The rising star actress Josefin Asplund and the Stranger Things star Matthew Modine in C Mores and TV4:s new psychological thriller
Psychological and nerve tingling suspense await in C Mores and TV4’s new Swedish original series Sanctuary premiering late spring 2019. In the leading part is the Swedish rising star Josefin Asplund (Vikings, Call Girl), accompanied by the Stranger Things star Matthew Modine.
Imagine being locked up in a clinic where nothing is what it seems to be, everyone is a threat and no one believes you are the person you claim to be.
Welcome to the Sanctuary – C Mores and TV4:s new Swedish original series starring the latest international rising star from Sweden, Josefin Asplund, known from the tv-series Vikings and the movie Call Girl.
Sanctuary is a psychological thriller about the identical twins Siri (Josefin Asplund) and Helena (Josefin Asplund), separated as children because of their colliding differences. When Helena years later gets an invitation to come and visit Siri at a secluded resort in the Italian Alps, the Sanctuary, she’s reluctant at first – but soon she sees it as an opportunity to escape her boring life in Västerås for an exciting vacation.
But when Helena wakes up, the day after her arrival, she realises that Siri is missing and that she’s not at a resort, but at an advanced location for experiments on psychopaths. Siri has left the Sanctuary and her sister. Helena is now caught in a living nightmare where no one is who they seem to be, and where everyone believes she is the manipulative, violent and disturbed sister Siri.
Josefin Asplund describes working with the Sanctuary as challenging – mostly because she’s actually playing two parts.
– It has been a dream to portray two completely different characters, especially when one is a psychopath. Never before have I worked this hard on a project. It’s been a wonderful challenge both mentally and physically, she says and continues:
– I believe that this will be something special. There’s a smashing contrast in the Sanctuary being such a beautiful and perfect place where completely absurd things happen. I think the audience will like the twisted characters and the dark, claustrophobic tone that runs through the series.
Josefin Asplund plays the identical twins sisters. Matthew Modine, known from Stranger Things among other things, plays the role as president for the research lab the Sanctuary. He expresses his fascination for the genre that the Sanctuary falls under.
– “Mistaken-identity” films are amazing. In one of my favorites, Being There, the main character, brilliantly portrayed by Peter Sellers, proves that success in Washington has nothing to do with intelligence but rather the lack of it. North by Northwest, The Big Lebowski and The Great Dictator are also brilliant examples of this genre. In the Sanctuary Josefin Asplund finds her character getting caught in this spiderweb of mixed up identity. Surrounded by psychopaths and caught in an institution that houses them, Josefin’s character needs to convince the doctors that she is the most sane one there, says Matthew Modine.
Matthew Modine looks back on the shooting of the Sanctuary with a smile.
– It was magical to shoot in Rome together with Levico Terme and the entire production and cast, he says.
Ulf Synnerholm is executive producer for the Sanctuary on C More and TV4.
– The Sanctuary offers icing claustrophobic suspense with thrilling turns in a fabulous and beautiful setting in the Alps – with brilliant acting from Sweden’s upcoming international star Josefin Asplund. This is a unique story with an underlying psychological theme that I’m convinced will captivate our users, he says.
Sanctuary is produced by Yellowbird for C More and TV4, in co-production with TMG (Tele München Gruppe) and Fabula Pictures. The series international distributor is Studiocanal. Sanctuary have been directed by Óskar Thór Axelsson and the script have been written by Charlie Fletcher. Executive producer from C More and TV4 is Ulf Synnerholm.
Sanctuary is based on the book with the same name by the author Marie Hermanson. The series has mostly been shot in the Italian Alps and is expected to premiere late spring 2019. Exact date of premiere and a full list of casting are to be announced later on.
