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MAY 2018 UPDATES
May 30, 2018 |
Here are a couple photos of Michael
attending the MIPCOM event at Cannes in 2014 doing
publicity for 100 CODE. The first photo shows him
posing with a fan and the second one shows him partying
with his director and co-stars.
Producer/director Bobby
Moresco says there was no bromance with the
Swedish investigator, played by Michael. He was not
a fan of anything American, including his partner,
played by Dominic Monaghan. Off camera, it was a
different story though. Moresco told the press, "Michael,
God rest his soul, was the nicest man on the face of
the earth. The two of them were both such great
guys and both so professional that they became
friends very quickly. I directed the first couple
episodes and they kept leaning on the friendship. I
had to keep saying, ‘Guys, you’re not friends. Stop
it.’ Once we got past that, they were able to tap
into some really cool stuff. That’s the only hurdle
we had to get over."
Pop Radar LA describes the series
as having all the ingredients for a respectable
Nordic cop drama - flawed protagonists, a sick
psycho killer who uses the myth of Hades and
Persephone as inspiration, dark and moody lighting,
subtitles and Volvos! They do, however, fault
Monaghan trying a little too hard with his New York
accent and tough cop exterior. I absolutely agree
that the ex-hobbit from "The Lord of the Rings"
trilogy, was seriously miscast. And what kind of
hard-bitten NYC cop would have his hair highlighted
with blonde streaks?
I've added another
series-related interview
with Michael in March 2015. He mentions that "the
worst thing you can do in such a series is that your
character will eventually be annoying and boring."
NOT A CHANCE with Michael!
* * * * *
I discovered more photos from the
2009 calendar shoot that featured Michael with his
wife so I decided to create a
special calendar gallery
for all calendars he has appeared in.
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May 26, 2018 |
In just three days
100 CODE will premiere on
WGN America. There's a preview at
this twitter link that says, "They'll find the
killer if they don't kill each other first." Great line!
The series tells the story of veteran Swedish police
officer, Mikeal Eklund (Michael Nyqvist), who's forced to partner up with
New York cop Tommy Conley (Dominic Monaghan) to pursue a serial killer in
Stockholm. Conley's very American arrogance and Eklund's
Scandinavian cool are like "oil and water", which
generates as much drama as the unsettling crimes they're
attempting to solve.
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May 22, 2018 |
I'm adding a little more biography today. In 1990,
Michael married Pinita Ingrid Rodriguez, born July 3,
1960, just four months before Michael. On June 29,
1990, their daughter was born - Ellen Clara Josefina.
Their marriage lasted less than four years. Here are some photos of the
family during that time.
Today Pinita Rodriguez Nyvist is a
respected psychologist and psychotherapist, who has
published numerous papers on child and adolescent
therapy education. She lives in Stockholm and has never
remarried but gave birth on October 10, 2000, to a
second daughter named Maya Corinne Sejersen Rodriguez.
No online biography has included where their daughter Ellen
lived during her childhood, but it can be assumed she stayed with her mother and
half-sister. As you can see from the photos, Pinita has a striking resemblance
to Michael's second wife, Catharina Ehrnrooth, whom he married in 1998.
* * * * *
I came across a more recent photo taken in 2014 to add to the
Gröna Lund photo gallery. Father and daughter are joined by Fredrik
Olsson and Ellen's friend, Amanda Wennö.
* * * * *
What do you think of this portrait by Håkan Fogelström? I
give it a thumbs up.
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May 18, 2018 |
In 2009 Michael did a favorites list
for RES travel magazine and seven years later, he again
listed his favorite places in the world. Click on this
photo to read his list.
Among the many places Michael mentions is Sweden's Gröna
Lund, an amusement park in Stockholm. It is
relatively small compared to other amusement parks but
it has over 30 attractions and is a popular venue for
concerts in the summer. Opening day each spring is a
special day when celebrities are invited to bring their
children. Check out the
Gröna Lund gallery with photos from 2005 to
2012.
* * * * * In 2013
Z magazine featured a section called "Nordic
Hollywood Stars". Journalist Gunnar Rehlin looked
through Sweden's most desirable contact list gathering
24 of the most interesting Nordic film personalities.
Photographer/director David Bicho succeeded in doing a
group photo that certainly mirrored many of Annie
Leibovitz's famous group shots. The stars were asked to
wear clothes by Nordic designers. Among the 24 were
Michael, Izabella Scorupco, Lena Endre, Alicia Vikander
and several of the Skarsgård
men.
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May 14, 2018 |
For the past 30 years, Micael
Bindefeld has been known throughout Sweden as one of
its most high profile – not to mention flamboyant –
public relations executives and event planners. I
created a photo gallery showing several Bindefeld events
that Michael attended.
Bindefeld also hosted a television
cooking show called "Fest hos Bindefeld" in which
he invited guests to his summer cottage in the
archipelago. Among his gardens he shares his best summer
tips as he serves dinner under a white tent with his
co-hosts Pernilla Wahlgren and Sofia Wistam. Michael was
a guest during the summer of 2015 and the episode was
aired on October 22 that year. You can view the program
at this link. He arrives via his boat about
halfway through the show. At one point they all
don a complete bee keeper's suit and helmet and are
taught how to extract the honey from the hives.
When Michael passed away last June,
Bindefeld posted the following - "Devastated to learn
that you passed away!!! I have the most amazing memories
of you and your kindness, your crazy humor and great wit
and how you really cared for your friends. How we loved to hear you gossip about Hollywood. I will
always have a small piece of my heart reserved for the
memories we share!!!"
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I'll let you guess what telefilm this autographed
photo is from.
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May 10, 2018 |
There's a
new photo gallery of
Michael and Catharina attending the Stockholm premiere
of the documentary "I am Ingrid" on August 24, 2015.
Here's one of my favorites:
* * * * *
Both Michael and Mission
Impossible Finnish co-star Samuli Edelmann were
interviewed on Finnish radio's X3M show on
January 17, 2012. Both were on a premiere tour in the
Nordic region. During filming of the blockbuster film,
they were called the "Boys from Scandinavia". Samuli
says he looked up to his colleague who's had more
experience in the big world. And Michael was glad to
have Samuli share some of his music knowledge with him
receiving a record of Finnish hymns. You can watch
Michael's interview by clicking on the photo below.
Here are more photos from that day:
This last photo is from the Stockholm
premiere two days later. Samuli is showing Michael his
autographed pair of boxing gloves from Robert Helenius,
a Finnish-Swedish professional boxer and two-time former
European heavyweight champion. A special gift for
fighting Tom Cruise!
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May 6, 2018 |
The "Press" page now has a
Norwegian article
written March 11, 2009 when Michael was in Oslo for the
premiere of the first film of the "Millennium Trilogy".
And then a Dutch
article written in March 2010 when the third
film in the trilogy was released in the Netherlands.
Though Blomkvist's character is described in the book
regarding his morality, integrity, intelligence and
sexual prowess, he is not physically described.
Therefore, Michael had a lot of leeway in shaping his
character, including how he dressed. The screenwriters
did, however, choose to make him less of a stud. In
print, Blomkvist had many lovers but on screen, his main
squeeze is Millennium magazine's editor, Erika Berger,
played by Lena Endre.
Here are some photos from the Oslo
premiere:
It's interesting that Michael chose
not to socialize with Noomi Rapace during the 18 months
of filming. At the end he said he still did not know her
privately. He said, "We worked together for one and a
half years, but chose not to talk about the scenes in
advance. We did not drink coffee together, did not send
each other SMS. We just met for the scenes in the movie.
It was our technique to hold the tension between the two
characters."
When Michael discusses Swedish
storytelling and Scandinavian film noir, he says, "We
have very good actors. We do not show too much emotion.
All are a little depressed in the eyes. A Swedish actor
never laughs."
So true! It actually took me a while
to love Nordic cinema. I remember films like "The Night
Visitor" with Max Von Sydow and "Insomnia" with Stellan
Skarsgård and they
just seemed so dark and humorless though I thoroughly
enjoyed the frightening atmosphere. Now I watch
everything and appreciate the Scandinavian style in film
across all genres. I think they still have a way to go
in comedy but certainly a film like "Kitchen Stories" is
quite a gem. Very quirky humor. I have no problem
reading subtitles but I agree with Michael that, on the
whole, Americans don't like them.
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In this photo it appears that Michael
sees himself as Michael Corleone from "The
Godfather" during the time he flees to Sicily. The
only thing missing in the picture is his two henchmen. I
don't have the details but this was used in a 2006
calendar for the month of July.
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