Roman Ægir Fjölnisson made history this year as the first trans man to play the leading role in an Icelandic film, Ótti (Angst). GayIceland sat down with Roman to learn more about the film, what it was like working with his father on it and his ambitions for the future.
For many, cinema represents the ultimate in story telling and without a good plot the other elements of the film, however beautiful or socially important, can be lost. An avid fan of crime drama, the plot of Roman’s new film Ótti reflects his appetite for complex storytelling.
“The story of the film follows a young man, Arnór, who has a difficult life at home with a sick mother and an alcoholic father. He works at a bakery and gets introduced to drugs and the criminal underworld. He meets a drug kingpin and a police officer at the same time and needs to choose which path he should take in life,” says Roman, about the film’s storyplot.
I think it’s really important for me as a trans man to play all kinds of roles, not just trans men. In this film, I play Arnór who isn’t trans and was just born as a boy.
Roman wrote the film with his father, Fjölnir Baldursson, an experienced film maker whose award winning film Ran (2020) has been screened in over 40 countries.
Reflecting on merging working and family relationships, Romains says “I feel like me and my Dad we work well together and making this movie made our relationship grow even closer.”
The depth and breadth of roles for trans actors can be limited and despite recent strides and castings of trans masc actors in mainstream film and tv (Mae Martin as Alex in Netflix series Wayward or the casting of Eliot Page in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming Greek epic ‘The Odyssey’) inclusive casting has a long way to go.
This is a feeling that Roman shares and after having had some difficulty with being cast for main roles, he worked with his father to create a title role for himself.
“I wanted to make a movie and created the role of Arnór for myself because I had been waiting around for someone to finally cast me but I wasn’t really getting any big roles so I decided to just make this opportunity for myself.”
For Roman there are some similarities between him and Arnór as a young version of himself on a journey of self discovery, he stresses the importance of trans actors not being typecast into playing trans characters.
“I think it’s really important for me as a trans man to play all kinds of roles, not just trans men. In this film, I play Arnór who isn’t trans and was just born as a boy.”
I had been waiting around for someone to finally cast me but I wasn’t really getting any big roles so I decided to just make this opportunity for myself.
Alongside the character’s family difficulties and crime drama element, there also emerges a queer love triangle between Arnór, the police officer Jón and the criminal Anthony.
Coupled with a frank look at mental health and addiction, Ótti flows between genres, genders, sexualities and representation, making for a rich film experience.
For Roman, the experience of writing and starring in a feature film was surprising.
“I thought it would be stressful but I was surprisingly calm and just had a lot of fun on set working with all these smart people both the actors and the filmmakers.”
In the future, Roman is seeking variety in the roles and genres he works in whether that’s playing the villain, starring in a crime drama or even comedy. With Ótti as a springboard, Iceland’s new leading man’s star will continue to shine.