Interview: Thomas Vinterberg and Mads Mikkelsen on what’s at the heart of ‘Another Round’ [VIDEO]

We all go a little Mads sometimes…

Director Thomas Vinterberg and star Mads Mikkelsen are receiving quite a bit of praise for their heartfelt work in the film Another Round, which recently swept the European Film Awards (EFA), including Best European Film, Best European Director, Best European Actor and Best European Screenwriter, which Vinterberg shared with Tobias Lindholm.

Vinterberg is a BAFTA-nominated director of the Danish films The Celebration (1998),  his first Dogme95 project (he was a ‘founding father’ of the Dogme95 movement in the mid90s that opened the doors to a new wave of European filmmakers) and 2012’s The Hunt, which featured Mads Mikkelsen as a teacher and father falsely accused of a horrific crime that turns him into a pariah in his town.

Mikkelsen might be best known for his chilling turn as Hannibal Lecter in the NBC series Hannibal that ran from 2013-2015 and became an instant cult hit. He’s played everything from a Bond villain in Casino Royale to a Rihanna villain in the video for “Bitch Better Have My Money” to being a part of the Star Wars universe in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He’ll soon enter the Harry Potter-verse as Gellert Grindelwald in the third Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them film.

Another Round tells the story of four friends, all teachers at various stages of middle age, are stuck in a rut and led by Martin (played by Mikkelsen). Unable to share their passions either at school or at home, they embark on an audacious experiment from an obscure philosopher: to see if a constant level of alcohol in their blood will help them find greater freedom and happiness. At first they each find a new-found zest, but as the gang pushes their experiment further, issues that have been simmering for years come to a head and the men are faced with a choice, reckoning with their behavior or continue on the same course.

Awardswatch contributor and President of the Mads fan club Dewey Singleton talked to the pair 20 minutes of their remarkable film about what they want audiences to take away from the film and where Mads would take him for a good time (spoiler: it involved lots of alcohol).

Another Round is currently available to own or rent on demand.

Thomas Vinterberg photo: Anders Overgaard; Mads Mikkelsen photo: Henrik Ohsten