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Mads Mikkelsen on Doctor Strange, Hannibal and being Bruce Lee - SciFiNow

Mads Mikkelsen on Doctor Strange, Hannibal and being Bruce Lee

We chat to Mads Mikkelsen about Kaecilius, Hannibal Lecter and more

Doctor Strange easily has some of the best casting of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far: Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) as the brilliant but arrogant surgeon and Sorcerer Supreme. Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years A Slave) as the powerful Mordo. Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive) as the ethereal yet mighty The Ancient One.

The exquisite casting also extends to The Ancient One’s evil ex-student Kaecilius, played by the brilliant Mads Mikkelsen of Hannibal and Casino Royal fame. Villainous roles seem to gravitate to him, but it’s easy to see why; he’s damn good at playing the bad guy.

“[Those roles] come to me, but the good guys also come to me,” Mikkelsen tells us. “There’s a tendency for the good guy parts to come from Europe though, but I don’t mind that at all. I chose to embrace both worlds and I’m grateful for that.”

Mads Mikkelsen being cool as always as Kaecilius in Doctor Strange
Mads Mikkelsen being cool as always as Kaecilius in Doctor Strange

Joining Doctor Strange was a no-brainer for Mikkelsen. After a phone call from director Scott Derrickson, who pitched the story to him, he was instantly on board.

“First of all it’s Marvel, right?” he says. “Benedict is going to play Doctor Strange, which I thought was an amazing choice. And then within that brief pitching of the story, Scott said the magic words to me; he said ‘flying kung fu’. I was sold completely.

“It’s been something I wanted to do since I was a kid. Not necessarily be an actor, absolutely not, I didn’t even dream of that. I just wanted to be Bruce Lee. Now I get the chance to be a slightly older version of him. Not as sharp, but I’m doing my very best!”

With the chance to chat with Mikkelsen, we obviously had to ask about Hannibal and the show’s disappointing (read: devastating) cancellation. Happily, he’s well up for getting the gang back together and making some more, if only someone would renew it.

“We’ve left it, but I do bump into it occasionally when people ask or if I read about it in the news,” he tells us. “Whenever it happens, it reminds me of how wonderful a time we had doing it, and how clever Bryan Fuller is. If something comes up, I think we’re all game.”

Mads Mikkelsen making reading more awesome, also in Doctor Strange
Mads Mikkelsen making reading more awesome, also in Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is in cinemas now. Read our review of the film here. Get all the latest superhero movie news with every issue of SciFiNow.