Renate Reinsve Steps Back Into Joachim Trier’s World

Her latest film, for which she and Trier reunited, is Sentimental Value, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes this year. She plays Nora, an actor struggling with childhood trauma and a complicated relationship with her estranged director father, Gustav (brilliantly played by Stellan Skarsgård).

Speaking to Mastermind from Vancouver, where she was filming her next project, Reinsve discussed her collaboration with Trier, what a country’s films reveal about its culture and how her start in Norwegian theater has shaped her approach to acting.

What is your first memory of film?

RENATE REINSVE I grew up in a village near a forest, where there was just one road and nothing around. I had no access to art or films or anything like that. We went to another city to watch The Lion King when I was very young, and I had no relationship to death at all. I didn’t cry when the dad died or when Mufasa died. I cried when Timon and Pumbaa cried because they’d lost their friend – that’s what broke me. But I didn’t create a relationship with films until my mid-teens, when I had a very cool boyfriend who showed me all these super weird movies that I ended up loving: David Lynch and Pier Paolo Pasolini films, which I was way too young to be watching at the time. So, he was my entrance into the world of film. I think all the choices I’ve made since then – especially in the United States, where it’s even harder to get personal movies made – are rooted in those first experiences with my teenage boyfriend.

You began acting in theater when you were around nine years old. How did that influence your work?

RR I took the work very seriously from early on. When I was younger, I was always searching for ways to understand my own life, other people and the social structures around me. I talked to Joachim Trier about this recently. Our minds were in the same space, since we’ve both worked from a very young age. Even in his early childhood, he had deep, existential thoughts about the world around him. And I remember sitting in third grade, thinking, “Oh, this structure we’re in now is going to compromise my creativity.” I was very aware of what was going on around me. Later, in theater school, I had a teacher who was a direct descendant – nine generations down – from [Konstantin] Stanislavski himself. So, she was really into his work.

What do you like about the Stanislavski technique?

RR His work can be misunderstood if you haven’t gone into it very deeply – because he wanted [actors] to be playful and fully alive. My teacher had a way of enhancing both the fun and the analytical aspects. I was trained to build my imagination around something very specific, taking an analytical approach to the script, but also to make the role as alive as I could in every layer of the process.

So, when I met Joachim and got my first lead role in The Worst Person in the World, I had that technique. But Joachim wanted the opposite: he wanted me to let go of everything I’d learned and just be myself and not build a character. It was such a scary process, and I felt so ugly, outside and inside. I felt so exposed, as though I was bringing out all the shameful, ugly sides of myself. It was such a big experience because so many people related to that character. And now, I’ve had those two experiences: I was trained for theater in an analytical and playful way, and then I went into Joachim’s world, where it’s about finding a moment of truth within yourself, and those two things define me now as an actor.

Since you won the Best Actress award in Cannes, the world has come calling. What has it been like for you to go from Norway to working in other countries?

RR I always dreamed of going outside my village to perform in Oslo, so I felt that I had already fulfilled my dream. I could never have imagined, even a little bit, that this would happen. Just winning the award and being accepted into a world of so many great minds and creatives was the deepest compliment. And, of course, I wanted to explore that world, especially since I was getting a lot of offers from outside Norway. When I went to theater school, my dream was to be in a French movie. That hasn’t happened yet, so I still have that dream! But I find it so interesting to learn about other cultures through a movie set, a production, the way a script is written and how people express themselves in different countries. I just finished a Romanian movie, Fjord, with Cristian Mungiu.

What was specific about his approach to directing?

RR To him, film is the most manipulative art form, so he tries to remove as much manipulation as possible. He doesn’t use music. He stays far away from the actors, with the camera, and he doesn’t want the characters to lead the audience with emotions. So, his way of working was totally different from anything else I’ve experienced. It took me a while to understand what I was doing.

How did you find the experience?

RR I loved everything about it. Cristian Mungiu comes from journalism, so he exposes two truths in as much detail as he can: he sets them up against each other and sheds light on them. And then he lets the audience in because the third part – which is almost as big as the movie itself – is how the audience reads it. He doesn’t give answers. He tries as much as possible to give an objective truth, which is, of course, impossible – but he tries. And I really loved his way of filmmaking and telling a story.

Last year you started in A Different Man by director Aaron Schimberg, alongside Sebastian Stan and Adam Pearson. How did you get involved in that shoot?

RR I was sent a lot of scripts after The Worst Person, mostly romantic comedies, which may be the hardest genre to tackle, and I was a little scared of doing that next. But when I received the script for A Different Man, I thought of Charlie Kaufman and David Lynch. I think it’s even harder for American directors to make personal stories because the productions are structured so differently. In Europe, I always follow the director’s vision, as does the whole team. That’s the key, the heart of the whole production: all choices are made through the director’s vision. But in America, it seems like the choices are spread around much more. The producer has more power, and the actors have more power. Everyone has more of a say in the whole piece, so you don’t have that single vision to go from. It makes the production – and the results, I think – very different. But Aaron got to make his movie the way he wanted, and that’s very rare. I’m now filming my third American production, and I’m still learning.

What’s it like acting in languages other than Norwegian?

RR It’s brainwork. I feel my brain is getting bigger, in a way – my head feels stuffed right now. I’m originally from Norway, and then I moved to the States, so I don’t have to worry too much about the accent. I’ve been able to work in my own way, but the main difference is that there’s no preparation together in the U.S. There are almost no rehearsals, which makes me feel a bit alone. European films have more rehearsals, and I prefer that.

Can you tell me about Joachim Trier’s rehearsal process?

RR He has a very specific way of working, but he also gives a lot of freedom. One thing that sets him apart from anyone else is how much time he devotes to rehearsals. He really wants to create a calm stillness – a space where you can think and reflect on what you’ve talked about. So, we have small conversations, just about the themes and details of the film. And then, slowly, it sinks in. Eventually, you become the project, the person you’re portraying. It’s so valuable.

I think 80 percent of going into a project is learning how to communicate and translate for yourself what the director wants and what the project is, aesthetically and formally. You have to translate the heart and soul of the project into something you can use. This time, working with Joachim on Sentimental Value, I was already in his world, and I knew what choices he’d want me to make, so there was a lot less talking. The project carried a lot more emotional weight, so the trust we’d built from our previous project was very important. And when you have that trust – and a director who’s there with care and love, not judging anything – you naturally go as far as you can with a role.

Tell me about working with Stellan Skarsgård, who plays your father in the film.

RR I was so nervous the first time we had a table read and tried one of the scenes. But we had really good chemistry. He picked up on small things I did, and I was very inspired by the moments he offered when we played. My nervousness – because he’s such a legend – quickly turned into a lot of warmth and respect. We had so much fun, and we were sad because we had only three scenes together. We kept asking Joachim, “Is there any way we could have more scenes?” We really enjoyed acting together. He’s amazing as a person and so impressive in what he does. I wasn’t on set when he did everything else, so it was fantastic to see later on what he had done with the character.

What did you learn from him?

RR To love your profession, to remain engaged in it for a long time yet stay curious and hold on to that childlike quality – that was very inspiring. He never leaves the set. He’s there the whole time because he doesn’t like being away. I’m going to try to do that.

Your character, Nora, is an actor starring in Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House, playing the character also named Nora. Have Ibsen’s work and female characters inspired you?

RR I’ve performed a lot of Ibsen’s plays with different directors in Norway, so I’ve come to know his work from various perspectives. And of course, his female characters are very different from those of many other writers. They’re very strong and brave, and they rebel against society. I’ve been influenced by that: you can be hard and strong but also wild.

Do you have a favorite?

RR My favorite now is Maia from When We Dead Awaken [1899], but that’s because the director was my teacher from theater school – the one who taught me everything I know about theater.

There’s an amazing tradition of Norwegian playwrights: Ibsen, Arne Lygre and Jon Fosse, who won the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature. What would you say is specific about Norwegian writing?

RR Norwegian has far fewer words than English or many other languages – the vocabulary is very small. So, writers have to find a way to make the language rich in a very simple way, and I feel that defines Norwegian writing. And now, Norway’s film industry is in a golden age. Some big things are happening.

Since you mentioned wanting to act in a French film, which French films have influenced you?

RR Éric Rohmer! I love his world – the lightness and the melancholy in his movies and characters. They’re so romantic and sensitive. And Claire Denis, with Beau Travail – it was so mysterious to me. Then there’s Céline Sciamma. The year The Worst Person was playing at festivals, she was showing Petite Maman [2021], and I loved that film. I tried to teach myself French when I was in theater school because of this dream to act in a French film, even though I had no one to talk to. But when I finally get a part in France, I’ll go all in!

Hair by Alexander Soltermann. Makeup by Marianne Agb. Manicure by Marie Rosa. Production by You Know My Name.

This article was published in September 2025 in Mastermind 18. Purchase the issue here.