Noomi Rapace - Acting, Folklore and the Dark Side

Noomi Rapace Has A Thing For The Underworld

interview + written ALBAN E. SMAJLI

We meet on Zoom. Noomi Rapace logs in from her London home — a former blacksmith in West London where horses were once shod. She has just come from training, preparing for her next role, and joins the call in a worn hoodie reading “TOPPER Baseball.” There is a physical alertness about her, even through the screen — as if she is already halfway inside another character.

Noomi wears a dress by COMME DES GARÇONS and shoes by COMME DES GARÇONS X MEXICANA

She moves to a quieter room and settles at a desk. The house, she tells me, carries history. Growing up on a farm with horses in Sweden, she immediately felt connected to the space. “You always feel what’s been happening in a place before you came there,” she says. It’s a sentence that could describe her entire career — sensing what lingers beneath the surface.

Rapace has built her body of work on intensity. Women under pressure. Characters on the edge of survival, identity, transformation. There is something unguarded in the way she speaks — direct, curious, emotionally present. She meets discomfort directly. When I introduce myself as the founding Editor-in-Chief of LE MILE, she smiles and says she has followed the magazine for some time. “It feels consistent,” she notes. “It doesn’t feel like it’s selling out. In this era where everything feels controlled by big machineries and politics, that’s rare.”

With that, we begin.

Noomi wears a total look by AMI PARIS

Alban E. Smajli
Let’s start with a fun fact. In Germany, you’re voiced by Sandra Schwittau, also the German voice of Bart Simpson. Did you know that?

Noomi Rapace (laughs)
That’s amazing. Really?

Yes. It’s a sharp, slightly husky voice with cool intensity — very close to yours.

Bart Simpson and me. That’s amazing.

Have you ever watched yourself dubbed in another language and felt a voice was very close to you?

I once heard myself speaking Italian during interviews years ago. It was very girly and very different from my voice.

In Sweden we don’t dub — everything is original language with subtitles — so it’s not part of our culture. 

The first time I heard myself dubbed was with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was quite a shock. Now I’m used to it. And soon, with AI, there won’t even be a different voice. They’ll just use mine. That’s a bit frightening. I have a voice in Germany, one in France, one in Spain. It’s remarkable that an actress in each country interprets the whole performance.

If you could swap lives with one of your characters for a day, who would it be?

I loved playing the evil elf in Bright. She’s completely dark, a sociopath with magical powers. Embracing the dark side was fun. But on a deeper note, the character in Constellation. I would love to be an astronaut for a day — to be up in space and look down at my life.

Is there a place in Lisbon where you go to reconnect with yourself?

I go to the ocean. The beach is about 25 minutes from my house, and I go even if it’s windy or raining. For me, the ocean is really cleansing. I actually speak to it. I’m like, “Hello, I’m here again.”
There’s something about standing there, feeling the wind, the salt — it resets me. And I have a favorite beach club where I eat lunch and dinner, where I celebrate my birthday. It’s nothing spectacular, very low-key, but I love the owner. It’s right on the beach. That’s really my spot.

What part of your identity has most influenced your choice of roles?

Curiosity. I’m very curious about people. I love asking questions and going deep into people’s lives.

I also have this sense of not belonging to one place or language. I adapt easily. I can become whatever my surroundings are. A bit like a chameleon. That allows me to lend myself to many different characters. I can identify with many people because I have them in me.

Noomi wears a top and trousers by MAISON MARGIELA and a necklace and bracelet by MESSIKA. Sculpture by Jean-Guillaume Mathiaut.

You’ve worked across large productions and smaller films. What excites you most right now?

Directors excite me the most. It doesn’t really matter whether it’s a big studio production, a streaming production — which is the new studio — or a small German indie film. That part isn’t what drives me. It’s always about the people involved. And especially the director. I’m very director-driven. For me, it’s about who I’m collaborating with — who is leading the vision.

If you could direct your own film, no budget limits, what story would you tell?

I’m very intrigued by gods and half-gods, by the underworld — folklore, vampires, elves, trolls. I love that mythology. I’m fascinated by what happens when you mix folklore with the present day. Like Nordic gods living in London today. Or something ancient colliding with something very modern.
I’m drawn to contradictions. When things clash, when they’re not harmonious or perfectly synchronized — that tension is exciting to explore. That’s where something interesting can happen.

Have you ever taken a prop from a set?

When I did Prometheus in Iceland, I had all these armor pieces on me — loads of bits and details attached to the suit. One day we were shooting on a lava field. I was running up this hill, full speed, with a spaceship chasing me. And I lost one piece of the armor. We searched everywhere but couldn’t find it. It was just gone. Years later, when I came back to Iceland to shoot Lamb, the director, Valdimar Jóhannsson, came to me with a small package. He said, “This belongs to you.”

He had been part of the Icelandic visual effects team on Prometheus. He had found the missing piece and kept it all those years — and brought it back to me. It felt almost surreal. Like something completing a circle.

In Mother, what was the most emotionally challenging moment?

There were many difficult days. But there was one night in Kolkata — we were filming the train scene with hundreds of extras. It was around three in the morning. I was completely exhausted emotionally. We had been shooting for months, and I could feel how the environment, the poverty of the city — which hasn’t changed much — was affecting me deeply. I had never seen that level of poverty before. Seeing all the children, all the families… I felt very fragile.

We were waiting for the train for hours. When it finally came, we did a couple of takes. Then the director came to me and asked if I had one more take in me. And I just started crying. I said, “No. I don’t have anything left.” There were moments during that shoot where I felt like Mother Teresa had moved into me. There was no distance between me and her. No cushion. It felt like I was hitting hard surfaces with my emotions.

Some actors talk about “shedding” a role after filming. Have you struggled to leave characters behind?

After Prometheus, I remember sitting alone in a hotel in Iceland and not really knowing who I was. I felt quite lost. It was like I had been in space — and I hadn’t fully come back yet. It took about a week before I felt grounded again. After Lisbeth Salander, it was even harder. When we finished filming, the producers came with a big bottle of champagne to celebrate. And I just ran to the bathroom and started vomiting. It felt like my body was expelling the character. Almost like an exorcism. For weeks I was just walking around the city, feeling like I was in limbo — caught between something. Sometimes the landing is softer. Sometimes it’s brutal. I haven’t found one technique that works every time. Every character lives differently in me.

How do you reset?

I work out a lot. I have my routines. I meditate. I brush my body every day. It’s about reconnecting physically.

I try to stay close to people I feel safe with — my sister, my son, my family, my friends. I don’t travel. I don’t put myself into unknown situations the first couple of weeks after filming. I stay in my cocoon, with people who know me and allow me to be all these strange versions of myself. I’m normally quite emotional, so all the vulnerable reactions are embraced by them. I simplify my life after filming. The physical aspect is very important. Movement. Cold plunges. Shocking the system. Anything that brings me back into my body. That normally helps me reconnect.

Lastly, if you stepped into another profession for a month?

I’d probably run a ranch with loads of horses. Very Yellowstone style. I’d be out riding in big open fields, collecting the animals, living that farm life. I love horses. I grew up with them. There’s something about that life — being outdoors, being close to animals — that feels very grounding to me. So maybe I’d be a horse trainer.

Noomi wears a dress by COMME DES GARÇONS and shoes by COMME DES GARÇONS X MEXICANA

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talent   NOOMI RAPACE
image consultant   NICOLAS AKSIL
photography   ISMAËL NEBCHI
photography assistant   JACOPO MARCONI
stylist   AURORE DONGUY
styling assistant   SILOÉ
hair   HENRY OLIVIER with DYSON & ELEVEN AUSTRALIA
make up artist   JEANNE SCHNEIDER
edit   ABDEL KEBDANI
location   STUDIO A23
production   MEDIA UP PRODUCTION
production manager   YOUMNA BECHOUEL
sculptures   JEAN-GUILLAUME MATHIAUT
copyright LE MILE Magazine / Ismaël Nebchi