{"id":5659,"date":"2026-08-07T09:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-08-07T09:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5659"},"modified":"2026-08-07T09:06:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T09:06:19","slug":"claes-bang-plays-a-masseur-of-nazi-leader-heinrich-himmler-in-i-is-another-but-john-paul-in-bad-sisters-is-still-one-of-his-worst-characters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5659","title":{"rendered":"Claes Bang Plays a Masseur of Nazi Leader Heinrich Himmler in \u2018I Is Another\u2019 \u2013 But John Paul in \u2018Bad Sisters\u2019 Is Still One of His \u2018Worst Characters\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<!-- do not apply CSS styles to this element! --><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>\nClaes Bang plays Heinrich Himmler\u2019s personal physical therapist in Locarno premiere \u201cI Is Another.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5657\">Locarno Open Doors Buzz Title \u2018Chapa 100,\u2019 From Ique Langa, Adds Luminalia, Mo Harare, Mostafa El Kasha (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tDirected by Felix Randau, it focuses on the true story of Felix Kersten. Kersten, who passed away in 1960, claimed to have saved numerous lives during the war due to his influence over the Nazi leader. However, many have disputed his claims.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s quite a wild story and for some reason it\u2019s never been told,\u201d Bang tells\u00a0<em>Variety<\/em>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cOne of the worst characters I have embodied is probably John Paul in \u2018Bad Sisters\u2019 [the Apple TV+ series created by Sharon Horgan]. But I will always try to find something in there that I can relate to. With John Paul, it was his desire to protect his family and his belief that the other sisters were out to get him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tWith Kersten, it\u2019s his search for validation.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHe was trying to get the Nobel Peace Prize! He wanted people to say: \u2018You were a good guy.\u2019 It\u2019s something I recognize, because I want people to like my work. I want people to go: \u2018Wow, Claes, what you did in that play or that movie was really great.\u2019 To some degree, we all want that. But it became his downfall.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn the film \u2013 sold by Beta Cinema and produced by Ostlicht Filmproduktion \u2013 an ambitious journalist (Valerie Pachner) wants to expose his lies. But she\u2019s also hiding a few secrets of her own.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThere were definitely people who were alive at the end of the war that would not have been alive had it not been for him. The problem is, he thought he hadn\u2019t received enough credit for his actions, so he exaggerated them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI like it when a character\u2019s actions don\u2019t match what they present to the world. \u2018The Square\u2019 was a perfect example of that.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\n\tIn Ruben \u00d6stlund Palme d\u2019Or winner \u2013 and his breakout role \u2013 Bang played a respected curator whose perfect life starts to unravel after his phone is stolen.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cHe saw himself as a really good guy. He\u2019s trying to put on this exhibition that\u2019s supposed to say something about humanity, and then he goes and sends threatening letters to people. It makes me wonder: Why do we need that kind of validation? Why do we want fame, or for everyone to applaud us?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5655\">Thomas Heise\u2019s Final Documentary \u2018\u00dcbergang,\u2019 a Potential Locarno Highlight, Reflects on Time and Transience<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\tKersten\u2019s story and his ties to the Nazis made him a complicated historical figure. But Bang calls for compassion, not judgement.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think anyone can understand the terror you felt when you got a call to show up at the SS headquarters,\u201d he notes.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cIf you didn\u2019t obey, your whole family would be dragged out into the street and executed. He didn\u2019t ask for this. Up until this point, he wasn\u2019t a member of the Nazi party or had anything to do with the Nazis when he was summoned to meet Himmler.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tKersten became valuable when he was able to help Himmler with the severe stomach pains that had plagued him all his life.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cWhat goes through your heart and your mind when you get a call to go and be part of it? In [another Apple series] \u2018The New Look,\u2019 I played a man who was the intermediary between the Nazi party and Coco Chanel. It\u2019s a dark chapter in her story,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cChanel is a French icon and Juliette Binoche [who played her] wanted to do her justice \u2013 she didn\u2019t want to just hang her out to dry. That was one of the things we talked about: What did people know about the Nazi party\u2019s atrocities when they were also keeping them a secret? People were just trying to survive while their country was at war.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\tHe says: \u201cIt\u2019s easy to say: \u2018When Himmler offered him the job of being his masseur, why didn\u2019t he just say no?\u2019 But we can\u2019t possibly fathom being in that situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cThere\u2019s evidence that Kersten helped people escape, but he was unhappy that, for example, he wasn\u2019t mentioned in Count Bernadotte\u2019s book [about the war]. He wanted to correct it and that got him into trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\n\tIt also confirmed his official affiliation to the SS.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s quite interesting when in the film, he realizes he\u2019s now a part of it. O.K, I\u2019m Heinrich Himmler\u2019s masseur. Can I make something out of this that will actually do some good? I like when he asks: \u2018How many human lives is a membership of the SS worth?\u2019 Even though it\u2019s impossible to answer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/relocationobserver.com\/?p=5653\">Vishal Bhardwaj Sets \u2018Rashomon\u2019-Style Film on Tarun Tejpal Rape Case After Bombay High Court Conviction (EXCLUSIVE)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Claes Bang on playing complicated characters in &#8216;Bad Sisters,&#8217; &#8216;The Square&#8217; and embodying a masseur of Nazi leader Heinrich Himmler in \u2018I Is Another.\u2019<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4422,4423,4424,1508,4425],"class_list":["post-5659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-film","tag-bad-sisters","tag-claes-bang","tag-i-is-another","tag-locarno-film-festival","tag-the-new-look"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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