Christopher Heyerdahl simply IS Swede in Hell On Wheels, and is one of those whose truly outstanding acting makes the series a favorite. His heritage shure makes it easier to get a true accent, and it shines through that both character and actor is Norwegian and not Swedish. Just brilliant. Also, Gundersen was a common Norwegian surname in the 1860's. Like he has states himself - I was blessed with a character face. Humble enough, he truly has been blessed with some acting abilities too?
I really love the Swede. Christopher Heyerdahl is doing an amazing job so far. To any who dont know, Chris used his own father's voice for the accent. After all he is Norwegian/Scottish. I hope that they dont get rid of him. At least keep him for a few seasonsXP
I remember watching this scene for the first time. Like Bohannon, I thought he was suffering from PTSD from the war, and that's almost true. Then he said that he was made a prisoner of war. At Andersonville. That's when I got that awful, sinking feeling; this guy isn't just traumatized, he was _shattered_ into a million pieces and what was rebuilt was monstrous. I've got more than a few histories of the various civil war prisoner of war camps in the north and south, and while they were ALL, without question, atrocities in their own right Andersonville stood head and shoulders above the rest. It was a horror factory producing raw nightmare. Heyerdahl's acting is tremendous here, you can see just from the way the small amount of animation in his face dies that a man trying to eat him was the _least_ of the things that happened inside those walls. He's still there, in a way. He'll always be there, trying to get the numbers to add up, and grappling with the enormity of what it took to get those equations to work. The way his face just goes slack and dead when he whispers "I did... _jævlig_ ...some pretty bad things" is more frightening than any gruesome, lurid descriptions of those Pretty Bad Things could ever be. Our imaginations, unless we're terribly dull, will always find what will scare us the worst. All in all, one of the best scenes in the show. It may have dropped off BADLY after season 2, but Thor Gunderson, From Norway was always a great watch from his first scene to his last. He just seemed so confused, at the end. He was Thor Gunderson, from Norway. All he wanted was to live quietly with his numbers and his equations, no urge to hurt or harm. How did he wind up here? How did it ever come to this?
I'm not sure if all his scenes were great in later season. Cullen straight up did the Bugs bunny wabbit season trick to make Swede confess to his crimes in the most cartoonish way possible. Take Mormon Swede out, and everything else is amazing with the character.
To clear things up here. He Is called the Swede. But he is Norwegian. He says so When he Introduce himself. And he is not swearing in Swedish, he is swearing in Norwegian. Like "Faen and Jævlig" which means "Fuck and Damn / Terrible". I am Norwegian so I know my own language ... And for the people who says he is Swedish Because there was no Norway back then. Here is a history lesson for you. The Union between Sweden and Norway was a union of the two separate and independent kingdoms of Norway and Sweden from 1814 to 1905, which was in personal union under a common monarch. The union is sometimes referred to as "Sweden-Norway," but this is misleading as it suggests a single unified statehood, like Denmark and Norway - which in 1660 was regarded as a single kingdom.
MrPvest This goes back so far it’d be like exposing America from Washington to Trump. It’s impossible. And unfortunately unless you’re from that part of the world or you study history as your major like me or study it for fun (like me - I’m a nerd in that regard and proud! 👍🏻, most people wouldn’t even know about the conflict between these two neighboring Nordic countries ever even happened and that is sad and tragic. There is a reason Thor hated being called The Swede. And it’s also clear that Christopher Hyerdahl did his homework in that area quite deeply and bc if that dedication to his craft he stole every last scene he was in. The Swede truly is one of my favorite characters ever, bc most actors don’t dig that deep. Imo he’s one of the most underrated and under appreciated characters to ever set foot on a set.
2:27 *Thor Gunderson implies that he ate fellow Union POWs. Considering how atrocious Andersonville was, it makes sense a monster like Thor Gunderson would come out of there.*
Andersonville was truly a vision of hell on earth. He wasn't even a monster when he went in. He just wanted to live simply and quietly with his numbers and his equations, not needing much else for company. He was made into what he was. You can't walk into a Hell you didn't deserve and emerge unscathed.
easily the most interesting character in the series. he's a guy who through suffering has gone beyond good and evil and developed a madman's taste for chaos and death. disturbing cause we don't like to think people are capable of such evil but we all are
Is this the most underrated and under appreciated character ever? I believe he might be. Here’s very briefly why: After I watched this entire series, when I came to this intro of The Swede to us viewers the 2nd time I was even more impressed and appreciative of Christopher’s performance bc I knew him on such a deeper level. The layers he added to this amazing creation were astonishing. You simultaneously hated, loved, respected, feared, and felt sorry for the same character. That’s incredible! This was a scene where the two stared into each other’s souls and immediately saw a mortal enemy and a reflection of it’s opposite simultaneously. A true yin yang relationship between protagonist and antagonist! Brilliant writing, even better acting! One of the best characters ever and maybe the most underrated and under appreciated character to ever step foot on a set. The one and only Thor Gundersen - from Norway! 👏🏻 😢
@@coraggio93 I liked The Swede (or did I show my hand with the novel I wrote?). Different strokes...But I can see how he might get on some ppl’s nerves.
@@KinnereyB he gets on peoples nerves but that's kind of the point. he's supposed to be an unnerving character. i loved him too--most of the show's watchers do
This guy really impressed me. He came from a lot of directions. As an accountant, man, I don't think I'd want him to do my numbers. He's very Frankensteinian. Some scenes are indelible.
One thing I always liked about Christopher Heyerdahl's performance here is that, despite his character speaking with a heavy Norwegian accent, he still uses an informal Western vernacular. "Make them numbers add up." "You gonna hang." It's a subtle but really cool indicator of his humble origins as an immigrant. Rather than learning to speak a more "proper" type of English in a university setting, he probably picked up the language by interacting with everyday American commoners. Hence his more casual Western/Southwestern dialect.
he says that he was finally able to "make them numbers add up" as he takes a bite, and gives a nice "mmmmmm" i think he is basically saying that he began to practice cannibalism. What do you think though? am I right? like for a yes.
You're all wrong. The implication that total anarchy ruled meant that he was essentially the camp assassin. He eliminated prisoners for favors/protection... The 1996 Andersonville Television film briefly touched on those types with the "raiders"
well, they call him "Swede" but he comes from Norway, so Heyerdahl doing an amazing job using his own father's voice for the Norwegian accent of the Swede. I hope to see him again in the new season, is a really great actor and the Swede is a lovely bastard =)
@@montello33 I think a lot of it in the old days was morphine. They didn't know how much to give you when you had trauma. So a lot of people were hooked and not there fault. PTSD with a little drug addiction on the side. That must have been fun for the patient
A bit of a spoiler but my favorite scene is when hes getting hanged his last words are "I am norwegian" and the subtitles immediately say swede choking. Even the subtitle people didn't like him.
SPOILERS!!!! - for anyone thats new to the series christopher heyerdahl is such an amazing actor - i could watch everything he is in excluding twilight (even he isn't enought to save that for me). Im so glad the swede didn't die. I hope hell on wheels gets renewed for a 4th season it deserves it.
Actually a very believable character for someone who survived Andersonville. It was every bit as bad as thor describes it in the show. That kind of place could turn any man into an unrecognizable monster.
2:13 he is saying "jävligt.." which is a profanity word you can use to emphasize something, in this case it can be translated into "very" only he does not say anything after. But I think we can conclude from context he thinks about something "very fucking bad/horrible"
Im a swede and when I first saw him appeared I could swear I was 100% sure he was a swedish born actor. I sure was suprised and kinda disapointed he wasn't. His accent sounds exacly like swedish :o
Indeed that is one of the jokes on the show. He is Norwegian, but to most people that departed for the U.S. at that time, didn't see much difference and started calling him a Swede and he just rolled with it :)
@Laqez Norway became independent in 1905, yes. That doesn't mean the Norwegians didn't exist before 1905. As a swede, however, I think the Swede's accent is more Swedish than Norwegian even though the actor is part Norwegian. Strange but completely believable either way.
The Swede is such a great villain because he starts the series off as a good man. The protagonist was the villain in the early episodes and destroyed his life.
I share your enthusiasm but if you'll allow me a tiny nitpick: Norwegian. The character Thor Gunderson is from Norway, Chris Heyerdahl's real life father is Norwegian and he himself is fluent. The difference doesn't sound too big to most, but it's definitely there. "I am Thor Gunderson. From Norway." Poor bastard that he is, one of the only characters that you like, you hate, you're frightened by and you feel absolutely terrible for all at once. Brilliant performance by Heyerdahl and the only reason I kept watching past season 3.
The budget for this entire series was 125 million or so for 5 seasons? This is one scene of one episode and it provides more entertainment and talent in the writing, acting and directing than all 3 Star Wars sequel movies that cost a combined total of 800 million+.
I met some very strange man in a bar on New Years eve, we were talking and he was trying to make me read his musings, which weren't very good. He then proclaimed "I am Norwegian." To which I replied "I thought you were "Swedish." He didn't like that at all.
Because he is mistaken for Swedish even though he is from Norway so everyone at Hell on Wheels calls him the Swede. Creepy but excellent bastard he is (the character I mean...no attack on the person) the show would definitely not be as good without him!!
WRONG! Although Norway was a part of sweeden through a union it was allways considered as a country, with its own government, constitution and flag. People refered themselves as Norwgians. The fact that they call him Sweeden is because of the lack of knowledge of the average farmer... Norway and Sweeden were almost one and the same so the people didn't care to call him anything else than swede rather as a sign of a scandinavian ;)
I like the show and the Swede character, but I do believe they stretched his story out to the point where it got a bit thin. I wouldn’t have minded a showdown between him and Bohannon mid way through the show, and then a new ‘villain’ introduced.