The Norwegian actress says Joachim Trier’s 2021 film transformed her career, arriving just as she was preparing to leave the profession.
Renate Reinsve was not expecting her appearance at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival to mark the beginning of an international career. In fact, when she walked the red carpet for Joachim Trier’s The Worst Person in the World, she thought it might be her last.
“I thought this was my first and last time on a red carpet,” she recalls in an interview with the BBC. But the film’s success changed everything.
The romantic comedy-drama, which explores the uncertainties and anxieties of modern life through the experiences of a woman approaching 30, received widespread critical acclaim. Reinsve won the Cannes Best Actress award for her portrayal of Julie, while the film went on to earn two Academy Award nominations.
Since then, Reinsve has become one of Norway’s most internationally recognised actresses. She received an Oscar nomination for her role in Trier’s Sentimental Value and has also appeared in English-language productions, including the horror film Backrooms.
Her latest project is Fjord, directed by Romanian filmmaker Cristian Mungiu, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Reinsve plays Lisbet, an evangelical Christian mother whose children are taken away amid allegations of abuse.
A role that came at the right moment
Despite describing Fjord as one of her most rewarding projects, Reinsve considers The Worst Person in the World the most important film of her career.
“It was my first leading role and my favourite film shoot,” she says, recalling a summer spent filming across Oslo. She describes the production as a playful and unusually collaborative experience.
The role came at a turning point. At 32, Reinsve had spent years working in theatre but struggled to secure film opportunities. She was considering leaving acting and even contemplated training as a carpenter in Italy.
Then Trier, with whom she had previously worked on Oslo, August 31st, contacted her about a new project. He had begun writing the character of Julie with her in mind.
“I couldn’t say no. And it changed my life completely,” she says.
Finding herself in Julie
Reinsve says Julie was closer to her own personality and experiences than any character she had played before.
In the film, Julie moves between careers and relationships, struggling to decide what she wants from life. Her uncertainty, impulsiveness and occasional selfishness made her particularly recognisable to audiences navigating similar questions about adulthood.
“I’ve lived a similar life to Julie,” Reinsve says, adding that both the excitement of falling in love and the character’s underlying melancholy came naturally to her.
She believes the film resonated because it captured the pressure of having seemingly endless choices while remaining unsure about the future.
For Reinsve, the production also offered an unusually honest creative environment. Scenes often prompted strong emotional reactions among the cast and crew, she recalls, as the team explored feelings and experiences people might otherwise be reluctant to acknowledge.
Director Trier encouraged her to draw on the French New Wave’s approach to screen chemistry, focusing on natural interactions rather than forcing emotion. The experience also taught her to trust the camera to capture even the smallest expressions.
A different kind of character in Fjord
In Fjord, Reinsve takes on a role that is almost the opposite of Julie. Lisbet is reserved and rarely speaks for herself, allowing her husband to represent the family.
The film follows a Romanian Christian family who move to Norway and face allegations of physically abusing their children. It explores the tensions between religious conservatism, liberal values and the role of the state in family life.
Reinsve says she was drawn to Lisbet precisely because the character was so different from her. She wanted to understand her perspective without judging her.
Although Mungiu initially questioned whether Reinsve would be better suited to playing the family’s liberal lawyer, the actress was particularly interested in Lisbet’s experience as a mother separated from her children.
She describes the character’s situation as heartbreaking, particularly given the sense of injustice and judgement surrounding her.
The film has prompted debate over its portrayal of the conflict between conservative and liberal values. Reinsve says she appreciates that it does not instruct audiences on what to think or feel, but instead leaves room for them to question their own assumptions.
For the actress, the opportunity to work with directors who take creative risks is among the greatest benefits of the career she found after The Worst Person in the World.
She credits Trier’s determination to bring the film to the screen and says working with filmmakers of a similar ambition has become a major privilege.
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