Alex Høgh Andersen may only be 23, but his character Ivar the Boneless is absolutely dominating the new season of Vikings.
With a force well beyond his years, Andersen really taps into the ruthlessness of Ivar — who’s based on a real-life viking — and brings a new pair of piercing blue eyes to stare down the viewer (R.I.P. Ragnar).
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Vikings Season 5 features further fracturing of Ragnar’s sons, and the main storyline sees Ivar gaining more and more power, until eventually he has to face at least one of his brothers in battle. Judging by the two-hour premiere, this is going to be a bloody, emotional season.
Global News sat down with Andersen in Toronto and talked about the intensity of Ivar, how he’s learned to act without using his legs and what’s going to happen in Season 5.
Alex Høgh Andersen: He’s an anti-hero, with the emphasis on “anti.” [Laughs] It’s so much fun. It’s way more fun to be a villain, you can get away with so much more! Any day I would prefer to play the villain. It’s always great when the audience has to ask itself, ‘why am I cheering for this dude?’ Any time the audience questions itself, then this show becomes more than entertainment.
Ivar is a pretty great character to play, too.
He’s cool. He’s so much fun to shoot. The whole disease aspect — the osteogenesis, the brittle bone disease — is brilliant. It’s so challenging. I can’t just choreograph the scenes the way I want to. I have to sit there and figure out how to compensate, which usually means I’m using my hands or my eyes. It’s a great learning experience.
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Does the viewer ever find out if Ivar purposefully killed his brother?
That’s the thing — you’ll never really know. I don’t ever want the audience to sit and relax. For me, personally, yeah, Ivar hates the result of what he did. He hates that his weakness was exposed, that you can get to him. Ivar is an actor, a little vulnerable kid on the inside. He’s very careful on the outside not to expose that.
On top of all that, he’s trying to take over the Great Heathen Army… and there are three other brothers, including Björn, who absolutely hate him now. A lot of the stuff he does is trying to compensate for the disease and for the lack of love he’s had in his life. All he wants is true brotherly love, but he doesn’t know how to get it. He knows he’s burned that bridge, though. And he hates himself for it.
That move on his part may have showed weakness, but it also showed his ruthlessness.
All of this happens on top of Floki leaving — his only true friend — so the human side of Ivar goes downhill.
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The themes of the father, the son, the brothers and the family is omnipresent in this show. Does it continue through Season 5?
Yes, for sure. Vikings is a show about a family and all the things they go through. Every single episode, we try to make it relatable and about people. Any scene without war, we try to make it light to balance it out, make it about family.
Without spoiling anything, what happens to Ivar in Season 5?
It’s about Ivar surviving. It’s about him and his brothers taking over the Great Heathen Army. You’ll see some great battles between Ivar and Bishop Heahmund (Jonathan Rhys Meyers), a character very similar to Ivar. Two extremes on either side. Heahmund is a real enemy, a smart enemy, that challenges Ivar. Otherwise, it would be a walk in the park for him.
Anyway, it’s going to be epic to see this very extreme anti-hero up against this powerhouse of a woman, who symbolizes good itself. It’s classic.
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A few people are going to die, probably. People always die on this show. The great thing is Michael Hirst [the showrunner and creator] isn’t afraid to take really big risks. He killed his own lead character. Now it’s vikings against vikings in a civil war. The stuff that we’ve shot is extraordinary. Get ready.
Wednesday night’s ‘ET Canada’ is a special episode focusing on the return of ‘Vikings.’ ‘Vikings: A New World with ET Canada‘ airs on Global at 7:30 pm ET/PT.
‘Vikings’ Season 5 returns on Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 9 p.m. ET/PT in a two-hour premiere.