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Lars Lerin has step by step entered the heart of the Swedish people. First with his art, then with television shows such as “Please Lars Lerin”, “Lerin’s Apprentices” and in the fall “Lerin’s Summer Island”. Then, you also have the responsibility to keep viewers company on Christmas Eve on television.
It is a task with which you do not feel confident in any way.
– I’ve never dared to do anything live before. When you shoot, you can redo and shoot multiple times.
Do you tend to repeat a lot of takes when you do your TV shows?
– Yes, it usually is. I’m very slow, you see, so now is the time to practice, he says over the phone from his bed at his home in Hammarö in Värmland.
And how do you practice?
– I’m lying here talking to myself on the phone and thinking what to say. I record and take time. Because there must be a certain amount of minutes between shows on Christmas Eve.
Lerin sends the recordings To actress Marianne Mörck, last year’s Christmas hostess, who is a very dear friend although they are rarely seen. But they call each other and send little movies almost daily.
Marianne Mörck was one of the guests to paint on “Lerin’s Summer Island”, which aired on SVT in November. That they have a special chemistry was obvious.
– Marianne is very involved in this with the Christmas celebration and would love to help, so she comes with comments and criticisms.
In last year’s Christmas interview, Marianne Mörck said that her favorite Christmas meal is Jansson’s Temptation, a dish she likes to enjoy in bed with a spoon.
This year’s Christmas host also has Jansson as his favorite, but he has to do it himself. Then it will be the tastiest, he says, but mother Gerds Jansson is good enough too.
Mom, yes, that’s the one Lars Lerin will have in mind when he sits in the studio on Christmas Eve. And this despite the fact that she advised him against accepting the assignment.
– She was quite skeptical and said, “But Lars, don’t do this.” She doesn’t think you should make a fuss.
Photo: Ulrika Malm / SVT
When did you stop obeying your mother?
Lars Lerin sighs a little before answering:
– If I had listened to it, I would never have done a book or an exhibition. She has said several times: “Please Lars, don’t make any more books,” she says and laughs.
It is clear that Lars Lerin is close to his 90-year-old mother. He visits her every Saturday at Sunnemo in Värmland, where she lives in a nursing home. Hugging, however, is not something to think about these days.
– But I usually pinch her feet and I think she finds it fun to have some contact.
It is primarily mother Gerd and her sons Rafael and Gabriel Lars Lerin that they will turn to when guiding the part of Swedes who watch TV on Christmas Eve.
He knows that it is a great responsibility, well aware that many feel alone on Christmas Eve. Perhaps because they have no one to celebrate with or are hesitant to hang out with their loved ones for crown reasons.
Many of us have lost a close relative in the crown since the pandemic broke out in March, do you have any comfort to give us?
– I have not thought much about those who have been left alone because of death, but more about the fact that many are alone because they are not allowed to have their family close. I thought I would be a partner for them. Those who like me can watch, otherwise they can change channels. I am who I am and I can’t change myself, he says and laughs a lot.
Lars Lerin knows what it feels like to lose a close relative. His father Jonny passed away this summer, but not from a crown but after a long illness. He was bedridden for several years and Lars Lerin says that death came as a release for the father.
Although the Christmas host says he can’t redo himself, he says he can thank his parents for the total change in life he made exactly 20 years ago.
Lars Lerin had lived in Lofoten together with the Norwegian artist Yngve Henriksen for 13 years. During this period he had abused both tablets and alcohol, an addiction he has made no secret of. Lerin says he had to hold on. Otherwise, he would have perished, he says seriously, but adds that it was easier to separate from alcohol and drugs than from Yngve.
– It ended after 13 years. I wasn’t used to standing on my own two feet, but then I was lucky enough to have my parents.
Photo: Ulrika Malm / SVT
Today Lars Lerin is white and we can probably count on him showing up in a white jacket. It depends a bit on how hot it is in the studio.
However, one thing is for sure: anyone who has expected to see Mr. Lerin in a suit and tie may forget it.
– No, I can’t bear that, he says.
Clothing is one of the questions Christmas hosts often ask themselves in pre-Christmas Eve interviews, as well as the question about the favorite dish, Kalle Anka’s favorite episode (“When Santa Claus paints the checkerboard checkered”) and what the family thinks (“Children are too young to understand”).
But the most important question is, of course, that of the candle that will be lit at 3:00 p.m.
You have practiced
– No, but the light is the smallest problem. If I mess with him, he doesn’t do anything, right? It’s worse if I look scared and don’t dare to look at the camera, says Lars Lerin and tells about the man he met when he was walking through the woods on his way home from preschool the other day.
– It was a worker who was digging a trench. He congratulated me on the task. I replied that I did not know if it would turn out so well.
And what did he answer?
– “Yes, you understand that we love you, so it can’t be wrong.” It was very nice to say.
