Cinema

Interview With Wilma Lidén and Edvin Ryding text Jahwanna Berglund photography Marcus Askelöffashion Jahwanna Berglundmakeup Jessica de la Torrehair Khaddy Gasama / Swedish Hair Mafia Wilma wears, checked set Baum und Pferdgarten jacket Stina Randestad jewellery Ole Lynggaard Edvin wears, shirt COS trousers Stina Randestad watch Cartier shoes Kevin Nilsson “Edvin is one of few people I can be completely transparent with.” – Wilma Lidén Wilma Lidén and Edvin Ryding are two of Sweden’s pioneering young actors, both starring in two of the most talked about TV series at the moment. In this two parted interview with Odalisque Magazine, Wilma and Edvin open up about their long time friendship, finding love both on a personal and a professional level, and on how to support one another and finding inspiration in the ever-changing character world of acting. JB: Can you please tell us how you both got to know each other? WL: We got to know each other in 2014, in an apartment in Flemingsberg in Stockholm for a test shoot for the short movie “If everything was real”.Both of us later during the production fell in love with each other without knowing that the other one also had a little crush. ER: Yes, they were looking for an actress to play the role of Linda, and luckily Wilma got the role. We shot the movie that whole summer and had the time of our lives. It’s a pretty dark story but we would laugh between takes and act like the kids that we were. It went almost two years later, we got to play against each other on the 3rd season of “Gåsmamman”. :WL: I will never forget this! After all the film festivals with the short film, the first thing I had to do was to shove chocolate into Edvin’s mouth and beat him to the ground. It was a fun contrast to that summer we had two years earlier. Although I did that scene pretty aggressively ten times, but we still remained best friends and had a lot of fun during that shoot too. ER: Haha yeah, I had to brush my teeth for twenty minutes afterwards because of all the chocolate. W: After that we met again when we were shooting “Julkalendern” in 2018(the Swedish Television Christmas calendar show) and that brought us closer than ever. This was a way happier story than the ones we had done together before. Only cute things and snow and glitter. JB: Both of you started your acting careers at a very early age. When did you know you wanted to work with film? ER: Both me and Wilma started our careers as actors at a very young age. I always had a passion for acting and thought it was very playful and I used to act a lot just for fun. I ”played” in that sense until I was about 11 years old. I used to set up all different kinds of acts both when I was alone and for family guests. like the soccer World Cup final, putting up goals in the backyard pretending I was a football player, winning and doing winner interviews with myself. When I was a kid, I used to set up small acts for the dinner guests at home as well as using a doll house meant for puppetry. The ones with these small windows and curtains you could open up. This was perfect for me since I was so small, I could have my tiny shows from there. By coincidence I came into an industry where you kind of get to play everyday with likeminded people. Realizing that this actually was a job around 14 years old It went from this is fun to I want to continue doing this and I knew that this was what I wanted to work with in some way for the rest of my life. WL: My first role was for a commercial. When I was around 5 or 6 years old I told my mom “I’m going to be an actress” and obviously she didn’t really believe me and responded “ooh but you wanted to be a dolphin trainer a year ago” and thought it was just a phase. E: But it wasn’t, luckily! WW: No, luckily!I’ve always liked to study people, explore ways to implement character traits and play other characters. When I was younger I used to reflect a lot like“if you can live this way, what would happen if I try that for a day?”. And I did.My acting created a bit of a mess at pre-school I’ve heard. Then when I was old enough, I kind of forced my mom to write me up for a casting site for actors and shortly after that I got my first commercial job.It was for IKEA, and I have very few memories from my childhood but I specifically remember fragments from this day.My mom drove me to the set where we were going to shoot the commercial  and when we came there, there were all these cranes. We thought they were construction cranes and I remember my mom said “Oh, it looks like they’re renovating here, how will you be able to film” and when we came up to the set we realized that all these cranes were for the lights. It was very exciting for me as a little kid to see all the effort and work behind the cameras and the only thing they expected in return was for me to play around and eat Kinder eggs and hide in IKEA furniture.How could I even consider a different work environment than this? “I always knew I wanted to act. I’d set up performances for family guests even as a kid.” – Edvin Ryding JB: Do you think that you would have been drawn to each other and developed a friendship like this if it wasn’t for acting? And do you get support from each other in matters concerning your work? WL: We will never know the answer to that question. But the odds are low!Edvin is one year younger than me and we are from completely

Alba August: “I decided I was going to be the last man standing” text Natalia Muntean Alba August has had a busy few months. Two years after her debut album “I Still Hide,” the artist returned in October with a new EP titled “I Wish I Was Someone Else,” earning her the title “Swedish rock queen” from a music critic. “It was surprising because I didn’t see the EP as rock, but I relate to this idea in a way. I wanted it to be less polished, more raw, and I enjoyed being a badass in the music videos,” says August. Besides the developments in her music career, the Danish-Swedish artist graces both big and small screens, starring in “Stockholm Bloodbath,” a new movie by Mikael Håfström, and the Danish series “Bullshit.” Born into a family of cinematic royalty, August has been forging her path with a sense of self-assurance, introspection and a pinch of mischievousness. In this conversation, Alba reflects on her artistic evolution, navigating the complexities of creativity, self-discovery, and balancing her music and acting careers. Natalia Muntean: This is your second EP after your debut album. How do you see the musical journey that you’ve been on between these two releases?Alba August: With “I still hide“ I wanted more energy. During production, I was constantly pushing for more—choirs, layers, you name it. But this time around, I remember talking to my producer and saying, “Take away, take away, take away.” I wanted this to be different. The first album was me wanting to be excessive. Now, I craved something stripped down, more raw. These albums are like a showcase of where I am in my personal journey. Back then, I was in a different place, I had a more extroverted lifestyle, with a lot of partying. But now I’ve come to realize how sensitive I am to sounds and people. I’ve always been that way, but I’ve only just realised the source of all the anxiety. I needed to pare things down in my music. I needed to be more direct. It’s, for sure, a way of processing what’s going on in my life and my mind. Even with what I’m working on now, it will have even fewer elements. I always want to do things that I haven’t heard before. And I want to push myself in directions where I’m a bit uncomfortable. NM: What I understood about “I Wish I Was Someone Else”, the whole EP, is that it has hints of empowerment, self-discovery and living with one’s decisions. You’ve also turned 30 this year, so I wonder if that impacted the stories you tell or the music you put out in the world.AA: This EP focuses on some things I was struggling with. Trying to understand more about myself is something that I have always liked since I can remember, maybe since I was five years old. I’ve always been super anxious and felt very lonely but I didn’t realise that the feeling I felt was loneliness. Now, as a grown-up, I understand it. And then I realised that I always felt weird. All of these things started to resurface as I was writing this. So “I wish I was someone else” was absolutely a way to allow myself to be the weirdo I am. But it’s also about wishing I was normal. That’s what’s so amazing about being an artist and working with art – only when I am being creative I can fully be myself. It’s the only time when I’m really happy and Zen with being in this world. NM: You mentioned that you have social anxiety, however, you are an artist in the public eye and you expose yourself to the world. How does it work then?AA: In a way, being an artist it’s a bit like a persona. I think in private it’s harder to cope with being me compared to when I’m performing. NM: So is there a split between Alba in your personal life, so to speak, and Alba, the artist?AA: There’s a word in Swedish, hudlös, which means skinless and that’s how I feel in private, like I have no skin, more vulnerable, as if everyone can see inside of my body and I have no protection. But when I’m in character, when I’m acting or on stage, I feel strong and I feel like I have control over the situation. NM: Do you feel that on stage you have more freedom to do whatever you would like to do without being judged?AA: Yes, on stage I feel I have power over the audience. It’s clearer what my role is when I’m performing. Everything is decided: I’m going to be on stage and I’m going to do this and they are going to sit and watch. And in my private life, everything is uncertain, and I have a hard time coping with that. NM: In the video for “The Summer of 99” there’s a lot of footage from your childhood. How does it feel to revisit those memories, and how does it impact your music? Does reconnecting with your younger self shape the stories you want to tell?AA: I have mixed feelings about looking back. In a way, it’s a bit sad watching those videos when I was feeling so free, so unaware of how people perceive me. But I also just love the early 2000s. There’s something about that time. Life was so much about dreaming about what it was going to be when I got older. Looking back I also realised how creative life was. My sister and I were always rehearsing a dance or a play. There was always a project we were working on. And there was so much lightness, silliness and humour in the things we did. And it’s hard to find time and space for that as an adult because adult life is so much about achieving, making money and doing boring things. I feel like there’s not that