probably the least actor of all in the group, so I have to prove my talent as an actor. We have had completely different approaches.

What was yours?

– It was so nice not having to think so much about how I should play Harry. Harry does not want any conflict, he is happy and satisfied with everything, the description of the character has been “a happy game”. Everything has been so much like me that I hardly needed to act, says Sundin.

For comedian Anders “Ankan” Johansson to find his way into the role of Ragnar Vanheden, which in the new film is a coming-of-age story where Vanheden finally breaks up with his dysfunctional family, it took a lot of long conversations with Tomas Alfredson, he says. Johansson. .

– We talked about what you can get from your own gang. I have Anders and Måns, Henrik (Dorsin) has the Grotesco gang and Tomas has his experience in the Killing gang. Who are you in the gang? The only man Really What I want is to be able to participate, says Johansson.

For him like For David Sundin and Henrik Dorsin, Jönssonligan’s films were groundbreaking when they came out.

– They managed to instill a sense of “what if it really works”, what if a life jacket, a balloon and a pigeon is all it takes? For several years I fantasized about becoming a thief, says Johansson.

– It is probably a generational question, answers Dorsin:

– People born in the 60s do not have the same relationship, they were teenagers when the movies came and maybe they thought they were naughty. But for people of our generation, especially those who wanted to keep up with the humor, the Jönsson League has had a huge impact. It was a whole new world to escape to.

In “Beware of the Jönsson League” it will be like this eventually as Sickan wants. Vanheden, Harry and Doris join him in the meticulously planned coup to steal the heart of Karel, the stone that belongs to the royal crown of Finland and can bring the entire form of government of the country into play. Henrik Dorsin, who co-wrote the script with Tomas Alfredson, says the somewhat complicated plot was actually born on a ride in the Copenhagen amusement park.

– Tomás and I went to find the origin, that is, to Copenhagen. The hotel we stayed in included a treadmill to Tivoli. We did not approve of the two roller coasters, so it was only Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Flying Suitcase”, the so-called tunnel of love. When we came out of the tunnel, everything was basically ready. So you could say that the spirit of Hans Christian Andersen hangs heavily over this film, laughs Dorsin and adds:

– But then it is important to gather everyone’s motives, there were many riddles to gather the whole story.

And did it all dissolve in the tunnel of love?

– Well, you could say that it was a year of a long tunnel of love with Tomas.

If the production of the film were like dance, the aftermath has had more complications. The movie, which should actually have had its premiere in November 2019, was postponed because it wasn’t finished then. Then came the crown and in November SF Studios announced that they had sold the rights to TV4’s streaming service C More and that the film would therefore not see the white screen. In an open letter, Tomas Alfredson expressed his disappointment, writing that he was “ashamed as a dog.” Since then he has declined all interviews.

Do you share their opinion?

– I fully understand Tomas’s reaction, making a film has been his mantra throughout the entire process, from the script to the images and sound. That said, I am happy that it can finally reach an audience, says Henrik Dorsin.

Whether the movie will be a viewer hit or not is also harder to gauge now, he says, which can make a potential sequel difficult.

– There is an ambition to make more films, but no decisions have been made. We just hope it is well received. It would be great fun working together again, we have so many ideas. I mean, they’ve made 56 “Beck” movies. Are you hungry?

– I’m hungry, Anders “Ankan” Johansson responds quickly.

– Yes, we need a damn job, we kneel, laughs Henrik Dorsin. Jokes aside, it would be fun to make more movies. We have learned many things during the journey that we want to implement in more films.

Read more: Tomas Alfredson apologizes to the cinema audience