The 10 part event series The Lawyer (Advokaten) – with a season two in development - is based on an original idea by Jens Lapidus (Easy Money), Hans Rosenfeldt (The Bridge) and Michael Hjort (Sebastian Bergman).

In the first episode, the talented kick ass defence lawyer Frank Nordling (Alexander Karim in his breakthrough role) is confronted with his traumatic past when his sister Sara (Malin Buska from Easy Money-Life Deluxe and Girl King) a Malmö police officer, uncovers who was behind the murder of their parents when they were kids. Frank suddenly feels compelled to seek revenge and has to face moral dilemma and tough choices as he is drawn into Copenhagen underworld. Thomas Bo Larsen (Follow the Money) plays the chilling organised crime boss.

The show will premiere on Viaplay the first semester 2018 and later on TV3 in Sweden and Denmark.

We spoke to Jens Lapidus, Alexander Karim, Malin Buska and producer Niklas Wikström Nicastro.

You had collaborated with SF Studios Tre Vänner on Easy Money. How did this new project come about?
Jens Lapidus: I’m a writer. You sit on your own. Sometimes I speak to my editor to exchange ideas, but basically it’s me, myself and I! When Tre Vänner/SF Studios first approached me to adapt my first novels the ‘Stockholm noir’ trilogy, I was a bit scared at the beginning, but then I enjoyed the very rewarding experience of sitting in a creative room with the producer, directors, screenwriters; I found the process of developing ideas in a team very inspiring and fruitful. So after Easy Money, I stayed in touch with SF Studios, then they asked if I would be interested in collaborating with Hans Rosenfeldt and Michael Hjorth. They locked us in a room for a couple of days and we came back with the concept for The Lawyer. We threw all our ideas on a wall and shared our experiences and perspectives.

What are the main themes of the series? Revenge?
JL: Yes revenge is very important, but more specifically how do you react as a human being, when you realise that you can get to the people that killed your parents. How much are you ready to sacrifice on a personal and professional level? What choices do you make when you embark on a journey of revenge? As a lawyer and member of the bar, you have certain duties. The foremost rule is that you have to be loyal to your client, not to the court, not to society nor the police force, and not to the truth. The question is what happens when suddenly you have that loyal duty towards someone that you want to trap? In that sense it’s a classic story of a human being faced with difficult choices.

Alexander, this is your biggest role on screen. How did you prepare for your role and what attracted you to your character?
Alexander Karim: I watched every single lawyer movie, from the 40s-50s to nowadays for instance 12 Angry Men, The Firm. Then for three months, I would go to the courthouse and watch different cases, pick the brains of some lawyers. I also worked on the way Frank keeps everything inside. But he also uses the boxing ring to let off steam. I taught martial arts and knew how to prepare physically. 

What I enjoyed about the show is that it’s not just about revenge, it’s also about how the killing of Frank’s parents has an effect on him and his sister who were forced to split up. Frank feels that his sister, his childhood were stolen away from him. That’s the driving force behind his aching for revenge. He wants to try to repair the lost connection with his sister. On the contrary Sara is an extrovert, a broken spirit. They are like the Yin and Yang.

Malin, how would you describe Sara and how did you prepare for your part?
Malin Buska: Sara is full of contradictions and often makes the wrong choices in life: she’s a cop and a drug addict at the same time. She is a single mother and takes heroin. But she’s not the stereotyped junkie. To play my role I met two women that are drug-addicts to understand how they behave. 

Niklas, what makes The Lawyer stand out on the market?
Nicklas Wikström Nicastro: There is a real edginess about it, with its parallel storyline of revenge, and complex siblings relationship. When you look at Greek drama, such as Elektra, the siblings want to revenge against the murder of their father and there is always one going full on, and the other one holding back. Here Sara the police officer is going full head on, while Frank is holding back. But over the course of the 10 episodes, things change gradually.

It’s hard not to think of The Bridge with the setting of Copenhagen and Malmö and Hans Rosenfeldt attached …
NWN:  Originally we wanted to set it in Stockholm, but then in the writing process and when discussing with Viaplay, we decided to make the story bigger and of course, Copenhagen and Malmö offer that bigger arena and interesting criminal perspective.

Has Season 2 been confirmed?
NWC: Yes and Viaplay is on board again. When they saw the rough cut in May they said immediately: go ahead with the writing of season 2!

Jens, how has crime in general changed over the last decade or so in Sweden?
JL: It has definitely changed during the past 20 years. We’ve seen the emergence of organised crime that we didn’t know about in Scandinavia. Now it’s become ‘normal’, therefore it’s possible now to make a show where you have mafia’ style crime, it is believable today.

Jens do you enjoy courtroom drama?
JL: I do, but the Swedish legal system is very different from the US system. In Scandinavia, people know more about the US legal system than the Scandinavian legal system because that’s what people watch, from The Firm, L.A Law, Suits, to Ally McBeal, they are used to hearing: Objection your honour and You have the right to remain silent otherwise anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law”. This is not the way it works in Scandinavia. Therefore it is our duty to create our own courtroom drama and reflect as authentically as we can on the Scandinavian legal system.