DUO: A Fragrance Born from Friendship
DUO: A Fragrance Born from Friendship text Natalia Muntean photography Sandra Myhrberg fashion Jahwanna Berglund “Luck favours the bold. Change favours the curious,” begins the campaign video announcing the launch of Duo, the newest fragrance signed by Omar Rudberg and Edvin Ryding. Following the conclusion of three successful seasons of the Netflix hit series Young Royals, actors Omar Rudberg and Edvin Ryding have delighted their fan base with a surprising new collaboration. Under the OMR Beauty umbrella, the duo has introduced their fragrance, accompanied by a campaign that underscores themes of community, inclusiveness, vulnerability, and friendship. Omar and Edvin wished to capture the essence of summer: warm, citrusy, and subtly sexy. Duo achieves this by blending top notes of lemon, bergamot, and juniper berries for a refreshing and empowering start, followed by aromatic herbs in the heart, ending in a grounding base of cedarwood, dry amber, and musk. In our interview, we delve into their reflections on the conclusion of Young Royals, the inspiration behind Duo, and their future endeavours. Natalia Muntean: I know this year was a big one for you because you wrapped up Young Royals. How does it feel to have that chapter behind you?Edvin Ryding: It feels bittersweet but everything has its own time. The most beautiful thing about Young Royals is the people you’ve met and worked with, and that’s not going anywhere. Now, Omar and I have worked together on Duo, so it’s great we stay in each other’s lives.Omar Rudberg: It’s fun to do other things outside of Young Royals. Edvin gets to shoot movies and be the actor he is, I get to do music. That’s what’s fun about our jobs – we get to do new projects. NM: What was the most challenging scene for you to film during Young Royals?OR: Emotionally, one of the last scenes of season three. We knew we were close to wrapping up.ER: That’s true. We shot these scenes on the last day of filming, and it was just tears all over. Nobody could hold it together. NM: And on the flip side, what has been the most rewarding part of working on this show?ER: I think there are many aspects because it’s been so many years. I was 17 when I started and grew up on that show. I learned so much, both professionally and personally, about who I am. And the interaction with people who have a special relationship with the show is one of the most magical things I’ll ever experience.OR: It was rewarding getting to know people who are now in my life, learning and experiencing things with them, and making new friends forever. NM: You said that you learnt a lot. Was there anything that you realised about yourselves or maybe learned during this filming of Young Royals that surprised you?ER: Well, a lot of things. It is a time for both me and Omar, even though he’s five years older than me, we’re both growing up during this time. It’s a period where we’re learning a lot by default. I feel I’ve grown a lot as an actor. In my work, there’s a clear before and after Young Royals, in terms of what I know I’m capable of and the confidence I have when working. That’s thanks to my fellow actors and directors who brought that out of me. It’s a luxury.OR: This was my first acting experience, so it taught me a lot. I really learned how to take in directions, hear them out, and work in that space. It was the first time I ever shot a movie or series like that, so I learned a lot. NM: What aspects of Simon’s and Wille’s characters resonate with you? Or are there any similarities between you and your characters?ER: At this point, it’s sort of an alter ego because there are multiple characteristics I resonate with in Wille, like his reactions to triggers and feelings of entrapment. I can feel entrapped in certain ways, like with social media conversations. Some people on social media don’t know how to behave, and you feel powerless. It’s easy to get overwhelmed, but it’s also easy to get out of it when reminded of the love and support. The good thing about doing these three seasons is we can tell a full portrait of these characters as our writer envisioned. So, they’re very human, which makes it much easier to resonate with and relate to.OR: I haven’t thought about this in a long time! Thinking back, maybe it’s that Simon really knows what he wants and stands his ground, and that’s similar to me. “It’s like envisioning a sunrise when you have that freshness in the air, but also the warmth of the sun coming up and the day starting.” “The roots and base of this fragrance started with our friendship.” NM: You mentioned fan interactions, and then that they give you this kind of adrenaline shot. But did it also feel overwhelming when you started to realise that there’s so much attention and buzz around the show and around you too?ER: Yeah, of course. I think anyone would feel overwhelmed in that situation. We’ve been able to find our balance over the years. When you zoom out, it’s easier to see it for what it is and see the good in people’s hearts. You’re able to find a balance, but of course, it was overwhelming. NM: What inspired the creation of Duo? How did you decide to come up with a perfume together?OR: The roots and base of this fragrance started with our friendship.ER: We quickly found that to be a core value. We started to build from that and what we wanted the campaign and fragrance to represent. Once we had that, it was easier to find the scent. What are confidence, friendship, and curiosity? What does that smell like? We had sessions where we tried different combinations of notes until after two to three months we found the right









