IN CONVERSATION WITH MAJA SIMONSEN

interview by JANA LETONJA

Maja Simonsen will be seen reprising her role in the next installment of the fan favourite Amazon fantasy series ‘The Wheel of Time’, premiering on 13th March. Most recently, Maja also starred as the lead in‘Love by Proxy’, which premiered at Berlinale 2024. 

What was it like reprising your role as Chiad in Season 3 of ‘The Wheel of Time’? How has she evolved since we last saw her? 

I was thrilled to be brought back. I love being Chiad, she’s so cool. There are a lot of things, like only speaking when you have something valuable to say, that is an Aiel’s approach to life. I find it so fascinating to play, as that is definitely not similar to me. I will literally throw up if I have to keep something in. 

I think from Season 2 to Season 3, she’s definitely warmed a lot more to Wetlanders. Maybe she still doesn’t show it as much, but she has more trust in them now. She grows to respects them over the course of the season. She’s got this steel front, but I think you get to see a more three-dimensional character now. She’s curious to learn new things and also has a lot more of a cheeky side to her, which has been fun to play with. 

The Aiel are known for their incredible combat skills. What kind of stunt training did you go through to embody Chiad? 

There’s so much epic stuff that goes into the stunt training for the Aiel. I used to dance professionally, so being able to have a role that is so physical is really epic. The incredible stunt team led by Jan Petrina always factor in Aiel codes, like honour and discipline, ensuring we only fight for honour and only when necessary. They’re such skilled fighters. We’ve had to work on multiple aspects of martial skills, and Alice Šrámková, my stunt double, is so amazing. I feel so lucky that she is the one I’ve gotten to work with. She’s a real life Aiel.

They are also known for running faster than horses, which we got to do this season. It was absolutely mental having galloping horses behind you whilst you’re sprinting in the front, just praying not to get run over. 

You had to learn Aiel sign language and dialects for the role. How challenging was that process, and what did you enjoy most about it? 

It was challenging for sure, especially learning the sign language, but I was also really keen to learn a new skill. Naomi Todd who created the sign language alongside with Gavin Lilley also did so well in making it a fun thing to learn. They made games for us to play, competitive ones too, and if you know any of us, we are all very competitive, so we were working very hard to win. Clever teachers. 

In terms of the dialect, we had conversations about all of us having slight different dialects, as we are not from the same sept, so we worked separately with our dialect coaches on that. I love doing a dialect and to be involved in creating one felt so special. 

Season 3 is primarily based on ‘The Shadow Rising’. Without giving away spoilers, what can fans expect from Chiad’s journey this season? 

She develops quite a cute friendship over the course of the season with someone in particular, without giving away too much. There’s a lot she needs to fulfil. She takes a surprising adventure, ending up in a place that she would never have imagined. They also get to play the famous 

Maidens Kiss. She’s a warrior so she’s always fighting for a cause, and she’s found a new cause in season 3. 

You recently starred as the lead in ‘Love by Proxy’, which premiered at Berlinale 2024. What drew you to this role, and what was your experience like working with director Faraz Shariat? 

In many ways, I had similarities with Earlie that I was interested to explore when I was offered the part. Her dad who had lived in another country most of her life had recently passed away, and a few years earlier my dad, who also lived in another country, had passed too. I think in many ways it was a very healing journey for me to do this role. It’s funny how sometimes you can find peace with grief or other personal issues by getting to channel it into a role. 

Working with Faraz was a lot of fun. He was always in a good mood, despite the pressure you can have on set when you are shooting in another country and on a tight schedule. Despite it, he still managed to lead the ship in a way that made it an amazing experience that I’ll always cherish. I have been lucky this far to build a great relationship with the people I’ve worked with when I’ve been away and I still catch up with Faraz whenever we’re in the same country.

Your past work includes ‘The King’s Man’, ‘Treadstone’, and ‘Sexy Beast’. How do you approach roles in such varied genres, from period action films to spy thrillers? 

I feel really lucky to have had the opportunity to do such different roles and genres. I love that I haven’t fallen into a type cast category so far, and I think it’s allowed me to grow a lot as an actor. I never really have the same approach to my roles. Some scripts I need to really stick to what’s written on the page, and I tend to spend more time memorising those lines and working on the intention in the scene and the words and the motivation. I like to look into the story of the character that isn’t written in the script and sort of build from there. But when I’m working on comedy projects, I like to not be too stuck on the sides, so I can be more free to improvise. Ultimately, I just strive to be as authentic and true to my character as I can be. A role like Chiad was a character from a book so it meant I had so much information from the books and online that I was able to use, which was great. 

In 2024, you also performed in ‘Banging Denmark’ at the Finborough Theatre. How does acting on stage compare to acting on screen for you? 

‘Banging Denmark’ was my stage debut and was one of the best experiences I’ve had in my acting career this far. Finborough Theatre is quite a small theatre, and I originally thought it would be less of a scary thing to do with it being small, but having the audience literally a meter away from you suddenly felt so much more intense. It was also a comedy, and depending on the audience that we had every night and their reaction to the jokes, it was a complete different show for us every night. Nothing has never felt more silent than a joke that didn’t land, which is kind of hilarious for me to think back on now. 

I’d say for me, the difference between screen and stage is how much you get to work on a scene with the director and the collaborative environment between actors. You usually have a month of rehearsals for the play, so you go over the scenes many times and I saw how a scene can travel from the start of the rehearsals till press night. Insane.

You’re also a model. How has your modeling background influenced your acting career? 

I think in some ways it’s been really beneficial and others not. I had to really work on not being aware of the camera, not look into the lens and not care about my “good” angle. But also, it’s made me feel very comfortable with a camera and it’s never something that bothers me when I’m filming. I had a scene recently where I was filming my death, but needed my eyes open for the scene and a flash from a camera would be taken before I’d get zipped up in a bodybag, and surprisingly my eyes didn’t flinch with the flash. Guess that’s what 10+ years of modeling and flashes come in handy.

Fashion and film often intersect. Are there any designers or styles that particularly resonate with your personal aesthetic? 

Since working on film sets more often, I feel like my fashion sense has gone out the window. You get up so early most of the time that usually you just jump in some sweatpants, a hoodie and call it a day. Then let the incredible costume designers dress you up and into the character. I’m afraid I’ve been a bit of a victim myself of the Covid suit that we all rocked in lockdown. Haven’t quite figured out yet that I can dress up again. I do find myself dressing nicer when I work on modeling shoots though. I get this urge to look cool.

Beyond acting and modeling, are there any other creative pursuits you’re passionate about? 

I have so many passions, but my main ones are producing, writing and knitting. I am really excited to dive deeper into the producer/writer side of this industry, and knitting is such a great outlet to have whilst you wait on set. I highly recommend it.

CREDITS:

photography KARL HUGHILL