The Northman is a historical epic and the third film from director Robert Eggers after 2015’s The Witch and 2019’s The Lighthouse. The film is based on the medieval Scandinavian legend of Amleth, which was the basis for the William Shakespeare play Hamlet. The story follows the viking prince Amleth as he sets out on a quest to avenge his father after he was betrayed and murdered by his uncle. Released in some international markets on April 13, 2022, and in the United States on April 22, 2022, The Northman received critical acclaim.
The movie was a huge gamble though, released when filmgoers were still skeptical to go out to the theaters, and its acclaim didn’t match its profits. The Northman was a box office bomb for Focus Features, grossing $68 million worldwide while carrying a budget that reports estimate range between $70 to $90 million. However, it was a creative endeavor worthy of investment, and the film has done solid numbers since it became available to stream on Peacock and for purchase on PVOD. A film’s legacy is not always at the box office, and The Northman has the potential to become a modern classic shared by many for years to come as an underappreciated gem. If one is curious about checking out The Northman, here is a breakdown of all the major characters and who plays them, and their past work.
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Alexander Skarsgård is Amleth
Universal Pictures
The protagonist of the story, Prince Amleth is the hire of King Aurvandill and Queen Gudrún. Amleth escapes shortly after his father’s murder and vows to avenge his father and save his mother. He spends the next several years living amongst a band of Vikings and becomes a fierce warrior, who sets out to kill his Uncle when he finds out he is living in Iceland. Amleth poses as a slave and eventually rises his way through the trust of the family to get close to them in order to seek revenge and free his mother, but along the way will face many obstacles.
Amleth is played by Alexander Skarsgård who is most famous for his role on the hit HBO series True Blood where he fittingly played a Viking vampire named Erik Northman. He has appeared in several high-profile television series like Generation Kill and Big Little Lies. On the big screen, he had the titular role in The Legend of Tarzan, was one of the leads in Godzilla vs. Kong, and helped lead the comedy The Long Shot. Interestingly Skarsgård was one of the finalists for the role of Thor in the MCU, another Viking legend, but lost the part to Chris Hemsworth, but his father Stellan Skarsgård played the role of Erik Selvig in five MCU films.
Anya Taylor-Joy is Olga
Olga is a Slavic sorceress who Amleth meets when he is posing as a slave. Olga and Amleth become close, as she becomes his co-conspirator and eventual lover. At first, Amleth is ready to forget about vengeance in order to be with Olga and flee for safety, but when he discovers she is pregnant with his children and fears they will never be safe, he continues his quest for revenge despite her pleas.
Anya Taylor-Joy broke out with her role in Robert Eggers’s first film The Witch in 2015. Since then she has appeared in both Split and its sequel Glass, Thoroughbreds, New Mutants, and Last Night in Soho. She was also the star of the hit Netflix series The Queen’s Gambit, where she won a Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild for her performance. She has secured two big upcoming projects, as Princess Peach in the CGI-animated Mario movie and will play a young version of Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road’s prequel.
Nicole Kidman is Queen Gudrún
Universal Pictures
Queen Gudrún is the mother of Amleth, the wife of King Aurvandill, and the future wife of Fjölnir, the two going on to have a son named Gunnar. Amleth believes his mother was taken captive against her will, but she reveals she was unhappy in her marriage to his father and much happier now with her new family.
Nicole Kidman is a legendary star of the silver screen, having been featured in Eyes Wide Shut, The Others, and Aquaman, just to name a few. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance as Virginia Woolf in The Hours and has been nominated four times for Moulin Rouge, Rabbit Hole, Lion, and most recently Being The Ricardos. She also starred in the hit HBO series Big Little Lies alongside Alexander Skarsgård. Most recently she has been seen by audiences all over the globe as the spokesperson for AMC Theaters.
Claes Bang is Fjölnir
Fjölnir is the bastard brother of King Aurvandill, the father of Thorir, uncle of Amleth, and brother-in-law and future husband of Queen Gudrún. Fjölni kills his brother to take control but is quickly overthrown by the Harald of Norway and now lives in exile in Iceland with Gudrún, Thorir, and his youngest son Gunnar. Fjölnir serves as the basis for the character Claudius in Hamlet.
Claes Bang is a Danish actor most well known for his role in the Palme d’Or winning film The Square. He also played the part of Count Dracula on the BBC and Netflix series Dracula, which introduced him to a wider audience.
Ethan Hawke is King Aurvandill
King Aurvandill is Amleth’s father, husband of Queen Gudrún, and brother to Fjölnir. He is a role model to Amleth, but is neglectful of his wife and is a competent king. His death is the inciting incident for the story, and Amleth is motivated to avenge the image of his father.
Ethan Hawke has been an accomplished actor for over five decades, transitioning from child star in films like Explorers and Dead Poet’s Society to moving onto films like the Before trilogy, Training Day, and Boyhood, the latter two earning him an Academy Award nomination.
2022 has been a big year for Hawke, as The Northman opened in theaters a month after Moon Knight premiered, where Hawke played the main villain, Arthur Harrow. Two months later, Hawke played the main villain in the Blumhouse horror film The Black Phone. He will next be seen in Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the sequel to the 2019 breakout hit Knives Out.
Willem Dafoe is Heimir The Fool
Heimir the Fool is the royal jester of King Aurvandill and helps Aurvandill undergo a spiritual ceremony with his son Amleth shortly before his death. Heimir returns later in the film, speaking to Amleth as a severed head, serving as a guiding voice on his journey.
Willem Dafoe is one of the most famous faces in cinema and a familiar screen presence, being part of some of the most iconic movies of all time, from Platoon to The Last Temptation of Christ to the first Spider-Man film. The actor has stepped into family films (Finding Nemo, Fantastic Mr. Fox), action (John Wick), horror (Antichrist), and many more. He had previously worked alongside Nicole Kidman in Aquaman. The Northman followed a particularly strong run for Dafoe, as 2021 found him in The French Dispatch, The Card Counter, Nightmare Alley, and the blockbuster sensation Spider-Man: No Way Home, where he reprised his role as the Green Goblin.
Björk as the Seeress
Despite only being in one scene, the Seeress is an important part of The Northman story and was all over the film’s marketing campaign. The Seeress appears to Amleth in a burned-down temple. The Seeress reveals that Amleth will kill Fjölnir and that his path is tied in with The Maiden-King, eventually revealed to be the future son of Amleth and Olga.
Björk is a world-famous Icelandic singer, songwriter, and composer. 31 of her singles have reached the top 40 around the world and is regarded as one of the greatest living musical artists with iconic songs like ‘Army of Me’ and ‘Big Time Sensuality.’ She starred in the 2000 Lars Von Trier movie Dancer in the Darker which won Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and Björk was awarded Best Actress. The song ‘I’ve Seen It All’ was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song at the Oscars.
