Many people's knowledge of William Tell is limited to him shooting an apple off his son's head with a bow and arrow, unless they grew up in Switzerland. The story of this Swiss national hero wielding a crossbow goes far beyond that.
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02-22, 2025So, how exactly did this less-than-ideal family gathering come about? Claes Bang, the Danish star who rose to fame with the Palme d'Or-winning film "The Square," is bringing us an interesting revisit. In the movie "William Tell," he takes the lead role, portraying the protagonist in this thrilling action-adventure film directed by Nicolo Donati, director of "The Hole."
Bang says, "It's a bit like 'Braveheart.' Everyone knows the apple story, but essentially it's a story about foreign invaders trying to take your land, and the little guy standing up to defend himself." The film is loosely based on the play written by German writer Friedrich Schiller in 1804, and the story is set five centuries ago. At that time, Switzerland was occupied by Austria, ruled by the despotic King Albrecht of the Habsburg dynasty (played by Ben Kingsley). And his henchman, Governor Gessler (played by Connor Swindells of "SAS: Rogue Heroes"), is even more ruthless.
The film opens with Gessler's evil deeds, followed by a flashback. It is this evil Gessler who forces Tell to make a choice: risk killing his son Walter (Tobias Jowitt) by shooting the apple, or watch his loved one die. This dilemma is even more terrifying because, in this version, Tell vowed never to use violence again after participating in the Crusades. During an attack in Jerusalem, he rescued a Muslim woman, Suna (Golshifteh Farahani), and the two fell in love.
Bang has played many villainous roles, including Dracula, the treacherous Fjölnir the Brotherless in the Viking epic "The Northman," and the insidious JP in the Apple TV+ series "Bad Sisters." Therefore, he did not hesitate to seize this opportunity to play a good guy. Bang said with a smile: "This is also part of what attracted me. I was worried that I would fall into a situation where I only played truly evil characters."
But that doesn't mean William Tell is a pacifist. His people are in a war they don't want, and terrible decisions must be made if his compatriots want to break free from tyrannical rule. Bang said that the constant conflicts around the world make the burden on the character he plays even heavier. He said: "We feel obliged to express something meaningful. Will we never learn anything? Will we just continue these conflicts and let others try to occupy land that does not belong to them? In this sense, I really feel that we are making an anti-war film."
Hahm's script presents a fast-paced film, but Bang was also impressed by the fact that it took the consequences into account. He said: "This is a very physical film, full of action, but it also becomes more philosophical. Many people will die, and we will lose our best friends." Bang was in New Zealand when he was interviewed, filming "The Wrecking Crew" with Jason Momoa and Dave Bautista, so he is no stranger to action movies. But even he didn't immediately realize that "William Tell" was an action movie.
In fact, it was Bang's wife, artist Lis Kasper Bang, who pointed this out. He said: "I was so caught up in the existential level that I didn't realize what I was going to face until she read the script and said, 'Wow, this is such a large-scale action movie.'" This includes learning how to use a crossbow, "Although I have never fired a real arrow, because that would be very dangerous," Bang said with a smile. "But I had to act like someone who knew what he was doing, so we did a lot of training."
Although most of the fight scenes were done by stuntmen, Bang also participated in some of the action, including a boat battle in a storm, in which he fought alongside Princess Bertha, played by Willow star Ellie Bamber. Bang said excitedly: "The result is great. Bamber is very good, and this is the subtlety of Nick's writing. He wrote a story in which women are as crucial to the development of the story as men." He added: "Golshifteh and I had a very good scene, early in the story, where we argued in the bedroom about whether to go to war, and we knew from then on that the cornerstone of the story was hesitation."
If being typecast as a bad guy is an occupational hazard, then playing roles that cause a stir in the art world may also be something Bang needs to pay attention to. He has done this in "The Square," "The Last Vermeer," and "The Burnt Orange Heresy." Pointing this out elicited more laughter from him. He said: "I love art, like to go to museums, etc., but this is purely coincidental. But it's interesting that I just filmed a movie in Paris about the Danish architect [Johann Otto von Spreckelsen] who designed the Grande Arche in La Défense."
When doing research for this role, Bang read about Spreckelsen's desire that the new monument be dedicated to humanity, rather than to military victories as in the past. In this way, this character brings us back to Tell's hope. He said: "It's about allowing people to meet in a peaceful place."
