Black sheep
Beauty, lore of Iceland captures Noomi Rapace in ‘Lamb’ horror
Noomi Rapace was born and grew up in Sweden but it’s Iceland that holds her heart. Now she’s come “home” with “Lamb,” a horror film set on an isolated farm that has the flavor of an Icelandic folktale.
The film, which premiered at Cannes, has permanently affected how “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” star continues her career.
“There’s something very raw and real, both with the Icelandic people but also with nature, which is very much a character in this movie,” Rapace, 41, began, sitting on the sun-soaked terrace of New York’s Soho Grand.
“When Valdimar (Johannsson, who created the story, co-wrote the minimal dialogue and directed) invited me to come do this film, it was something I was longing to do my whole life. It felt like it was meant to be.”
Rapace’s Maria and her husband Ingvar (Hilmer Snaer Gudnason) continue to mourn their dead daughter when something happens over Christmas that they consider miraculous.
“I always tell people asking me about the film to go, knowing as little as possible,” said Johannsson, sitting beside Rapace.
Rapace noted, “It starts with a tragedy because they lost their daughter four years ago. Ever since it’s as if their lives were on hold. They’re functioning, just doing what they need to do to survive.
“But, emotionally, Maria is very locked off. Then ‘Ada’ is born and she’s given this opportunity to start to heal. At the end, she’s fully alive. In that sense it’s almost like a coming-backto-life story.”
Rapace can never forget her first day on set: She delivered, live, on camera, three little lambs.
“We were hours from anywhere and we shot in the summer where it’s this weird, never goes dark, time. It’s constantly daylight so you kind of lose sense of what’s real and what’s not.
“I hadn’t delivered baby lambs before. That was new! That I had to pull out a baby — that smell (of blood) stays on your hand for some time.”
Now, new horizons beckon. “When I finished ‘Lamb’ I just cleared everything. I walked away from everything I planned. I just needed a break because I felt I was lost, then found.
“Because I came back to myself. I found the core of Noomi. I reconnected with that side and my choices as an actress have changed.
“I’m very specific now. I want to work with people who don’t need to be comfortable or have it be smooth or easy. We just need to explore something together.”