“We have a really special chemistry”: Renate Reinsve and Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel are Scandinavia's hottest new film duo

Renate Reinsve and Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel are just getting started. With one acclaimed, award-winning film in the can and another already in the pipeline, the superstar actor and first-time feature filmmaker are already on their way to being the next significant, culture-shifting film duo to come out of Norway. It’s a poetic distinction, given that Ullmann Tøndel is the grandson of Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullmann. We meet with Norway’s It pair and discover that their chemistry is just as crackling off-set

There’s something going on with Renate Reinsve and Halfdan Ullmann Tøndel. Yes, Reinsve, the Palm d’Or-winning Norwegian actor whose talent seemingly knows no bounds, stars in writer-director Ullmann Tøndell’s debut feature, Armand. Yes, the film won the Caméra d'Or for best first feature at Cannes and is favoured to be an Oscar contender (at the time of publishing, the nominees hadn’t been announced, but the duo is optimistically saving the date). Yes, they’ve looked positively dashing walking arm-in-arm down red carpets. Yes, they look positively dashing together on the cover of this magazine (on set, Reinsve couldn’t stop gushing about how great Ullmann Tøndel looked in particular).

But it’s bigger than that. We seem to be witnessing the start of a brand new, indelible auteur and lead actor combo, one that’s set to produce an untold number of films (they’re already committed to a second) and further cement Norway’s unlikely status as a major player in the industry. “We have a really special chemistry and we kind of thrive on each other’s work and ideas,” says Ullmann Tøndel, noting that the moment they started shooting Armand, he knew this collaboration was something special. “The first take she had in the whole film, I came out and...” Reinsve interjects, “We met like this...” They look at each other and start pumping their arms in the universal sign of “Oh my goodness”.

37-year-old Norwegian actor Renate Reinsve became an international sensation after winning the Palm d’Or for her role in The Worst Person in the World. Tech viscose crinkled dress. Bottega Veneta. Photo: Marc Hibbert