Welcome to Noomi Rapace Online, your premiere web resource on the Swedish actress. Best known for her performances as Lisbeth Salander in the original "The Girl
with the Dragon Tattoo" film trilogy, "Prometheus" and the recent Indie smash "Lamb", Noomi Rapace has emerged as one of the most exciting European actresses of this
decade. This unofficial fansite provides you with all latest news, photos, editorials and video clips on her past and present work. Enjoy your stay and check
back soon.
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After two years of waiting, our question of what has happened to Monday has finally been answered, as Tommy Wirkola’s scifi action thriller is available for streaming on Netflix since Friday. There’s a lot to say about the movie, good things and bad things, but one thing is for sure – “Monday” has been worth the wait. Noomi delivers a true tour de force, being able to indeed pull of seven performances with seven different characters. The great special effects do her a great service by blending all sisters together effortlessly. After a couple of minutes you don’t think about how they have done and just enjoy the performances. Without spoiling the story, the film is much more violent than expected, unnecessarily vulgar throughout, loses its pace after the first half and picks it up right when it has to. The first thing I thought when the ending credits started rolling, is that I have to watch it again to see how good it really works and how it connects all the dots. So “Monday” is a definite recommendation. Screencaptures have been added to the photo gallery, and their amount is huge because Noomi is in almost every single frame of the film, and please be advised that the captures also feature massive spoilers – so if you haven’t seen it yet, make sure to watch it on Netflix to enjoy it fully. Have you seen it yet? Share your thoughts in the comments.
The third interview comes from am New York, including her view on the constant shift between theatrical releases and direct on-demand releases (as seen with “What Happened to Monday?” and the upcoming “Bright”): In the dystopian Netflix film “What Happened to Monday,” out Aug. 18, Swedish actress Noomi Rapace has the arduous task of playing seven sisters. The siblings, all named after days of the week, have to assume the identity of one person in order to survive in a society plagued by overpopulation. Things spiral out of control when one sister goes rogue. Rapace spoke with amNewYork about the challenges of playing seven different characters.
What do you make of the industry’s shift toward streaming platforms?
It’s changing and it’s happening. We can’t really fight it. If you look at the music industry, a lot of my friends are musicians and it hit them before it hit us. I embrace change. It’s quite amazing that people from all over the world will be able to see my film at the same time. Though some movies deserve a big screen and to be theatrically released. We need to work and find a balance between that but we have to make the best out of it. It’s all for the love of film.
Once again, the complete interview with Noomi Rapace can be read here.
Today’s second interview that deserves a special mention comes from the Columbus Dispatcher. Already popular in her native Sweden, Noomi Rapace rose to international fame in 2009 via her intense performances as Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s ″The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.″ That same year, she went on to star in ″The Girl Who Played With Fire″ and “The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest.” She lost out to Rooney Mara when the American version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo″ was made in 2011, acknowledding then that she was nervous about the prospect of going to Hollywood. She wasn’t even sure that she wanted to work in the United States, she said. Six years later, Rapace seems far less nervous. She has a string of American films to her credit, including hits such as Guy Ritchie’s ″Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows″ (2011) and Ridley Scott’s ″Prometheus″ (2012) as well as the indie productions ″The Drop″ (2015), ″Child 44″ (2015) and ″Rupture″ (2016). She lives in England now and works frequently.
It’s gone really well. I realize that it’s not that different from what I was doing in Sweden. I think my idea of Hollywood was that I was not going to be working with real filmmakers, with proper artists, and I’ve realized that it’s actually all a mix. On the biggest productions in Hollywood today, there are big, artistic, stately, artsy directors. I thought it was going to be very different from what I was used to and how I was used to working, but it feels like the film industry in Hollywood – and in other countries I’ve worked in, too – is closer to what I wanted to do than I first expected.
Back then, the multilingual Rapace still struggled with English. During an interview on behalf of ″Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows,″ she continually apologized and asked, ″Is this the right word?″ Her English nowadays is essentially flawless. ″I almost forgot about that because I moved to London and I’ve been in London maybe for four years now,″ Rapace said. ″My family lives with me here, and we speak English at home. So it’s like, my sister’s boyfriend, my sister, me and my son — we all speak English.” The complete interview can be read here.
Articles and interviews to promote the August 18 release of “What Happened to Monday?” are coming in. In the first, Noomi Rapace talks to Looper: Shooting took nearly five months, with Rapace called to set almost every day. Most of the time, she was acting by herself, using a green screen with tennis balls or crosses and listening to her own pre-recorded dialogue in an earpiece. Sometimes, they used doubles, with Rapace showing them exactly how she had acted out the scene when she had been the other character. “Let’s say I’m doing a scene with Saturday and I’m Monday, and then I have to kind of plan what I’m gonna do as Saturday before I’ve done it and then I have to show the double girl how to move, and how to sit, and what line she will reach for the glass, because if we already established it with her I need to fix it later on when I was playing Saturday,” she explained. Still, despite the tough shoot, Rapace says she was proud of the project. “I love a challenge, and this was the hardest thing I could ever imagine,” she said, adding that she could feel a connection with her characters because they were all, like many of her past roles, “women fighting in a man’s world.” The complete article can be read here.
On Thursday, the cast and crew of David Ayer’s upcoming Netflix spectacle “Bright” made a stop at this year’s Comic-Con to premiere the official trailer. Netflix brought out Suicide Squad director David Ayer on stage along with cast Will Smith, Joel Edgerton, Noomi Rapace, Lucy Fry, Edgar Ramirez and more to talk about the high concept fantasy–set in our reality–film. Ayer went on to discuss that he has plans for a sequel and his inspiration for this kind of movie. He went on to give praised to Netflix for allowing him to make such a fantastical film that looks like something not really seen before. There are elements of humor in the film but doesn’t come off as too zany or slapstick like. What makes this film so unique is the setting in Los Angeles and the creatures that live there like Orcs, Fairies, and Elves living among humans. It also gives off a political tone with the discussion of race and the abuse of magic (power) that really gives it that realistic push that Ayer tends to do.
A day before the Comic-Con premiere, they also joined Conan O’Brien on his show – which is held in San Diego during the Comic-Con. Pictures from all events – the panel, press conference and Conan apppearance – have been added to the photo gallery. Additionally, videos have been added as well, alongside a first production still and trailer screencaptures of Noomi. Many many thanks to Claudia and Maria for their submissions. “Bright” will debut on Netflix on December 22, 2017.
Noomi is featured in the current Malibu Magazine with a fantastic interview, by Felicity Martin, and a great new photoshoot. The last chapter remains the most interesting one: It’s not just the world of acting that Rapace is conquering. She’s just designed a clothing collection for a brand (“It’s very street, very hip-hop.”) She’s also launching a perfume later this year (“I’m doing a lot of stuff for fun,” she says). What I really want to know, however, is about the rumors she’s playing Amy Winehouse in an upcoming biopic. “Maybe … We’ll see. I’m involved in it, and I’m working on it, but all the components need to be right.” She smiles, explaining how, when they asked her to play Winehouse, she initially refused to read the script. “I have a strong connection to Amy. She was really present, her music, in the most critical moments of my life.” Rapace’s quest for perfection is particularly crucial on this project. “I can’t compromise on that one,” she urges. “The script needs to be amazing. It needs to be 100 percent. She is too important to me; my respect and love for her is just too important. It needs to be really brave and really honest and raw—and from my heart.” Rapace pours herself into all aspects of her career and life, from roles as villains or identical septuplets to perfume and key ring gifts for friends. There is no halfway. All considered, if Rapace eventually does tackle the role of Amy Winehouse, you can bet she’ll do it justice. The complete article can be read here.
Some very sad news today, as the family of Michael Nyqvist has confirmed the actor’s passing at age 56. Mr. Nyqvist landed his breakthrough role at age 39, playing Rolf, an abusive alcoholic husband in the 2000 film “Together.” The Swedish movie about members of a leftist commune in suburban Stockholm in the 1970s led to his first nomination for a Guldbagge, the annual cinema awards in Sweden. From there, Mr. Nyqvist was cast in leading roles on television shows and in films, including as Mikael Blomkvist, the fervent investigative reporter, in the original Swedish adaptation of the book series “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” He also received bigger parts in blockbuster Hollywood movies, playing a deranged Swedish-born Russian nuclear strategist in the 2011 movie “Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol.” What better way to celebrate this wonderful actor’s career by re-watching the “Millennium” trilogy anytime soon. Here are some of Noomi’s and Michael’s moments together from the promotional tours of the “Dragon Tattoo” films.
“Unlocked” has been released in UK theaters last Friday and has entered the box office earning £258,000 over the weekend. The US theatrical release date has been set for September 01, 2017. Below, you will find a compilation of press junket interviews with Noomi, director Michae Apted and co-stars Orlando Bloom and Michael Douglas, as well as three new clips from the film.
“Unlocked” has premiered in UK theaters on Friday. Reviews have been favorable to mixed, all describing it as a female Bourne-story with praise for Rapace (except for the Hollywood Reporter) and criticism on the plot – but not as bad as one would have feared for a film that has been shelved for over two years. Here’s a selection of reviews from the British press, highlighting Noomi’s performance, production stills can be found below.
Variety, Guy Lodge, May 05, 2017
As the Hollywood casting search for a new, rebooted Lisbeth Salander starts up again, spare a thought for poor Noomi Rapace. Having stepped aside for Rooney Mara in David Fincher’s 2011 film, the original girl with the dragon tattoo is still proving her mettle for the part in far lesser vehicles like “Unlocked” – an anonymously enjoyable espionage thriller that, for purposes of memory, all but self-destructs the second the closing credits begin to roll.
The Guardian, Simran Hans, May 07, 2017
Islamic State, MI5, a deadly virus and a neck-tattooed Orlando Bloom: screenwriter Peter O’Brien throws everything at the wall in this derivative thriller. Nothing sticks. With a cast of A-listers including John Malkovich, Michael Douglas and Toni Collette, not to mention Rapace herself, you’d expect at least one performance capable of cutting through the script’s sludge. Still, worth a hate-watch if only to hear Bloom’s former marine declare in full EastEnders mode: “I love a tagine.”
The Telegraph, Robbie Collin, May 04, 2017
The sheer flimsiness of every role here, including Rapace’s, means it’s rarely possible to see the highly recognisable cast as anyone other than themselves: in particular, the moment Bloom’s character first pulls off his balaclava to reveal the grinning face of Legolas underneath is a ludicrous ‘Only me!’ moment worthy of The Fast Show.
The Guardian, Peter Bradshaw, May 05, 2017
Noomi Rapace plays Alice, a CIA agent undercover in London; Michael Douglas is her handler; John Malkovich is the hawkish spy chief at Langley; and Collette is his testy opposite number at MI5. Alice is curtly called in to interrogate a jihadi intermediary suspected of being about to give the “go” instruction on a bio-warfare attack somewhere in the US. She’s about to break him – when something strange happens. Like so many thrillers of this sort, the movie blandly assumes that Middle Eastern terrorists aren’t smart enough to fool US authorities: it takes American converts and American spies. But this covert cliche aside, Unlocked is an entertaining genre thriller, punched home with vigour and attack.
The Hollywood Reporter, Stephen Dalton, May 03, 2017
Rapace has the kick-ass moves, but her low-voltage performance is too waxy and blank for a lead role. Sporting tattoos and a man-bun, Bloom makes a comically off-target bid to rebrand himself as a Jason Statham-type hard man, barking cod-Dickensian lines in a cartoonish mockney accent that will grate with many Brit viewers. Collette radiates twinkly androgynous mischief with her peroxide punkette buzzcut and cut-glass English accent.
In the past few weeks, I have worked behind the scenes to bring a new, mobile friendly video archive to Noomi Rapace Online. The old one has stopped working a while ago on mobile devices, so I’m happy to finally launch the new archive. All the clips from the old archive are uploaded and lots of new clips have been added as well. From Noomi’s first appearance on the Swedish soap opera Tre Kronor to the December-releasing Netflix thriller Bright, all of her projects are covered with trailers, featurettes – as well as talkshow appearances, awards ceremonies, news appearances and television specials. My thanks to MonicaN for providing the plugin. Enjoy!