Metro talks to Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, best known as Jaime Lannister in Game of Thrones and who appears in horror movie Mama.
Do you like horror movies?
I am terrible with horror. I like horror. I like good movies. One of my favorite movies is The Shining, and that is as scary as it gets, but at the same time I find it is horrible to watch it because I sweat and cover myself. I actually read somewhere that they measured how many calories you burn from watching movies, and horror movies are way, way up the list.
It was really surprising to see Jessica Chastain (playing Annabel in Mama) with a rocker look. How did she surprise you on set?
Her karaoke skills. They are brilliant. I, like the rest of the world, did not know much about Jessica until last year, when she came out in five movies. I had just seen Tree Of Life, so I could ask her what it was about, which was great. I saw The Help, where she is very different, and Take Shelter, which is a great movie. She is just a brilliant actress, and when you work with someone like that it just makes you better.
Did you do your own stunt when you had to fall down the stairs?
Andy [Muschietti, the director] came up with a genius idea. There were so many shots in that little sequence, even though it is just a few seconds. He made a bit of the staircase that could rotate, so they could shoot that moment of impact in close-up. We also did some stuff with wires where I would fall over [the railing]. Then the stunt guy did the fall, which was the craziest thing because he hurt himself. It was a long fall, and at one point his head went straight on one step. Everyone was like: ‘Are you OK?’ ‘Yes, I am good.’ Of course, you see him later going: ‘Ouch!’ That is their nature.
What did you do to get the scar on your head?
That was from when I was a kid. I grew up in this tiny village of 40 people built around an old farm. There was a church, and the only light in the street was this phone booth. I was sure there were corpses and ghosts in the church, and at night I would run home. It was only 100m, but that sprint would end with me going through the door. And once I flew through the glass door. I told my mum it was not because I was scared. But I was scared of the dark. You know when you are running and you think you hear something?
What was it like working with Tom Cruise on the set of Oblivion?
It is one of those things where you meet someone – and he has been so ridiculously famous for 30 years – and whether you want to or not, you have a whole world of stories and craziness in your head. But he is a very nice guy, and I really enjoyed working with him. This was an action movie with a lot of physical work, and most guys in his position would step back maybe a little bit and allow the stunt guys to do some work. I have never seen anybody work as hard and be as dedicated, so that was very inspiring.
Mama is out on June 17 on DVD and Blu-ray, and to download.