Actor Philip Oros Discusses His Role in Haunting New Film 'The Home'
Ahead of its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival, we sat down with Philip Oros to discuss his role in Swedish psychological horror ‘The Home’.
Philip Oros first grabbed our attention when playing ‘Brother’ in Isabella Carbonell’s Dogborn. The film sadly never got a UK release, but it introduced us to the Swedish actor. Carbonell said of working with both Oros and Silvana Iman: “It was a life-changing directing experience to work with Silvana and Philip, to watch their relationship grow from being strangers into a genuine, sibling-like bond. This bond is the heart of Dogborn, and the fact that it was rooted in something real certainly helped all of us in the team.”
Fortunately, it wasn’t the last time seeing Philip Oros – in the past couple of years, you would have also seen him appear in several Netflix series and films, including The Are Murders, Barracuda Queens, Love Forever, and also Viaplay’s Leva Life, to name a few. In these series and films, Oros wasn’t playing the lead, but now in Mattias J. Skoglund’s The Home, Oros plays a starring role in this fantastic film, which has its UK premiere at the Glasgow Film Festival this March.
Philip Oros | Photo Credit: Andreas Kock
Speaking to Oros over Zoom ahead of the screening at the festival, we talked about the pressure of being a lead character in this film:
“I kind of felt pretty green as an actor still, especially in a leading part. For me, the feeling I had coming into this was like, okay, can I carry a feature film? I mean, I’m super thankful to have the opportunity, but also super scared of fucking it up,” Oros explains.
What helped him hugely was getting to work alongside director Mattias J. Skoglund, whom he worked with previously on a series called Dough (currently on Viaplay). Working on a film set rather than a TV series was a little more intense; “We were living together for the whole period of time away from home and spending pretty much the whole day and night together all the time. So we got pretty close this time.”
Photo Credit: Oskar Pedersen
Intergenerational Trauma as Horror
In The Home, Oros plays Joel, a troubled guy who returns to his hometown to take care of his ailing mother. In doing so, old wounds open up from his childhood, which are clearly still haunting both him and his mother, who has to be taken to a care home. It is here that things begin to take a dark psychological turn.
“When it starts, he’s still very much affected by his family traumas and his upbringing, probably not dealing with them in a healthy way. When his mother gets this dementia diagnosis, he realises they may never be able to talk things over, to tell each other how they really feel, or to forgive each other,” he explains.
The film is an adaptation of a book written by Mats Strandberg, who is known as Sweden’s answer to Stephen King, which should give you a good idea of what to expect from this.
“I’ve read a few of [Mats Strandberg’s] novels; they often transcend the horror genre because they are psychologically astute and deal so well with things like family trauma. When this project came along, I decided I would do whatever I had to do to get the part. I was super intimidated by how to relate to the supernatural elements and everything happening to Joel, but who doesn’t like a challenge?”
The result is compelling, and amongst the jump scares – which we had discussed but shall not spoil for you – there is a brutally emotional story that unfolds. There are even moments of humour, done in that wonderful Scandinavian way.
Working with Legends and Bravery
While Oros anchors the film as Joel, he is surrounded by a cast that brings a hauntingly realistic edge to the supernatural proceedings. Most notable is Anki Lidén, who delivers a harrowing performance as his mother, Monika.
“She’s super chill and unpretentious,” Oros says of Lidén. “If there was something she didn’t understand, she’d say so immediately. But then she would do these amazing things, like those sudden switches in her voice, which were just chilling.”
Anki Lidén is a cornerstone of Swedish cinema, boasting a career that spans over five decades and includes some of the country’s most significant cultural exports. But it wasn’t just the established stars that left an impression. Much of the film’s eerie atmosphere comes from the supporting cast of residents in the home, many of whom were local amateurs.
“Their bravery was inspiring because I’ve never seen elderly people do the things they do in this film,” Oros recalls. “They just went for it without the self-doubt that I tend to have. It was a bit like working with kids -there was this lack of ego and a sense of playfulness, even when the scenes were incredibly dark.”
The cast is rounded out by Gizem Erdogan, another familiar face to Nordic noir fans (Caliphate, Love & Anarchy), who plays Nina. Her presence adds another layer to the complex web of relationships Joel must navigate as he uncovers the truth of what is happening within the facility.
Philip Oros on set for The Home | Photo Credit: Malin LQ
From Leather Jackets to Red Speedos
Despite the grit and horror of his recent roles, Oros isn’t afraid to push himself into uncomfortable territory- sometimes literally. When we discussed the style and costumes of his characters – from the comfortable leather jackets of Joel in The Home to the vintage Versace of Barracuda Queens – he shared a story that made his current roles seem like a walk in the park.
In 2022, Philip starred in a production of Lucas Hnath’s acclaimed play Red Speedo at the Playhouse Theatre in Stockholm. Playing Ray, an Olympic swimmer caught in a doping scandal, Oros spent the entire play on stage wearing nothing but the titular red swimwear.
“That was my least favourite costume,” Oros laughs, reflecting on the exposure of the stage. “The only costume was a red Speedo, live in front of an audience every night. It’s a very vulnerable place to be as an actor, but also quite liberating in a way. I was in the shape of my life for that, so that helped, but it’s a completely different kind of pressure than being on a film set!”
This willingness to be “exposed” – whether physically on stage or emotionally in a horror lead – seems to be the defining trait of Oros’s career so far. Whether he is a mute twin in Dogborn or a grieving son in The Home, there is a raw, unvarnished quality to his performances that makes it impossible to look away.
However, that vulnerability extends beyond the stage. As our conversation wound down, Oros was refreshingly candid about the “weird couple of years” the Swedish industry has faced. While the pandemic brought a streaming boom that benefited his career, the aftermath has been a “backlash” of halted productions and financial instability for many major platforms.
“I haven’t worked a lot since The Home, actually, as an actor, which has been a little bit stressful and frustrating,” he admits. “I’ve had thoughts of like, ‘OK, shit, I don’t have a plan B. What am I meant to do with my life? How am I going to support myself?’ I want to have kids soon. How am I going to be able to give them a life?”
It is a sobering reality for an actor whose face has been everywhere recently. He also points to a political shift in Sweden that he describes as “hostile towards culture,” led by a ministry he feels is “gleefully spiteful” toward the industry. “But there will be a backlash to this as well, I’m sure,” he adds with a note of resilience.
As he prepares to bring Joel to UK audiences, he remains convinced that genre film serves a higher purpose during these turbulent times. “Reality is scarier than any horror film right now,” he notes. “But the horror format allows people to deal with the real stuff – like grief and trauma – through a lens of escapism. It lures you in, and then it makes you feel something real.”
We hope to see him on our screens again sooner rather than later!
The Home is screening at Glasgow Film Festival and we hope to hear news of a UK release later this year. You can also catch Philip is a number of his films and series on Netflix and Viaplay
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