Sunday 16 October 2011

Bravo, August 1983: Agnetha gets caught up with a marriage impostor

Her blonde hair cut in layers and slightly wind-blown, sparkling blue eyes and her glossy lips opened into a cheerful smile: Agnetha actually never looked as wonderful as she does on the photographs that were taken for her first solo album 'Wrap Your Arms Around Me'.
Apart from that, at the moment the Swedish ABBA fans will be able to see a second, totally different Agnetha. In that variety she is wearing her hair decently cut, with an ugly hat pulled over it. She is hiding her pregnant belly under a maternity dress, wildly patterned with flowers.
By all means, Agnetha only slipped into the part of the 'ugly duckling' for her first movie 'Raskenstam' that will have its premiere on August 19 in Stockholm.
'Raskenstam' is the true story about a marriage impostor that took the savings of 120 Swedish women between 1941 and 1943.
Agnetha plays the part of Lisa, the daughter of a fisherman. She is the only woman that Gustav Raskenstam falls madly in love with. He gets married to her and has two children with her.
Agnetha explains: "The most difficult part for me was remembering my lines, although I didn't have very long consecutive lines to speak. During mornings, when my children were at school, or late in the evenings, I was slaving away. Sometimes my girlfriends helped me out with my lines, then they would read out the lines of my adversary."
Another problem for Agnetha was her stage fright, something that she still hasn't got used to even after those many years with ABBA. During the last minutes before a performance, she constantly walks from mirror to mirror, she keeps powdering her face and puts on mascara for the umpteenth time.
Agnetha: "While shooting 'Raskenstam' this was no different. The first few days I was litterally sick due to stage fright. But the more often we had to keep reshooting our scenes, the more confident I felt. At concerts, I also started to feel a little more relaxed after about fifteen minutes."
Agnetha didn't mind that she had to walk around as Lisa in such a conservative and stuffy manner. "I don't think that clothes are all that important," she says. "Especially when one compares me with Frida, who is totally into fashion. When I'm at home I prefer to wear jeans and a pullover. For formal occasions I buy something from a Swedish designer, he calls himself X-it. At the moment I really like the colour green, clothes with broad shoulders, Italian shoes and boots."
It's not certain yet whether 'Raskenstam' will appear in German cinemas as well. But one thing is certain: on September 3 we will see Agnetha again in the television broadcast 'Wetten Daβ...?' from Berlin.

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