Based on the book of the same name, Against the Ice charts the true story of Danish explorers Ejnar Mikkelsen and ship mechanic Iver Iversen as they embark on a 1909 expedition to disprove the United States’ claim to Northeastern Greenland by proving the island is one intact piece of land. Leaving their crew behind with the ship, the two must survive the deadly elements and figure a way to get back home.
Ahead of the film’s Netflix debut, Screen Rant spoke exclusively with stars Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Joe Cole to discuss Against the Ice, Coster-Waldau’s return to screenwriting, the struggles of filming on location and more.
Screen Rant: Against the Ice is quite the moving and intense picture. I’ll start with you, Nikolaj since you also helped develop the script, what about the story really drew you into the project?
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: Well, it was it was combination of things. It’s a beautiful book by Ejner Mikkelsen that just inspired me in the way he describes the whole survival. But it was more the relationship between the two men, it was so different and then the way he described the effects on his mental capacities, I thought was really interesting. So that was why I wanted to do it, and then I’ve always wanted to shoot in Greenland. I love Greenland, I’ve been coming here for 25 years, it’s a magical place. I just fell in love with the story.
So then Joe for you, what would you say was the biggest draw for for being part of this project?
Joe Cole: I think just the story and experience, transporting to an entirely new world, time period, playing a character that’s quite dissimilar, is nothing like myself, working with Nikolaj, Baltasar Kormákur, Peter Flinth. There’s a number of components.
So, Nikolaj coming back to you, this is also the first time in I think about 25 years that you actually put your hands on the script part of it as much as the acting, what was that like for you tackling that side of the film as much as being in front of the camera?
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: It’s been great, I’ve been writing with Joe Derrick for the past 12 years and we’ve had a couple of close runs with other scripts, but you’re right, this is the one that’s been produced. I love that part of the work, I think it’s a very different discipline to write. I find it difficult to write on my own, but together with Joe, we have a really good chemistry, he’s a great friend. It’s very fulfilling to be in from the very beginning.
Since you mentioned chemistry, one of this film’s vital elements is the dynamic between you two, what was it like building the rapport and the relationship off camera between you two before bringing it onto every scene?
Joe Cole: Nikolaj sort of just said it, I think if you have good actors, it doesn’t matter about chemistry.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: We really don’t like each other and we’re just professionals here. [Laughs]
Joe Cole: It just so happens I did beat him at table tennis on a number of occasions. But yeah, obviously it helps when you’re 10 weeks on location, tough shoot, tough experience, it does help if you get on and one the one of them isn’t a knob. [Chuckles] That does make the whole thing slightly easier. But then it comes down to the character and performance and just believing in your individual character wholly.
I had talked to Peter before and he was telling me a bit about the craziness of this shoot with the weather and environment, what was that like for each of you really experiencing that as you’re trying to also be in the heart of these characters who are experiencing it very much themselves?
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: I thought it was great, that was what we wanted, we wanted to be in the elements because you could choose to make a movie like this in a massive studio and recreate everything with machines, but it’s it’s just not the same. To feel the actual cold, to feel the snow, to stand on the glacier, you can just sense the cold coming up from beneath you. It’s very unique, and it adds so much to to the fact that you just have to react and then hope the camera catches it.
Joe Cole: I think much the same, I’d much prefer being in the environment, on location in the elements, you don’t have to do as much acting.
For my final question, Nikolaj just look away from the film, we of course have the Game of Thrones spinoff coming up and I’m curious, do you plan on tuning in as it airs and what is that like for you being on the other side of the screen for Game of Thrones for a change?
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau: I’m looking forward to it. We had such a great run, it was a lot of fun to do that show and now it’s over. This is a new show and yeah, like everyone else, I’m gonna sit down and enjoy.
Against the Ice Plot Synopsis
AGAINST THE ICE the real-life polar explorer Ejnar Mikkelsen (Coster-Waldau) and crew member, Iver Iverson (Joe Cole) on a recovery mission after Denmark’s historical Artic Expedition. The two men set out on across frozen Greenland. Battling extreme hunger, fatigue and a polar bear attack, they finally arrive to find their ship crushed in the ice and the camp abandoned. Hoping to be rescued, they now must fight to stay alive. As the days grow longer, their mental hold on reality starts to fade, breeding mistrust and paranoia, a dangerous cocktail in their fight for survival.
Against the Ice is now streaming on Netflix.
