Dog days
Premiering in Sweden on C More and TV4 last month and among the competition entries at the recent edition of French television festival Canneseries, Swedish drama Top Dog follows what happens when an ambitious lawyer and an ex-con form an unlikely partnership.
From the producers of Bron/Broen (The Bridge), Top Dog focuses primarily on the clash between Stockholm business attorney Emily Jansson and Södertälje ex-con Teddy Maksumic. Jansson is an aspiring ‘Top Dog’ who wants to make her way up in the firm, whie Maksumic wants to get out of the mafia.
To achieve her goal, Emily has to find Philip, the kidnapped son of her firm’s most important client. Meanwhile, to leave his old life behind, Teddy has to find Philip’s kidnapper. Their paths cross on their respective missions, leading to an unorthodox collaboration and a highly unusual friendship.
In this DQTV interview, actors Josefin Asplund (Emily) and Alexej Manvelov (Teddy) open up about their characters and making the series. Manvelov reveals why playing Teddy is a role he has dreamed of since he started acting, while Asplund recalls the moment she found out she had won the part of Emily.
They also discuss how the show’s writers switched traditional male and female characteristics between the characters, and ponder the popularity of Nordic noir.
Top Dog is produced by Filmlance for Sweden’s C More and TV4 and Germany’s ZDF, and is distributed by ZDF Enterprises.
tagged in: Alexej Manvelov, C-More, Filmlance, Josefin Asplund, Top Dog, TV4, ZDF, ZDF Enterprises