Legendary Danish actor Trine Dyrholm breaks down her role in The Girl With The Needle, her off-screen relationship with co-star Vic Carmen Sonne and her evolving red carpet aesthetic
Earlier this year, Trine Dyrholm, wearing a dramatic red strapless jumpsuit by Soeren le Schmidt, ascended the iconic Cannes steps to attend the world premiere of The Girl with the Needle. It had been 25 years since the Danish actor last set foot on the Cannes carpet (she was there with Thomas Vinterberg’s Festen, which went on to win the Jury Prize), and the full-circle feeling was palpable. “Every time you enter that big Palais and you watch your face on the screen and the film that you have and you’re there with the team – it’s just such a wild thing,” she says. “Though I’ve done lots of other festivals, Cannes is kind of special. And it was just so fun to be back and be the grownup.” This time around, the 52-year-old actor saw her younger self in 30-year-old co-star Vic Carmen Sonne, a Danish indie darling and, arguably, the spiritual successor to Dyrholm, the original Danish indie darling.
Trine Dyrholm wearing Soeren le Schmidt at the Cannes premiere of 'Girl With The Needle' . Photo: Getty
Trine in another Soeren le Schmidt look at Cannes. Photo: Getty
A stylised true crime period piece rendered in black and white, The Girl With The Needle is based around the horrific acts of Dagmar Overbye, a serial killer whose MO is the stuff of nightmares. “In Denmark, we know about this story,” says Dyrholm, who was first approached with the notion of portraying Overbye years ago. “I was always very interested in the story behind it, but I found it very difficult to know what kind of story you should tell about this woman.” In this iteration, helmed by Swedish writer-director Magnus von Horn, the film focuses on Carmen Sonne’s Karoline, a woman whose dire circumstances (pregnant, unemployed, estranged from husband) drive her to a life entangled with Overbye’s. “In following this young girl, the topics resonate so contemporarily,” say Dyrholm (tragically, the theme of a woman’s choices or lack thereof feels more resonant today than when the film first premiered just a few months ago).
But beneath the film’s horrors lies a powerful and complex on-screen connection between Dyrholm and Carmen Sonne. “We have known each other for a long time,” days Dyrholm. “When you have that kind of relationship, it makes it easier to do a film like this.” Their friendship goes back to a meet cute in a Copenhagen cafe. As luck would have it, Dyrholm had just seen a student film starring Carmen Sonne before going to grab a coffee (“Literally, I had come from watching the film at my home thinking, ‘Wow, who is that?’”). “I just stared at her,” says Dyrholm. “And I went to her and said, ‘Sorry I’m staring at you, but I just saw you in a movie and I think you were so good.’ And she said, ‘No, I’m staring at you because I know who you are!’.”
I’m an adult friend for a lot of young actors. I give them my number and say, ‘Call me, I’m here any time if you want to ask me something’. I never give them any answers, because I don’t have any. But I’m very good at asking questions.
Trine Dyrholm