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Why Hollywood can’t get enough of Peter Stormare

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All work and no play makes Peter a dull boy. Maybe that's why he's the lead in a band as well? PHOTO: Björn Jansson/Sveriges Radio.

 

Recognize the man in the photo? If not that means you’re pretty happy under that rock you live under and I wish you a peacefull slumber. However, if you’re like the rest of the filmviewing population (outside of Sweden) you probably know the face but don’t know the name. His name is Peter Stormare. He has done tons of theater and was a close friend to Ingmar Bergman, who also directed him a few times, but in 1992 he moved to Los Angeles and Hollywood bad guys would never be the same again.

If you look up Peter Stormare on IMDB you can see that he’s acted in over 115 productions (at this moment it’s on 116). He’s done TV as in Seinfeld, Entourage, CSI and of course Prison Break. But TV is not where his skill has shined the brightest. It’s in the films that he’s been involved in.

He’s worked with everybody from Spielberg (Minority Report)  to the Coen brothers (The Big Lebowski). He’s played everything from one of the coolest devils of all time (Constantine) to a plain killer who really likes waffles (Fargo, Coen brothers again).

Since he is Swedish, born and raised, Hollywood uses the safe card. I can just see a guy in a suit worth more than most cars saying “Let’s make him Russian!” and the rest of the room looks at him like he just reinvented the wheel. Because if there’s one thing he ends up playing a lot of times that would be a “foreigner”, preferable Russian with terrorist/bad guy connections. But he must be doing something right because everybody wants a piece of him.

Right now he has 3 films in pre-production, 1 film under production and 5 films in post-production. Amongst those are Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters (one of the funniest film titles I’ve heard in a long time), Lockout with Guy Pearce and Last Stand with none other than Arnold Schwarzenegger, his long awaited return to films after the whole “I liked my housekeeper a little too much”-ordeal.

Sure Peter Stormare has been in some really horrible films (no offense Mr. Stormare) but he’s also been in some fantastic ones. The characters he creates are never two of the same. He also finds time to balance his Hollywood career with his Swedish one. He always delivers something new, even if it’s a in-and-out character. If there’s something that always stays the same, something that acts like a rock in stormy water, it’s him.

Sci-fi film with Guy Pearce due out next year.

A great little small film that from USA that was brave enough to cast Peter Stormare in a leading role. Came out last year.

And I hope you haven’t missed this funny series of commercials with Peter Stormare that dates a few years back.

Chris Gardner - Film

December 8, 2011