First print-out  

Ia Genberg: Well, the light is green now.  

Greger Johnson: Maybe double-check?  

IG: No, I think it’s working. All right, Greger Johnson. You spell it with one s, huh?  

GJ: Yep. Took out an ‘s’ and added an ‘h’. It sounds better somehow, kind of American.  

IG: American?  

GJ: Yeah. Names that end with ‘son’, spelled with just one ‘s’, they sound American. Easy to pronounce in English. Couldn’t tell you why, but it’s true. A name is important, a marker you should finesse if you can. Ia … is that short for something?  

IG: No, that’s my real name.  

GJ: Not much to finesse there. Kinda short.  

IG: Indeed.  

GJ: But easy to remember.  

IG: Yep. So how about we get started?  

GJ: It’s the same with Greger. Nobody my age is named Greger. Nobody born in the seventies is named Greger. That’s why it’s a hell of a good name if you want people to remember you. And then of course I look like this too.  

IG: Like this?  

GJ: Yeah, I mean, you can see it with your own eyes. People meet me once and they never forget. I live in their memory forever. For better or worse, of course. For better or worse.  

IG: Right. So, listen, why don’t we dive right in.  

GJ: Of course. Who else did you talk to?  

IG: Everyone. Everyone who’s alive. Pippi, Emil, Mio, Junior and Karlson, Rusky and Jonatan, Lotta, Ronia the Robber’s Daughter and Birk. Tjorven. The whole gang. Plus a bunch of directors. You’re the last one out the gate.  

GJ: And this is for a book?  

IG: A small run, a local publication printed in her memory. There will be other texts in there too, someone else is writing those. And a load of photos from her life. A literary historian is doing something. My job is to interview the child actors, the child actors who are now adults.  

GJ: And what do you get?  

IG: What do you mean?  

GJ: You’re a freelance journalist. I assume you charge something. That you’ll be sending an invoice.  

IG: Yes. Of course.  

GJ: Okay, how much do you take home?  

IG: I don’t think that discussion is relevant for the interview.  

GJ: Who cares if it’s relevant or not?  

IG: They’re giving me thirty thousand kronor. Though that’s before social fees and taxes. I keep a bit over half of that.  

GJ: So you’ll make more writing about me than I got to act in that movie.  

IG: Hmm.  

GJ: I’m just saying. Just noting.  

IG: Those were different times. Plus there’s been quite a bit of inflation since.  

GJ: It’s just something to note. Considering how many people saw and appreciated the movie, how famous it made some of the adult actors. How well things turned out for them.  

IG: So you’re unhappy with your reward? 

GJ: You fucking bet I’m unhappy with it. Are you going to put that in the text? 

IG: I don’t think so. These pieces are meant to have a pleasant tone. They’re meant to be a nice retrospective with pictures from the film shoots, that kind of thing. The publication is meant to help people remember, and also to provide a personal touch, add something new. Can we begin?  

GJ: Sure.

IG: Why don’t you start by telling me how you got the role.  

GJ: My pops sent me to a tryout. Audition, or whatever they call it.  

IG: Audition, yes.  

GJ: That’s what I said.  

IG: Sure. Audition. The ‘au’ doesn’t have a diphthong. Audition.  

GJ: Diphthong?  

IG: Forget it.  

GJ: I went to the tryout. There was an ad in the paper. They were looking for a fast-talking boy between eight and ten with a mop of blond hair. I was pretty much made for the role, you know. When I got there, this woman touched my hair to check if it was real or if I’d dipped it in yellow paint. Then she made me stand in front of a camera to answer some questions and talk freely about whatever I wanted. Next they gave me a piece of paper with a few lines I had to read as naturally as possible without looking into the camera. Then I left. They called the next day.  

IG: What do you remember from that moment, when you heard their decision? 

GJ: It was Pops they talked to. He came to my bedroom, slapped my back and told me I was about to become a national celebrity.  

IG: That’s what he said?  

GJ: Word for word.  

IG: Were you excited? Did you scream? Did you run around? What was your reaction like?  

GJ: I assume I was excited. I think I called Grandma. I can’t quite remember.  

IG: You must already have read the book. Did you read it again after that?  

GJ: What book? 

IG: Uh … I mean, the book. The book the film is based on.  

GJ: There’s a book? I thought it was a movie?  

IG: Umm – well …  

GJ: What? Is there a problem?  

IG: Ah. I guess … I don’t know what …  

GJ: Haha.  

IG: You’re laughing?  

GJ: Hahaha. You fell for it, didn’t you? Haha. 

IG: I’m sorry? 

GJ: For a second you thought I was an idiot, didn’t you?