Lars Mikkelsen is an incredibly talented and well-recognized actor. Having starred in quite a lot of massively successful projects, with Ahsoka, The Witcher, Sherlock, and House of Cards being some examples, he has made a name for himself as a truly exceptional individual, being fully dedicated to any role he takes up. Famously, he has also starred in the widely loved series, Ride Upon the Storm, as Johannes Krogh, a priest with quite a complicated personality.
It would seem, however, that the series had quite a big impact on the actor’s personal life. So much so that he did not think that his family would be fully supportive of the changes in beliefs that he was facing due to the deeply psychological project.
Lars Mikkelsen Changed A Lot After Working On Ride Upon the Storm
After working on Ride Upon the Storm, Lars Mikkelsen revealed to The Guardian that he faced a serious identity crisis about his faith, religion, and the things that he believed in. Playing a priest with a questionable personality, the actor did not think much about his own beliefs and thoughts on the subject of faith before getting onto the project. Like most actors, he did not find it necessary to be exactly like his character in order to play him well. However, things took a turn with the role he was playing started to have an influence on his own ideologies and the things that he believed in.
“At the start, my own background didn’t matter in terms of making a priest seem real. Acting is a messy thing: it’s partly you, partly what’s in the script, and partly what you can pick up from your research. You’re left with a bloody mess in the end. You tend to want to make sense of it after.”
He said during this interview that acting is a very messy process and he never expected something like this to happen, being born in a household of communist atheist parents. After filming the second season of the series, the actor ended up seeing a pastor himself. This was followed by him getting baptized into the National Church of Denmark.
Lars Mikkelsen’s Family and Friends Weren’t All That Accepting
Despite his feeling content with this decision and the change in his life, Lars Mikkelsen revealed that his family has not been as accepting and open as he expected. He told The Guardian that the shift in his beliefs came as quite a shock to his family, who never thought of him as the type of person who would do such a thing. He then went on to add that he was not all too sure that he himself had accepted this himself.
“I don’t know if they’ve accepted it yet,” he says. “Actually, I’m not sure I have. I can’t explain it. I think I’d been fighting it for a while. As I get older, I feel it’s important to be true to myself. And this felt true to myself.” he then added, “Sometimes I need to gain their trust again.”
Elaborating on this, he explained that he had been having quite a lot of internal conflict because of this. However, as he goes through the years, the actor added that he has learned that he needs to stay true to who he is and not shy away from it. Doing this made him feel true to himself and it does not matter to him that he and his family will have to adjust to it.
Source: The Guardian
