Claes Bang is a part-time devil, but he would like to play a socially awkward person 

Danish actor Claes Bang discusses acting in different languages, becoming the ultimate bad guy, his latest Berlinale film, Mother’s Baby, music and that compliment from Stephen King.

When Claes Bang woke up one fine morning, he had no idea he would soon be the happiest person in the whole world. In 2024, Stephen King recently wrote a short post about the actor’s performance as JP (“The Prick”) in AppleTV+’s superb Bad Sisters. The master of horror congratulated him for playing “the most vile villain.” When the topic is brought up as an icebreaker, Bang reacts almost euphorically. Claes’ eyes go wide and his entire body energetically leans forward. For a second, he reminds me of this young boy, who once used to read all of King’s novels. “Remember: this is a guy who wrote Nicholson’s Jack Torrance in The Shining. And, that is a very awful character! If I’ve done something Stephen King appreciates, I can assume it’s a well-done job. This is my best review ever, I can now hang my hat and leave peacefully,” Bang laughs.

We meet at the Hyatt Hotel in the middle of the 75th Berlinale – Bang arrived here for the premiere of Mother’s Baby, his latest film competing for the main prize, the festival’s prestigious Golden Bear. Directed by Johanna Moder, an Austrian auteur and Michael Haneke’s protege, the film tells the story of Julia (Marie Leunberger) and her partner, Georg (Hans Löw), who are longing for a child. The baby is finally delivered with the help of Dr. Vilfort – played by Bang – a professional offering them hope with an experimental procedure. All of it sounds like a dream, but soon things go dark and Julia will have to fight for her truth.

“What interested me the most about it is this taboo that still seems to be out there. When you have a child, the whole world will bloody tell you that from now on you will always be happy. In our film, Julia feels she brings a stranger to her home (the child), to whom she cannot feel connected. This alienation in the experience of motherhood brought me on the set of Mother’s Baby,” says Bang. “When I spoke to different people about this film, I realized postnatal depression is something much more common than I thought before. Cinema should address those issues more often.”

Bang looks stunning in this dapper beige sweater (simple, yet spot-on choice), almost as if he just had left the set or, as one might argue, the cinema’s big screen. Some actors have this quality – George Clooney is one of them. Tom Cruise, too. And – ironically – Adam Sandler, who is more a prankster than an actual Hollywood star.

There is also something ferocious in Bang, this vital energy that suddenly fills the hotel’s lounge while he’s there. When Bang gives me a hand and introduces himself, he just looks me straight in the eyes. Bang is curious about people he meets in the same way he is eager to learn more about the characters he plays. “An actor needs to be keen about everything,” he says.

During his vast career, Bang has been called different names. He went by Christian, the art curator, The Prick, William Tell, or even Count Dracula. Now, he’s a doctor, a person who is “there to help the film’s couple.” “They desperately need a child and Dr. Vilfort feels their pain. He wants to make a difference, so he proposes a quite crazy solution, veiled with some mystery that is ready to unfold. This idea doesn’t sound promising for the viewer, but I do actually think he cares about his patients,” Bang argues.

Bang once said he “always only plays himself (…) because he tries to look for something in there that he can relate to.” When I refer to this quote, he still stands by it. “It’s silly, but it’s true! I try to find something within myself that can later bring some truth to the character. Otherwise, I’ll end up with something I just put on instead of truly becoming it,“ he explains. So, I ask him the simplest question: Does he enjoy helping people just like his doctor from Mother’s Baby? “That was definitely a thing there!” Bang mellowly laughs. “Despite what he does, I wanted to understand Vilfort. Ultimately, he just pities the couple and wants to make a difference.”

Some believe Bang got typecasted – even in a film like Mother’s Baby, in which he plays an ambiguous, but not-so-evil character, we see some wickedness because we want to. Bang’s star image is embedded in his villainous roles. There’s no turning back once we watch him as JP in Bad Sisters. For modern audiences, Bang, without having a malicious role, is, to paraphrase Gay Talese, like Picasso without paint or Ferrari without gasoline.

This is why I ask him if there is a certain type of role (or character) he would like to play soon. Bang knows the answer – he’s been thinking a lot about it. “I want to become someone socially awkward. Perhaps he’s not that clever, maybe he doesn’t use too many words and lives as an outcast. All of my previous characters have a certain level of self-awareness and intelligence. It enables them to achieve their goals. I want an unconscious character, living on the edge of everything.” Playing the bad guys is not his sole focus; Bang is only a part-time devil.

As a non-native writer, I feel a certain connection to Bang. Born in Odense, one of the biggest Danish cities, he needed a couple of years to be seen in the industry. But, it took him even longer to be cast in American productions: first, Netflix’s Dracula, and then the aforementioned Bad Sisters. Now, we are forced to communicate in English while meeting in Berlin. At the same time, Mother’s Baby is in German. I ask him if playing in a different language makes him feel like he’s someone else. “Acting in another language feels slightly odd, I can tell you that. For the last ten years, I’ve been acting mostly in English, but even now I’ve done a film, which is mainly in French and Danish. There is this one-man play called Ondskaben I’ve performed in Danish hundreds of times since 2001. It’s based on Jan Guillous’ novel Evil. Then, it was translated into English. It’s exactly the same story, but the feeling is different.”

After a sip of his German coffee, he adds, “You know what? I don’t know if I have a sense of humour, but I think it comes up a bit more when I’m speaking in English instead of Danish.”

As it becomes clear, Bang’s attitude towards acting is really self-conscious. However, for Bang, it is not everything. His band This Is Not America just released a brand-new single called In Tears and Tatters. “Music communicates with us in a language beyond words. Perhaps it’s an ultimate art form. It speaks to us on so many different levels and in a not-so-concrete way just like films and written stories do. It’s a Rolls-Royce of art,” he jokes.

At the end of our meeting, I realise Bang is not an embodiment of all those mischievous gaslighters he occasionally plays. But, he finds them the most gratifying. “There’s just more to play with. Take, for instance, JP from Bad Sisters. You know this feeling when you leave the situation and after five minutes you think ‘Right, I should have said so and so’? This guy says it all the time! In a way, I still pity JP. I believe that in this world people aren’t here to harm and hurt others. Most of us are thinking we’re just doing good. The guy from Bad Sisters seriously believes he protects his family from the eponymous sisters, who invade their privacy. It’s a matter of perspective.”

“I pick up content I feel is the best people-wise. It’s a coincidence most of them are someone you don’t want to be in the same room with! My role as William Tell in Nick Hamm’s historical drama proves I don’t always choose characters like this. Tell might be a reluctant hero, but he’s still a hero,” the actor claims.

As one can see, this part-time devil can also be a part-time angel. “I’ve had so many roles over the years, but I think I didn’t change as a person. We all know The Square altered the direction of my career. It opened so many doors for me, and the landscape changed, but I’m still the same Claes I used to be. I guess you have to go and ask someone close to me if I’ve gone weird.”