Ben Hamilton
January 16th, 2020

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Danish actor Claes Bang is 16/1 to become the next James Bond after many British reviewers compared his turn in the new Netflix miniseries ‘Dracula’ to being like an evil 007.

William Hill is the only bookmaker to list the actor in a market that has been dragging its heels for five years due to the uncertainty over whether Daniel Craig would make a fifth film.

Art imitating art?
Since landing the lead in ‘The Square’, the 54-year-old actor’s career has taken off with a bang.

Last year, he had a major role in the final season of ‘The Affair’ – in which his character was an actor famous for playing a James Bond-like role!

Just like Roger Moore
However, Bang has already told the Daily Telegraph that he is probably too old to play the part – despite some monstrously kind reviews.

“The crown of the work is the casting of Claes Bang, who was fantastic in the role of a self-centred Hollywood actor in ‘The Affair’ last year,” praised the DT reviewer.

“His Dracula is fun, outrageous and exciting. If Bond producers want to go back to the Roger Moore days of jokes and questioning eyebrows, Bang is their man.”

Four plays nominated
Four English-language theatre productions have earned best of 2019 noms from reviews website CPHCulture: ‘Oh Baby, It’s Cole’ (London Toast), ‘Last Tango in Little Grimley’ (HIT), ‘Look Back in Anger’ (That Theatre) and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’ (After Hours), including acting noms for Vivienne McKee, Søren Hajen and Dawn Wall. The winners will be announced on February 1.

HBO green light
Filming has begun on ‘Kamikaze’, HBO’s first Danish-produced series, the tale of a young man whose rich parents and only sibling die in a plane crash, leaving him with lots of loot to spend. It was picked up by HBO after plans for ‘Conqueror’, a continuation of the story told in 1987 Oscar-winning film ‘Pelle the Conqueror’, were dropped.

Children’s favourites
Denmark has two entries on a new list released by Time magazine of the 50 best experiences for children in the world: LEGO House in Billund and the new artificial ski slope at Copenhill in Amager.

Stepping down at Tivoli
Lars Liebst is stepping down as chief executive of Tivoli after nearly 25 years in the role. Liebst feels his departure makes sense given the new strategy of the board, which he has been “working on for a year”, and he will leave once a suitable successor has been found.

Apologies for sexism
Politiken has apologised following criticism of its reviewers for not judging female performers purely based on their music. Often pilloried for their appearance, several reviewers have questioned why women often wear uncomfortable high stilettos. One reviewer claimed they made a TV presenter wobble neurotically whilst on air.

You little tinker!
Last month’s daily julekalender TV show proved to be a real festive winner for TV2 with most episodes of ‘Tinka og Kongespillet’ drawing more than a million viewers. The julekalender was a sequel to the 2017 edition ‘Tinkas juleeventyr’, so no prizes for guessing what’s coming up in 2021. However, by that time Tinka (actress Josephine Højbjerg) will be 18 years old.

‘Cave’ in contention
The Danish-Syrian documentary ‘The Cave’, the story of a female doctor who runs an underground hospital in the Syrian province of Al-Ghouta, has been nominated for an Oscar. ‘Dronningen’, meanwhile, missed out on making the ten-film shortlist for Best Film in a Foreign Language. The Oscar ceremony is on February 9.

Nelly to visit Denmark
US hip-hop star Nelly is performing at Vejle Musikteater on March 24 and at Store Vega on March 25.

French great dies
Danish actress Anna Karina, a star of French New Wave cinema who was a frequent collaborator of former husband Jean-Luc Godard in the 1960s, has died. She was 79 and had cancer. Born Hanne Karen Blarke Bayer in Solbjerg, she moved to France aged 17 and spent the rest of her life there.

Haarder’s new job
The former minister Bertel Haarder has been appointed chair of the Royal Theatre by the current culture minister, Rasmus Prehn. Haarder replaced Lisbeth Knudsen, who had been in the position since 2016, at the turn of the year.

Haarder was culture minister from 2015 to 2016.

Scenic in the States
DR has highlighted how Danish scenographer Kristian Milsted, 45, is kicking arse in the US through his work on the acclaimed HBO series ‘Watchmen’. From his base in London – his home since 1998 – he has already carved out an impressive CV, having worked on successful British series ‘Killing Eve’ and ‘Utopia’.

Electric year ahead
2020 will mark the bi-centenary of HC Ørsted’s discovery of electromagnetism. HCØ2020, a consortium led by the DTU, has set itself a goal of educating 1.6 million people in Denmark about Ørsted’s breakthrough. The events will include exhibitions, lectures, debates and … experiments.

Hearty line-up
The Heartland Festival, the music, culture and food event held at Egeskov Castle on Funen, has confirmed a strong line-up for 2020, including The National, The Cardigans, Kurt Vile, Seasick Steve, Rufus Wainwright and The Jesus and Mary Chain. This year’s festival will take place from May 29-31.

Louisiana’s record year
Louisiana, the country’s most popular art gallery, has reported a record year. In total, it received a record 757,163 visitors. Elsewhere, Kongernes Jelling, Glyptoteket and Nivaagaards Malerisamling also reported record years, whilst Kunstmuseet Trapholt in Kolding and Museet Kunsten in Aalborg reported their second best.