EXCLUSIVE: Nigel Havers drew on family history for inspiration in Swedish crime drama Golden Boys.
The Chariots of Fire, A Passage to India and Coronation Street actor plays a fictionalized version of Lord Moyne, the British peer and member of the Guinness family, who was caught up in Sweden‘s biggest financial crime scandal in the late 1990s.
He told Deadline how the real-life Lord Moyne had visited his father, the late politician and attorney general Michael Havers, to ask for advice with his situation. “Lord Moyne had one trait, and that was to look after himself,” laughed the actor in an exclusive interview with Deadline.
Havers recalled been sent Erik Hultkvist (Blinded)’s scripts for Golden Boys, the TV4 series from Quicksand maker FLX and Film i Väst that will be a key title in Viaplay Content Distribution’s London TV Screenings slate. That had reminded of the meeting between his father, who was Britain’s Lord Chancellor for a short time in 1987, and Lord Moyne, also known as Jonathan Guinness.
“I got the scripts and thought they were tremendous, and I wasn’t wrong,” said Havers. “It’s a hell of a good story, and I do remember it in the back of my mind. My father was a lawyer, I think we must have discussed it. At one stage, Lord Moyne went to see my father and asked for some help, which I think my dad refused.”
Fading into obscurity in the UK, Lord Moyne, joined two cousins, Joachim and Thomas Posener in a scheme to build a financial empire from nothing. Their plan, which would become known across Europe as the Trustor Affair, involved taking over a Swedish investment vehicle and led to all three men being arrested and tried for a range of financial crimes. Jisander was ultimately the only one convicted, though several lawsuits followed.
The series, filmed in Swedish and English, follows the meteoric rise and dramatic downfall of the Posener cousins. It begins as Jisander (Adam Lundgren) is released from a prison sentence for a previous financial crime. He meets with the flamboyant Thomas (Erik Svedberg-Zelman) and the wealthy yet naive Peter Mattsson (Viktor Björkberg), and they begin partying and hatching new financial schemes.
Havers’ Lord Moyne, keen for a pay day, is soon introduced into the fold, and the plan to fleece Trustor develops until a financial journalist cottons on and the scam is revealed. “Lord Moyne’s motivation was he wanted to make some money,” said the actor. “Mind you, the Golden Boys’ motivation was exactly the same. They all wanted to make huge amounts of money.”
Adam Lundgren, who plays the series’ lead, picked up on the theme. “Joachim wants to make a lot of money, but it’s about what the money represents for him rather than having it,” he added. “He wants to be the biggest one in everyone else’s mind. He doesn’t really care about people loving him for being himself. My version is needs to be at the top of food chain to feel he’s worth something.”
Just likes series such as The Sopranos, Succession and Industry tempt the viewer to root for the bad guy, Havers and Lundgren are hoping for the same from those who come to Golden Boys, which we revealed in May last year. “You sort of fall in love with them, which you shouldn’t do,” said Havers.
“I’d wanted to this for ten years, as I listened to a radio documentary about them,” said Lundgren. “My hope is that you’re going begin thinking, ‘What sort of arseholes are these guys?, but by the end you feel for them,” added Lundgren. “It’s always interesting to feel something you don’t want to feel.”
Ivica Zuback (A Hustler’s Diary), the show’s director, said his approach was “not judging” the group, adding: “I am in love with these guys.”
He added that Golden Boys should be considered in the genre of anti-hero shows. “When you start watching Industry or Succession, you cannot take your eyes off them. That’s what I really hope you get with this show.”
‘Golden Boys’
Viaplay/TV4
Small budget, big ambitions
Zuback filmed the four-part series on a small budget of around €5M ($5.9M), or €1.25M per episode. This still reflects one of the Schibsted-owned TV4 Group’s biggest ever investments in a series. Zuback said the producers had indulged his asks for numerous 1990s songs, licensing several that feature in the series. Shooting took place in Stockholm, London, Geneva and St. Tropez.
For Havers, signing up for a low-budget Swedish drama might be considered a surprise. He is known for playing British lords in numerous programs such as Downton Abbey and The Gentlemen, but had a golden period on the big screen with prominent roles in a run of influential 1980s movies, including Hugh Hudson’s Chariots of Fire, Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun and David Lean epic A Passage to India. His TV career started back in 1973 and has taken in everything from the lead role in BBC period drama Nicholas Nickleby, sitcom Don’t Wait Up, The Good Guys, Dangerfield, Coronation Street and, last year, ITV’s A Cruel Love: The Ruth Ellis Story.
His explanation for Golden Boys is simple: The script and the role of Lord Moyne. “I thought the part was so intriguing,” he said. “I was asked to do it, and I was delighted. I went over and filmed in Gothenburg, and I had the time of my life – more than I’ve enjoyed any job for some time. I thought the actors were superb and we had an extraordinarily inventive director in Ivica. He had the great habit of saying, ‘We’ve got this take. Let’s do another one and do exactly what you want. That is a joy.”
We hear a May 3 launch date has been set for the miniseries on TV4. Viaplay will be looking to wrap up pre-sales well before then, and will be screening the episode at its London TV Screenings event on Tuesday 24. The full series will be made available to buyers directly after.
