Mads Mikkelsen has been going through some European film festivals to promote his latest Danish film, The Promised Land. Few European actors have succeeded as Mads has with moving between local projects and big Hollywood films. While he was in Zurich for their film festival, he did some kind of Q&A session with an audience, where he reflected back on his career. His quotes were great – Mads is not only a tall drink of water, he’s also very charming and he seems just like a normal guy you might meet in Denmark. Some highlights:

Losing the Casino Royale script: “‘Casino Royale’ was the first screenplay with my name on every single page. Which also means that if you lose it, it’s on you. I got on a plane, started to read it and I fell asleep. Then I got out and just left it there. I was lucky some cleaning person threw it away and didn’t know what it was. That could have been the end of my career, right then.”

Playing Le Chiffre in the Bond film: “The ‘smartest’ Bond villain? He lost $100 million to a man who couldn’t play poker. Not that smart. I had never watched a Bond movie up to that point and of course I lied about it. I only knew that guy with metal teeth [Jaws]. I didn’t realize how big it was until we had the premiere in London and had to meet the Queen. Or she had to meet us.”

He loves Daniel Craig: “I have seen the ones with Daniel Craig. [Back then] he was the new Bond and everything about him was ‘wrong.’ His height, his nose, his hair. I think he was glad I also came from indie films. He had a partner in crime. There was this scene where I tickled his balls with a rope. We had so many ideas and the director just looked at us: ‘Guys, come back. It’s a Bond movie’.”

He loved being part of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.” “For a Danish guy, it’s insane to be in these films. My friend made a list of all the franchises I’ve been in and went: ‘This one you haven’t done.’ It was ‘Indiana Jones.’ A week later, I got the phone call. It’s surreal when you think about it, so I try not to think about it. Sure, it’s Harrison Ford and he is a legend, but I will kick the sh-t out of him anyway.”

Being there for Harrison’s last scenes as Indy: Watching Ford hang up his whip for good was “beautiful,” said the actor. “We were all there when he did his very last scene as Indiana Jones. The humble man that he is, he wanted to get out of that room as fast as possible when everyone was clapping, and at the same time he wanted to stay there forever and embrace the moment.”

He will always return to Danish films: “It’s my friends, my stories, my language. I have the urge to go back. You have to be careful not to make it too comfortable, though, so we always try to push each other a little further. That’s the main goal of feeling ‘comfortable.’” He also recalled his first role in Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Pusher” back in 1996. “In Denmark, we waited forever to see films like the ones we loved. For me, it was ‘Taxi Driver.’ That kind of energy wasn’t there and then this guy came along. For the first time, it was the same generation making films. At the beginning, we had to define ourselves as a unit and it was a key to our success.”

His marriage: “A secret to a happy marriage? Every morning at 8am, we… The secret is to love each other, simple as that.”

He wears his fame lightly: “Fame wasn’t really on my radar. Then I did a TV show and since then, I couldn’t buy cigarettes in a normal way. It was either ‘here are your cigarettes, sir’ or ‘take your f–king cigarettes and get out’. The thing is, I don’t go out feeling paranoid, because every time I completely forget I am famous. I am so pleased I have this gene.”

[From Variety]

When Mads and Harrison were in Cannes to promote the Indiana Jones movie, every time they stood together or sat down together, Mads looked like he was living every single one of his childhood dreams. It was clear that he adored Harrison and Harrison’s approach to the work as well, because I think the two men are probably very similar in that way. Anyway, Mads seems like such a cool guy and it really is crazy to think that this random actor from Denmark has fashioned this huge Hollywood career, and yet he wears it all so lightly.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.