October 12th, 2007


Trying to catch Stefán Karl is like trying to catch an airplane while it's taking off -- And strangely enough, that's exactly where LTP got a chance to talk with him exclusively, via phone, while he was at the airport - presumably, waiting for a flight - to somewhere...

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   LTP: Hello?

   SK: Oh! Halló, halló, halló!

   LTP: Do you have time for some questions?

   SK: Oh, I have some time.

   LTP: Not 'forever' or anything.

   SK: No, no, no, I have some time. It's almost dinner-time in California.

   LTP: Well, I only have a few questions, so here's the first one -- Whose idea was it for you to wear 'spats', or 'spatterdashes', with the Robbie Rotten character?

   SK: Well, I actually am not sure. Somewhere in the development of the character, someone must've added that without me knowing it. It was actually drawn - when I think about it - on the original character, which was much different from what Robbie then became. That's true. He was supposed to be a totally different character than the very beginning. But he was drawn with it. So yeah, that's where it came from.

   LTP: In the song "Master of Disguise", is it true that you are the original singer, and Máni Svavarsson wrote all of the lyrics?

   SK: Yes. I'm the original singer of all the songs of Robbie. Who did you think was singing it?

   LTP: Some people think Magnús was singing on some songs, and he's not...?

   SK: No, Magnús can't sing.

   LTP: Not at all?

   SK: Not to save his life! He can't even sing "Happy Birthday" so you would recognise the song.

   LTP: Well, that's a 'Rotten' thing to say! (laughter)

   SK: Yeah, truth can be rotten, yeah I know.

   LTP: Speaking of Magnús Scheving - When was it that you first met him?

   SK: I met him in London, in 1998. I was at a party at the Icelandic Council Home in London, where I stayed for a weekend. We were at this party, and we were the only two sober guys at the party - but we were two most over-active guys at the party as well. So, we were instantly drawn to each other, and we started to talk. The day after, we were both on the same plane with Iceland-Air from London to Iceland. So, Magnús was travelling 'Business Class', I was travelling 'Economy Class', and Magnús ran to my seat, and had a seat change with the woman who was sitting next to me, and asked her to move herself to 'Business Class'.

He sat next to me and started to talk about this "LazyTown", which to me sounded like a "Crazy Town". In two and half hours he described the whole concept that he had in his head, and so forth, and asked me if I would be willing to play Robbie Rotten at the stage version - theatre.

   LTP: Glanni Glæpur.

   SK: Glanni Glæpur, that's right!

   LTP: Can you reflect on some of your favourite movie villains of the past?

   SK: Well... I'm not that much of a 'movie man', myself. I don't know... My favourite villain, probably is Wile E. Coyote. He is to me -- Robbie wants to be Wile E. Coyote, ya know. He's just like Robbie, he puts the traps and ends up in them himself all the time. But he keeps going still.

   LTP: I notice that Robbie also has a little bit of Elvis in him. Elvis Presley?

   SK: Oh, yeh, yeh! He's Elvis. This is how Elvis was re-born!

   LTP: In the "Crystal Caper" episode, were the Texas coffee mugs issued to all of the cast and crew, or was it a specific prop?

   SK: It was a specific prop. And the joke was, actually, when we shot that scene - the joke that I made up was - I took a sip and spit it out and I said - "Oougah! Tastes like oil!" - But since the show was screened by Nickelodeon, that was of course cut out. But we received phone calls from the Bush Administration --

   LTP: Ahhh! Really?!

   SK: -- because it was election going on at that time, and so, yeh, they had an issue with this episode. It was not a big issue, but it was an 'issue'. So, it was taken out, it was, ya know, re-edited - for Bush, yeah.

   LTP: Can't believe that! I knew there was some political undertones and stuff, but I didn't know that there was direct involvement!

   SK: It was not even a political undertone, it was just a lousy joke - apparently no one could laugh at, except me.

   LTP: Well, I definitely got the joke!

   SK: Hmmm...

   LTP: Can you do the 'Robbie voice', just real quick?

   SK: The 'Robbie voice'? Yeah! --

   ROBBIE: It's disguise time!

   LTP: Yay! Very good!

   SK: It's a little mix of Tom Jones in there sometimes.

   LTP: Yeah, I can hear that. (laughter) Actually, your voice doesn't sound too much different from the Robbie Rotten character, except without the extra...

   SK: Without the extra - exactly - power that I have to put into it.

   LTP: Do you think that LazyTown's popularity appeals to college students as well as pre-schoolers?

   SK: I think so. I mean, it's an interesting show - It's a foreign show - Absolutely! It's like all shows, it doesn't matter if it's SpongeBob, or whatever it is - I've met people in their 50's and 60's that don't have children even, or grandchildren, and they're wearing t-shirts, ya know, from the show. And I ask - Why? -- "We just just love that show!" - Why - what is it that you love of this? -- "We just think it's great!" -- And so, ya know - (laughing as plane flies over) - I suppose, yeah! We didn't expect that to happen, but, apparently much older kids are liking the show than we ever expected.

   LTP: Your prospects in Hollywood seem very bright lately. Do you have any plans for future film-acting and/or voice-over projects?

   SK: Well, I haven't worked so far on anything like that. I'm working on producing myself. There have been some offers to my interest just recently. I'm just looking at it, actually, not necessarily only movies, but theatre as well. So, I would love to work on Broadway, and - that has always been my dream. I love theatre much, much more than movie or television ever, so...

   LTP: Yeah, I noticed you have a very big theatre background.

   SK: Oh yes, I have! And I think that's more fascinating.

   LTP: Yes, that's true.

   SK: So, yeah, I'm looking at some theatre offers as of right now. As a foreigner, it's not very easy to enter in the United States right now. Everybody are considered terrorist, ya know, especially people who have a villain background like me.

   LTP: The Robbie Rotten character kinda sticks, ya know.

   SK: Yeah, that's what I said to Immigration when I came here first - I said, "I'm a legal 'bad guy'" - (laughter) - I'm a 'bad guy'.

   LTP: (laughs)

   SK: Yeah, I'm a 'bad guy'!

   LTP: Ahhhh, you're not such a bad guy.

   SK: Ha ha - I know.

   LTP: When you're spending 'time off' of acting and movie sets, etc, what is daily life for Stefán Karl?

   SK: Oh, daily life for me, is being with my family, of course. I have three wonderful little girls - 12, 6, and a newborn.

   LTP: Oh, I heard about the newborn. What's her name?

   SK: Júlía.

   LTP: Oh yeah, that's a pretty name.

   SK: So, yeh, I'm spending time with them of course, and then I'm producing - I have alot of fun doing that.

   LTP: What are you producing, or can you talk about that?

   SK: Well, I can talk about - ya know - I'm producing films, that's what I'm doing. And some TV shows. One of them is a cartoon series that I'm working on, developing with a writer here in The States - um, which is based on Icelandic 'trolls'. That's all I can say at this point. And then a film, which is co-production - Europe, Scandinavia and the United States. And uh, so, yeah, that's what I'm doing - developing and developing...

   LTP: That's good, you sound very busy.

   SK: Yeah, and I'm running organizations back home in Iceland.

   LTP: Oh yeah, I heard about Rainbow Children.

   SK: Yeah, I'm running them, and we're going into a huge campaigne in Icelandic media now.

   LTP: Do you see the Robbie Rotten character as portraying a 'sex symbol' image in America, similar to the way Sportacus appeals to the housewives?

   SK: Of course - Much much more the Sportacus!

   LTP: Oh, I wouldn't say that, there's alot of girls out there who don't think that!

   SK: Oh ho, no, ho, no, no -- Much more Sportacus -- No, no. I mean, ya know... It's funny. Wearing the spandex costume, ya know, very tight costume. I receive alot of funny letters from women, and actually, men as well. There was a man from California, a monk, that wrote me a letter, and asked me to come over for tea - and maybe a little more.

   LTP: (laughs)

   SK: So, yeh, we've been aware of that. But, ya know, there's alot of disgusting things going on on the internet, and it's strange to me that no one seems to be, ya know, monitoring that. But, yeah, alot of disgusting things. Actually, one of the funniest things I've ever seen, in this whole 'LazyTown craziness', is 'LazyTown Mountain' -- which is a little video clip from YouTube, which is basically the theme from "Brokeback Mountain", and clips of Robbie and Sportacus. So, there's a double meaning, it is so funny! I thought it was fantastic!

   LTP: (laughs)

   SK: There's alot of, ya know, it's a crazy world.

   LTP: Do you have time to read many books?

   SK: Uhh, not so many books, no. Why do you ask? My favourite book?

   LTP: Yeah, that's pretty much the question.

   SK: Well, I don't know... I don't read that much. But if I would pick one, it would probably be "To Kill A Mockingbird" I loved very much. I thought that was a very good book. And then actually, one of my favourite books is actually Icelandic, from the Nobel Prize winner, Halldór Laxness.

   LTP: Say that again, you broke off there.

   SK: Eh, sorry, there's an airplane flying over my head.

   LTP: (laughs)

   SK: He's Icelandic author - Halldór Laxness is his name. He wrote a book called "Child of Nature".

   LTP: "Child of Nature"?

   SK: Yeah - Which is a fantastic book, and tells story of Hilda - that's actually my mom's name - Yeah, Hilda - and he wrote that book when he was only... what... 14, or 16, it was published. And it's an unbelievable understanding of a young man of love, relationship, and ya know, with people and nature, and it's a different book. I don't know if it exists in English, but that author, Halldór Laxness. Yeah, he was a Nobel Prize winner like, nineteen sixty-something - '67, or even '69 - I don't remember. So, yeah, like I say, I don't read that much.

   LTP: I been checkin' into "Moby Dick", myself, by Herman Melville.

   SK: Oh, Moby Dick - When I was a little boy, my father used to read that book to me, because my father, he was a whale-killer, himself - for 30 years.

   LTP: What is your view on that whale-killing stuff?

   SK: Well, I think it's a very good political step that Icelanders have made now, that they're not going to kill whales. I think it's dated - I think it's, ya know - We should be beyond that right now.

   LTP: That's true. Especially 'cause there's alot of evidence that they're intelligent and everything.

   SK: Yeah, well, exactly! But, I think what we have to work on if we're gonna, ya know, stop whale-killing, is work on the Americans, because no one in the world kills more whales than the Americans - like in Alaska - by next year, they're gonna kill five thousand animals.

   LTP: Oh boy, I know...

   SK: Yeah, which is crrrazy!

   LTP: Yes.

   SK: We did mistake last year, by killing seven - mmm...no, not - it's five animals I think. And that was a mistake I think. I mean, we started in a very, very, ya know, highly political negative discussion about Iceland, ya know. I think we should be beyond that. Iceland is probably one of the most organic islands in the world right now, and we should stay that way, we should respect nature - stop sinking the island by building huge power-plants that are sinking the island.

   LTP: I totally agree with you, man!

   SK: But, ya know, Iceland is a very young country. Very young! That's my take on the whale thing. I mean, my father was working there - I went, as a little boy, whale-boats out there - and I watched them killed, and ya know, I smelled the blood - and into the bullet-hole of the 75-foot-tall creature laying there, you know, and slept on their tongue, I did it all, when I was a little boy - like 10 years old - no, no, no, no - up to... 8 years old. And we're beyond that. We are! I mean, no one is gonna buy whale meat anyway, know what I mean?

   LTP: Yeah I know. And the Icelanders think that they're eatin' their fish, or somethin' - I was talkin' to some of my Icelandic friends, and they were saying "Oh, they're eating our fish, and we're a fishing industry - so that's why they do it."

   SK: Well, I think that's a lousy excuse. I think Icelanders should just, ya know, admit to the fact that, we, as a civilized country, should be beyond that barbarous, ya know... We should just be beyond that and move on. Because no one is gonna benefit from killing whales - except for the man who maybe owns the whale-killing company - but not even him has managed to sell whales he killed last year.

   LTP: That's true. And ya never know, there might be some space aliens that come around in the future, that wanna talk to the whales, and there won't be any left - So, they start to, ya know - Like in that Star Trek, "Star Trek IV"?

   SK: Yeah, let's hope that the aliens won't land in Iceland - they'll be killed! (laughter)

   LTP: Well, they'll just arrive and ionize your atmosphere and oceans, until they hear a whale.

   SK: Well you have to think about -- It's too short, since we were Vikings, ya know? We just came outta caves there.

   LTP: Although, the Vikings, they're pretty tough people.

   SK: But if Vikings would become live now, Icelanders could talk to them. 'Cause the language is so close to them, so...

   LTP: How close is your real personality to the personality of the roles you play, such as Robbie Rotten, or others you wish to comment on?

   SK: Well, ya know, that depends, ya know, this question is brought up all the time.

   LTP: I know. But I'm asking about other roles too.

   SK: When you as an actor are submitted to a role, it's not, ya know, like, to play a serial killer - you're not submitted to that role because you are likely, or more likely to kill someone. An actor like me - I would say like, Robbie, ya know, they're far, far away from me. I mean, I don't even eat candy! I hate candy!

   LTP: You hate candy, really?!

   SK: Yeah! I hate candy. And I almost never watch television.

   LTP: If you don't like candy, then what do you like then, for a snack ya know?

   SK: Oh, I like my wife's food. She makes great food. Organic food, ya know, like vegetables, and greens and stuff. So I'm kinda like a little Sportacus with that - (laughter) - I wouldn't say that though, I wouldn't go that far, I'm joking -- no, no - I just don't like candy. I eat all kinds of foods, I love the food.

   LTP: Candy is bad for your teeth.

   SK: Yeah, and it's terrible for children's health, especially, ya know, I think. And there's one thing that is killing children and killing people, and make them terribly sick, which is all the diet drinks - and the aspartame. We lost a very good friend a few days ago, from Iceland. He got a heart attack, like 39 years old. He was drinking diet coke like hell! And everybody said "I don't know what happened? What happened to him?" - Well, the diet coke, just look into the description of what's in it, ya know, that's what killed him. And ya know, sugar - all the kids with HDAD, or ADHD, whatever it's so-called over-active, and with this and that, wrong with them, Tourette Syndrome and all that - it's all because of ingredients in the candy today.

We should stop concentrating on, ya know, people stop smoking. We should concentrate on stop killing the children with poisoned candy! And now they even found the poison in the toys, ya know...

   LTP: Oh yeah, the Mattel thing, yeh I heard about that.

   SK: Yeah, well, Mattel, Fisher Price, whatever it is - it's just, ya know - I think it's everywhere, it's in everything. People should just look around and, ya know, say "No" to everything that is not organic.

Just like when you go to a supermarket, you're gonna find it strange that all the tomatoes look the same, all the apples look the same.

   LTP: Well, that's biological engineering.

   SK: Exactly! When my wife first showed chilled Heirloom tomatoes to me, I looked at her and said "What are you showing me this? Something is wrong with this!" - I thought something was wrong with it - I thought "No no no no, we can't eat that!" - That was actually because it's organic. That's how tomatoes should be! It's how they should look like - they're organic. And so, the whole - this huge industry has taught people, that if your hamburger doesn't look like the hamburger the person is eating next to you, then it's poisoned -- So, come to McRono's -- and you will die in two months if you eat at McRono's!

   LTP: Well, I don't eat at McRono's, I'll tell ya that!

   SK: I would rather die, yes.

   LTP: This is a little bit of a 'tetchy', I'm sure, subject - But I remember that you had a part as a voice-over as a Viking in "Night At The Museum". And you were listed at IMDb.com (Internet Movie Database), and then you disappeared - And I don't know if that's because you weren't there - Were you cut, or what happened?

   SK: Well, actually, we were not cut. My name is on the credit list at the end of the movie as one of the voice actors. But um, I really don't know why. I mean, I haven't gone into Internet Movie Database for months, but, ya know, probably, sometimes what happens I'm told - because I don't update Internet Movie Database myself - I'm told that sometimes you'll list something in there, and if it's not, ya know, correctly listed, or something, it will fall out. But you know, I don't care, ya know, I don't care. It was a minor thing for half a day, walked in there, did some voice-over thing, and walked out - they needed Icelandic accents for it.

   LTP: What are some of your favourite bands; what is your preference - Jazz, Rock, Classical, or - ?

   SK: Well, I like Jazz alot. Yeah, Jazz is my thing. Ya know, trio - Jazz trios are my favourite - and I've been listening to Wynton Marsalis alot. And Wynton Marsalis is, ya know, I wouldn't say that he's my favourite, but he's definitely on 'top 50'!

Yeah, to name a band... I don't know - I like Elton John alot. I think Elton John is great! He's one of the people I'd love to meet. He um - I don't know - I pretty much can listen to whatever. Ya know, "Rammstein" even - (laughter) - that's just a joke! I mean, ya know, it doesn't matter. The only thing that I'm not very keen on is Opera. But the only person - and this is a strange thing, having said that - One of my favourite singers of all time is Mr. Pavarotti, who just died, ya know...

   LTP: Yeah, that's very sad.

   SK: So, ya know, that's how my taste for music is.

   LTP: Do you have any plans to work with "Stuðmenn" again?

   SK: Oh, with Stuðmenn! No, no plans of working more with Stuðmenn. There was one great summer with Stuðmenn. Ya know, they've been around for 30 years. And it was an honour to work with them. They are veterans - they're institution in Icelandic pop music. So, ya know, standing next to Egill, who is the main singer, and Jakob, and those fantastic musicians - all of them - was just an honour, and ya know, a great way to spend my extra time when I was shooting LazyTown in Iceland, ya know. Alone, without my family waiting there - "What to do tonight? Oh, I go and play with Stuðmenn!" - So, it was great. I actually did write a song with them called "Reykjavík" - yeah, I wrote that song with Jakob, the keyboard player. And it's actually to be found on the internet somewhere. It's called "Reykjavík" - Stuðmenn and Stefán Karl - You can go on www.tonlist.is

   LTP: Are you strictly a vegetarian?

   SK: No no no, no, no, no - (laughter) - I'm not a grasshopper. I eat all kinds of stuff. I just try to, ya know - I really try to read on the outside of the package, so I see what's in it. I do not offer my children any poison. So, that's my #1 rule. Um, like, if you buy them a lollipop, you could as well, ya know, give them acid, in their milk.

   LTP: The kind that burns through tables - Not the "Woo!" kind. (laughs)

   SK: Yeah, exactly. It kills slowly. By the age of 50, 40-50, they will have all kinds of problems developing within, which'll kill them pretty soon, ya know. It doesn't make sense to me. So, people should definitely look into that. What are we feeding our children with? You would never give your child a s*** to eat, but you would still buy them McRono's with diet coke - Should I not say it's the same thing? (laughter)

   LTP: I know what you mean.

   SK: But, what are we offering children, ya know?

   LTP: I know! They put stuff - They actually put a chemical in the stuff that they call 'health food' that makes people wanna eat more, so they just end up getting obese and un-healthy anyway, ya know?

   SK: Yeah, yeah.

   LTP: Do you do any painting (i.e. canvases)?

   SK: Painting? No. No, no, no, I play piano, accordion, drums -

   LTP: Drums, yeah?

   SK: Yeah, well you know, not at home. But uh, I play piano and accordion. I play to my children sometimes, and sometimes they play to me, so yeah - We can play/listen - Relaxing, it's like a meditation to me, the sound, ya know.

   LTP: Stingy's car is 'sunshine yellow', what is your favourite car colour?

   SK: Purple! Of course! (laughter)

   LTP: But that's Robbie's favourite car colour too!

   SK: Exactly! Absolutely! Purple is a favourite car colour. I had a purple car once - A Jeep Toyota Foreigner, yeah!

   LTP: Did you have any favourite episodes from the Second Season of LazyTown?

   SK: Well, actually I have only seen one episode.

   LTP: Oh really, I've only seen two! (laughter)

   SK: I've only seen one coming from the pipeline. But I've seen bits and pieces from all of them. Well, I would have to say that the one I saw is my favourite - which is called "School Scam" - That's where Robbie plays a very, very old teacher, a gray-haired teacher, teaching them bad behaviour. And also the circus episode, I've seen bits and pieces from that, that looks good and --

   LTP: What about "Rockin' Robbie", the Elvis episode?

   SK: Yes, hah! Rockin' Robbie was fun to do, yeah! Actually we shot alot of scenes with me that are not in there - alot of extra stuff was not in there - which I thought was pretty funny - at least, I was sweating alot when we were shooting that.

   LTP: I don't see how people could view those scenes, because they don't allow extra stuff on children's DVDs, ya know, extra features. That sucks.

   SK: Oh, I'm glad, I'm glad. You know I hate all this 'making of' thing, ya know.

   LTP: You're glad... (laughter)

   SK: Yeah, I'm glad, ya know. They should just show the final result, that's what I want.

   LTP: Well, very nice meeting you, very nice talking to you.

   SK: You too. Thank you very much.




Stefán og Stuðmenn

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Thanks & Best Wishes To Stefán Karl and LazyTown Entertainment.


© 2007 L.G. Wise (X RADAR Publ.)
All Rights Reserved

No part of this interview can be used, reprinted, copied or stored in any medium without the publisher's authorization.


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