WHY PEDRO PASCAL IS INDEBTED TO DENMARK

The star of ‘The Last of Us’ moved here just nine months old after his Chilean parents were offered asylum

BEN HAMILTON

EVERYBODY is talking about Pedro Pascal. Men want to be him, women want to bed him, children want him to be their Dad – it’s amazing what the right role can do for an actor.

An Emmy acceptance speech is surely on the cards for his role in ‘The Last of Us’, but who’s he going to thank? After all, he’s 47 and the world hadn’t exactly been falling over itself to recognise his star quality.

Well, top of the list should be Denmark. When Pascal was nine months old, his parents realised their lives were in peril living under the military dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet.

They sought refuge in the Venezuelan embassy in Santiago, and it was from there that the family were granted political asylum in Denmark.

Parents on the run

BOTH HIS parents, a child psychologist and fertility doctor, assisted the oppo -

Overlooked for award

NEITHER Ian Burns nor Vivienne McKee won ‘Årets Hæderspris’ – the CPH Culture award for those who have made a “lifelong effort in Danish theatre as well as a very special effort in 2022”. They marked the respective 25th and 40th anniversaries of their theatre companies, but the jury instead plumped for an actor, audiobook reader and sometime model.

New film site for kids

THE DANISH Film Institute has launched sition movement in Chile.

“It was the mid-’70s and my parents were young and liberal. It was a dangerous time, and they were lucky they got out with their lives,” recalled Pascal in an interview with Orange Coast Magazine .

“A lot of people who spoke their mind were disappearing and in danger – it was a very intense climate for many years; they tried to help some people and were caught. They then snuck into the Venezuelan embassy after being in hiding for about six months after finding out people were looking for them,” he revealed in a a new website dedicated to preschoolers called ‘Børnebiffen i dagtilbud’. Aimed at children aged 3-6, the website makes use of 400 shorts films, bombarding the youngsters with visuals and audio designed to stir their imagination and encourage activities in a bid to make them media users in a wholesome way.

New TV show not a copy

A NEW DANISH series, which made its premiere at the recent Berlin International Film Festival, is in no way similar or influenced by the popular French show ‘Call My

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Smoke on Tivoli’s waters

TIVOLI has announced Deep Purple as a headliner on its Fredagsrock line-up. The rockers will perform on June 9. Ticket prices are just 225 kroner – a new Fredagsrock standard. Other confirmed concerts include Post Malone (Royal Arena; April 26), Kendrick Lamar (Roskilde Festival) and the Kiefer Sutherland Band (Arena Aabenraa; July 14). Meanwhile, Justin Bieber’s concerts at Royal Arena have been cancelled.

Big winner at Roberts

Fined for weapon failings

KASTELLETS Venner Bornholm has been fined 75,000 kroner for breaching the Arms Act. Bornholm Court ruled the museum owner made inadequate provisions to safeguard a cache of 180 weapons and ammunition at Bornholms Forsvarsmuseum, from which 1315 weapons went missing. The cache included 24 machine guns.

Dangers of paraffin oil fan interview on Reddit.com.

Among many Chileans HOWEVER, Pascal’s parents did not remain long in Denmark. Shortly after winning asylum, they moved to San Antonio in Texas.

The Pascal family were not the only Chileans granted asylum in Denmark, as hundreds of others were too.

Film director Shaky Gonzalez (‘A Place to Die’) arrived as a seven-yearold child in 1974, but fortunately for his new homeland, he ended up staying.

Agent!’ according to its creator and director Nikolaj Lie Kaas. While it also revolves around an acting agency and features real-life stars playing themselves, ‘Agent’ is a wholly original idea, claims Lie Kaas.

Oscar hopes very slim

NEITHER of the Danish nominees at the Oscars on March 12 are expected to win. In fact, they are the rank outsiders. Documentary Feature Film nominee ‘A House Made of Splinters’ is 25/1 with bookies, while Greenlandic-language Live Action Short Film contender 'Ivalu' is 12/1.

THE BIG winner at the Roberts with 11 statuettes, including Best Film and Best Director for Ali Abbasi, was 'Holy Spider'. And it was also lucky 11 for Anders W Berthelsen who finally won Best Actor for 'Bamse' – his 11th acting nomination in 24 years of trying. Abbasi’s star is rising – he also directed the concluding episodes of S1 of ‘The Last of Us’.

Colouring in April

HINDU Swayamsevak Sangh, the organiser of last August’s well-attended Indian Vegetarian Food Festival, is once again setting up shop in Østerbro, this time to swap the cuisine for a much needed injection of colour.

Over a thousand people are expected at the Holi Festival of Colours at Docken on April 23.

Headteacher steps down

STUART Lynch is stepping down as headteacher of KFTS after ten years in charge of the Copenhagen film and theatre school. The British-Australian explained he wanted to return to his first love: directing and performing theatre. His final day is on May 31.

ONE OF Denmark’s most talked about TV programs is ’Dødelige Drømmekroppe’, a DR documentary about the growing trend among bodybuilders to inject themselves with paraffin oil. Last autumn, the practice claimed its first victim, and the documentary reveals how Herlev Hospital has seen case numbers mushroom from one in 2018 to 202 in 2022.

Ukrainian culture centre opens A NEW CULTURE centre dedicated to Ukrainians in Denmark has opened at Gammel Dok Strandgade 27 in the Copenhagen neighbourhood of Christianshavn. Among its attractions, Ukraine House has an exhibition of war-inspired Ukrainian art entitled 'The 'Muses are not Silent’.

Singer lied about his age REILEY, the Faroese singer who will represent Denmark at Eurovision, lied about his age during the buildup to the national final, saying he was 20. He is, in fact, 25. With 10 million followers on TikTok and 300,000 followers on Instagram – and a burgeoning career in South Korea – he promises to be Denmark’s most high-profile entry in years.

ON A MONDAY night at the tail-end of February, a packed Royal Arena crowd let Robbie Williams entertain them. With stories of angels and demons, addiction and sobriety, Williams captivated the crowd through a nearly two-hour set. Williams is a great storyteller and shared from his life, making a real connection with the audience. It was the kind of show that made you want to play the songs again, and it left you really liking the performer. It felt as close to a conversation with a friend as a concert of this size possibly could. Consider me entertained. (EM)

Aitch SET THE scene: a packed Store Vega on a Tuesday night, anticipation built up like an uncontrollable flame and Aitch's DJ pouring gallons of gasoline on it. The crowd was combustible and, on this night, Aitch was a pyromaniac.

The Manchester MC rocked the Copenhagen crowd for over an hour. He had something for the day-one Aitch fans, music for the ladies, and tracks to mosh to if you were inclined to indulge.

By the time he closed with 'Baby' it was clear: this was Aitch's night as he basked in the purple spotlight. (EM)

EMMA RIIS-KOFOED is so swan-like, it’s frightening. Upon her first appearance her movements are subtle, but strongly evocative of a long-necked animal with a tendency to bob in slow motion, gracefully glide and hide in its own plumage. Her body language renders such an ethereal beauty, it's breathtaking, and her first solo brings the house down: a volley of Bravos as the pressure cooker finally releases the steam it has been building up since her entry. It was so good it begged the question whether Gollum's Dad was pulling the strings of the ‘bird’ on stage. (BH)

FOR READERS out there with little experience of pantos, I can assure you there was something for everybody in the Copenhagen Theatre Circle’s rendition of ‘Rapunzel’. The cast's enthusiasm was contagious, and the audience could not help but get involved. The standout performance of the night was Rudy Hiding as Brunnhilde Blunderberg, who brought confidence, humour and energy to the role. Chris Throup, as her son Max, was a close second. And Gretta Attard as the Queen of Evergreen provided the singing high points. (SCW)

Picasso – A Tribute to Ceramics

THE SCENOGRAPHY was bold and courageous, which is quite rare at Danish museums. For example, Picasso's famous striped T-shirt provides the inspiration for the decoration of the pillars and even the clothing worn by the staff. It is very well composed, with an 'Owl-Tree' in the middle of the exhibition surrounded with sitting spaces that invite you to take it all in. Each of the 42 ceramic pieces, lent by the American Rosenbaum Collection, were protected by beautiful handmade glass crafted by the skilled craftspeople at Holmegaard Værk. (MD)

WHY HOLGER’S COACH HAS A FAMILIAR FACE

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FCM bow out of Europe

FC MIDTJYLLAND are out of the Europa League following a disappointing 0-4 second leg defeat by Sporting Lisbon, thus ending Danish interest in European competition for this season. FCM had previously earned a surprise 1-1 draw in Lisbon.

Ehlers joins 500 club

NIKOLAJ Ehlers has played his 500th NHL game, becoming only the fifth Dane in history to manage the feat. Ehlers’s side, the Winnipeg Jets, is in strong contention to qualify for the NHL playoffs this season. Elsewhere, Demark's first and only Stanley Cup winner, Lars Eller, has left the Washington Capitals to join the Colorado Avalanche.

Cyclist’s emphatic response

Top basketball hosting honour

COPENHAGEN will host the 2025 FIBA 3x3 Euros – the increasingly popular street variation of basketball in which teams of three compete on a court with a single hoop. For three days, 12 men's and 12 women's teams will compete at a temporary venue at Rådhuspladsen where there will be room for 1,200 fans to enjoy the action.

Steadfastly opposed

Many will remember Patrick Mouratoglou from his time training Serena Williams, but did you know he owns an academy in Nice, so will know the game of many of the young Dane’s future opponents inside out

BEN HAMILTON

HOLGER Rune isn’t just one of the best young tennis players in the world – the 19-year-old’s also excellent value to watch, as you never know what might happen next.

We already had his mother – who the world number nine screamed at to leave Roland Garros when he was struggling in the French Open.

And since October, we’ve had the latest addition to the coaching team, Patrick Mouratoglou, who began 2023 by extending his initial three-month contract.

A little bit like the actors you couldn’t quite place in the third episode of ‘The

Last of Us’, he has a face you’re sure you’ve seen before …

Caught hand signalling SURPRISINGLY, Mouratoglou’s Wikipedia page doesn’t make any mention of the controversy he became embroiled in during Serena Williams’s surprise defeat by Naomi Osaka in the final of the 2018 US Open.

During the second set, the umpire handed a Williams a code violation for receiving coaching from the player’s box, prompting an angry reaction from the American that soured the rest of the evening.

Mouratoglou, the umpire claimed, was using hand signals to communicate with Williams, and after the final the Frenchman admitted he was – although he doubted Williams was really looking. Besides, Osaka’s coach was doing the same, he added.

Recognises Rune’s potential HOWEVER, while most coaches have hand signals in their arsenals, they don’t have Mouratoglou's other considerable weapons – an advantage Rune should be able to use this season, now the coach has agreed to extend his contract.

Mouratoglou is the owner of the Mouratoglou Tennis Academy in Nice, where he has trained many of Rune’s future opponents. He knows all their strengths ... and weaknesses.

“Patrick has seen many of the players that Holger meets 1,000 times, so he knows many of their weaknesses. It is therefore not only Holger who gets in the head of his opponent, because Patrick does too, because he is so intimidating,” tennis expert Michael Mortensen told DR.

“He has only chosen him because he knows he is a future number one in the world and a future grand slam winner. He sends a big signal when he chooses to train Holger Rune.”

JONAS Vingegaard won all three completed stages at the O Gran Camiño in northern Spain – his first appearance of the season. After the prologue was cancelled, he triumphed in two mountain stages and the concluding time trial – the perfect response to rival Tadej Pogačar winning the Jaén Paraiso Interior and Vuelta a Andalucía.

Thorbjørn coming to the boil

THORBJØRN Olesen, 33, won the Thailand Classic on February 19 – his seventh PGA European Tour win. He is currently sixth on the European rankings, but will need a few more successes to qualify for Europe’s 2023 Ryder Cup team. Bookies rank him a 11/4 chance to qualify, while Rasmus and Nicolai Hojgaard are 6/4 and 5/2 respectively.

K-Mag full of optimism

AHEAD of the Bahrain GP, in which Haas driver Kevin Magnussen finished 13th, the Danish driver was confident of the season ahead, for which Nico Hulkenberg has replaced Ralph Schumacher. Together the pair drove 2,200 km during pre-season training, reporting that the car was in a promising condition for the season ahead.

THE CULTURE minister, Jakob Engel-Schmidt, has clarified that Denmark strongly opposes the presence of Russia and Belarus at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The International Olympic Committee, on the other hand, is unsure whether they should be excluded. Some countries, including Latvia, have threatened a boycott should the countries compete.

Hat-trick of handball titles

AT THE end of January, Denmark became the first country to win three consecutive World Men’s Handball Championship titles. The 34-29 win over France was Denmark’s 28th in a row in the tournament – all under coach Nikolaj Jacobsen. Mathias

Gidsel was named MVP after finishing top goal scorer, joining young gun Simon Pytlick in the team of the tournament.

Tough on hooligans

THE GOVERNMENT has unveiled its plans for a new law to tackle football hooliganism, which recommends stricter penalties for fans and more scope for the authorities to issue lengthier bans, enforce more temporary restrictions and detainments, and to liaise more with club stewards. Quarantine zones around stadia will also be expanded.

New record for athlete ATHLETE Mette Graversgaard has set a new national record for the indoor 60m hurdles. Competing at the World Indoor Tour in Madrid, she clocked 8.00 seconds.