Last month, it was announced that Mads Mikkelsen (Hannibal, Rogue One) was set to join the cast of the long-gestating fifth instalment of the Indiana Jones franchise, and now, the Danish actor has broken silence on his recent hiring.
In an interview with Collider, Mikkelsen revealed that he was so excited about joining the project that he rewatched the first Indiana Jones film while also teasing that the script is “everything I wished it to be.”
“I’m very, very excited about it… I rewatched Raiders of the Lost Ark the other day, it is so well-done and so charming, and it’s such great storytelling. So yes it’s a great honor to be part of that franchise that I grew up with… I’m in a lucky position where they let me read the script before. And yes, it was everything I wished it to be, so that was just great.”
Mikkelsen continued to explain how he is being allowed to help create his own character, while also discussing how the franchise surrounds Ford’s “straight man” character with colourful characters.
“I do think I’m invited in to create a character, I think that everybody wants that. That’s why they pick certain actors that they think can come up with certain things, and it will be a collaboration as it always is. Interesting enough, again a little like Riders of Justice, there is kind of a genre mix in Indiana Jones always. There is something that is a little larger-than-life, almost back to the 30s with a Peter Lorre kind of feel, and then you have Indiana Jones who kind of is a straight man. But he does produce a lot of funny and interesting things, but there are different character genres in some of those films.”
While plot details are currently being kept under wraps at Disney and Lucasfilm, we do know Mikkelsen will star alongside Harrison Ford as Indy for the fifth and final time, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) and Thomas Kretschmann (Avengers: Age of Ultron) – whose roles are also being kept secret.
Indiana Jones 5 will see director James Mangold helm Harrison Ford’s fifth and final outing as the archaeologist and adventurer Indiana Jones with Steven Spielberg, Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall serving as producers, while John Williams will once again compose the score. The film is currently slated for a July 29th, 2022 release date.
