Netflix’s
Coster-Waldau plays Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen, who led a team from Denmark to rescue a previous group of explorers who set out to disprove an American claim that Greenland was actually two islands, to which they laid claim to the northeast island. While the original Denmark team, led by Ludvig Mylius-Erichsen, died in the treacherous journey across the frozen territory, there was believed to be evidence they left behind tucked away in a cairn confirming the one, single island theory.
Set to leave the remote base camp location before the sea froze over for the long winter, the somewhat abrasive Mikkelsen asked for one of the men to volunteer to join him on a search for the document left behind by Mylius-Erichsen believed to be several hundred miles from their camp. Knowing it likely would be a suicide mission, no one stepped up except a young mechanic named Iver Iversen with no previous experience as an explorer. In March 1910, the captain and Iversen set out on their journey with two sleds led by teams of dogs to take them across the frozen ice and snowy mountains to a location marked on a map found on the body of one of the dead explorers from the Mylius-Erichsen expedition. Mikkelsen told his remaining crew to set sail for home in five months he and Iversen didn’t return by then.
While Mikkelsen and Iversen eventually reached their destination and found the evidence, their journey wasn’t without peril. They lost a sled and a team of dogs while others died from starvation and exhaustion. Eventually, though, the two men returned to the ship only to find the crew gone and the camp abandoned. With the ship’s mast affixed to the ground, Mikkelsen presumed the crew were rescued by another passing ship. The two men hunkered down in the camp with supplies left behind and waited for another rescue, which took years, while the crew who has returned home tried to convince officials to send out a rescue party, not knowing if the captain or Iversen were still alive. Months turned to years, and the isolation and cold took their toll mentally and physically on the stranded men. The threat of starvation coupled with the arrival of a hungry polar bear made their survival even more challenging. Clinging to life and their sanity, the men bravely waited and hoped for rescue.
Against The Ice was a passion project of Coster-Waldau, who read Mikkelsen’s 1955 novel Two Against The Ice. A fan of explorers and historic expeditions, in general, he was enthralled with the incredible true story of bravery and friendship of the Denmark expedition. The film, which he co-wrote with Joe Derrick, is based on Mikkelsen’s account. It is directed by Danish director Peter Flinth, and co-stars Joe Cole as Iversen, along with Charles Dance, Porsteinn Bachmann and Heida Reed.
Reached via Zoom, Coster-Waldau recalls making the film and bringing authenticity to the subject matter by shooting it on location in sometimes difficult conditions.
Angela Dawson: What compelled you to want to tell this story?
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: What I loved about this was the theme of companionship. You have this one guy, the captain, and he alone knows best. But he need this other guy to help him—to cook for him and make his tea. He comes to understand that we are nothing without each other. Even though we’re very different from each other, we have to come together. That’s a very simple theme but I love it. I love the theme of friendship. That was at the core of this. That’s the reason why Joe Derrick, the co-writer, and I wanted to do this. In Two Against The Ice, Mikkelsen describes how they’re under so much pressure and how it begins to affect their mental faculties. They both start seeing things that aren’t there. They’re both discussing it because they know it’s not real, but how enticing and attractive it is to allow themselves to go down those paths of a different reality.
Dawson: Throughout the three years they’re stranded together, they continue this formality. Iver continues to call Mikkelsen “captain.”
Coster-Waldau: He describes that in his book. It’s the captain, finally, after two years decides to call Iver by his first name. Up until that point, he has always called him “Iversen.” We use that in the movie, as well. He has a nightmare and calls him by his name. It’s a subtle thing and not everyone will pick up on it but it’s about showing the slow changes in these characters.
Dawson: Of all the explorer stories, why Mikkelsen’s?
Coster-Waldau: I love those kinds of stories of survival, the Arctic explorers. I’ve read a lot about them. My dad worked at a U.S. Air Force Base in the north of Greenland. I never went there but he told me these stories about Arctic explorers but I didn’t know this one. I hadn’t heard of this story before I read (Mikkelsen’s) book. There’s something about these guys. They’re usually there because they’re on a mission. They have a passion for it. They are very well-equipped to be there. They are an elite breed. Then, suddenly, in this story, you have a guy (Iver) who shouldn’t be there. He’s a mechanic. He just happens to find himself in this most extreme of circumstances. But he raises his hand and volunteers to go on what seems obvious to the others as a suicide mission. I just love that as a starting point. I remember reading the book and there was no question that Iver was a quick learner but he wasn’t (Mikkelsen’s) first choice.
Dawson: His mechanical skill came in handy at certain points, though, right?
Coster-Waldau: Of course. He had mechanical skills but, more importantly, it was his character that mattered.
Dawson: You filmed on location in Iceland and Greenland where you were challenged by the natural elements. Any second thoughts while you were there?
Coster-Waldau: We joked a couple of days about that, like the sequel should be set in the Caribbean. To be honest, though, I loved every second of it—even on the days where there were snowstorms or a blizzard. Once, we had to be evacuated off a glacier because it was too dangerous to stay there. I was so happy coming down from that glacier and getting to safety, but also I knew what we shot that morning would be amazing, and it was. It’s in the movie.
Over the years, I’ve done stuff which has been blue-screen or green-screen (visual effects) and I know that you can do almost anything in a studio, but there are certain things you can’t do. You can’t do the extreme force of wind and the extreme change of wind direction that you get in nature; The way that the snow will come at you in all directions and the way that it affects your skin when it’s so cold and the way you speak when it’s 30-below—all those things, you can’t get in a studio. You can’t create those scenes that we have in the movie. One of my favorite shots is after they’ve started their journey and you see Mikkelsen and Iversen riding these two sleds over the frozen sea ice. I knew I wanted that shot and I was so happy when we got it. So, to answer your question, I didn’t regret a second of it.
Dawson: For part of the film, you have the sled dogs around. How was it working with your four-legged co-stars? Were they ever uncooperative?
Coster-Waldau: First of all, you might be concerned about what happens to them in the movie, but none of them were hurt, of course. They’re still animals and after a couple of takes, they’d (want to stop). So, patience is a virtue, and I’m still trying to be virtuous. But, overall, the dogs were great and it was such an experience to see them, especially when we went to Greenland, and we worked with these local hunters and their dog crews. To see what these dogs are capable of was remarkable. There’s a reason they still use them in the Northwest of Greenland. It’s the best and safest way to get around. It was everything I hoped for, to be honest.
Dawson: What’s ahead for you?
Coster-Waldau: We have a screening tonight and we had one yesterday. I’ve been on this whole tour. We had the premiere in Greenland, which was an amazing experience. We had another big premiere in Copenhagen on Sunday, and there’s one here in New York tonight, and tomorrow I’m going to L.A.
Joe Derrick and I have a company and we’re putting together this 10-episode drama podcast on Audible. We have another three weeks of editing and sound design. Once that comes out, we have more stories to shoot.
For me, it’s been a real joy to make this movie. This is the day it’s finally getting released and it’s been years in the making, and it feels really good. I have to say our producer Baltasar Kormakur, without his crew in Iceland, we wouldn’t have been able to do this.
