Movies

See Nikolaj Coster-Waldau reunite with his Game of Thrones dad in Netflix drama Against the Ice

The former Jaime Lannister looks like a White Walker in this Artic expedition tale

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Published on January 13, 2022 09:00AM EST

Did Nikolaj Coster-Waldau feel left out of all of those frigid battles with the Night King's army on Game of Thrones?

Well, he's getting more than his fair share of snow now. In the upcoming period drama Against the Ice for Netflix, Coster-Waldau plays Denmark's Ejnar Mikkelsen, a real-life polar explorer who sets out to recover the bodies and records from the ill-fated Denmark Expedition. The 1909 quest in frozen Greeland turned into a perilous fight for survival.

Besides the thrill of filming on location in sub-zero temperatures, Coster-Waldau also got a chance to reunite with Charles Dance, who played his father Tywin Lannister on Game of Thrones. Dance plays the fictional character of Neergaard, who sends Mikkelsen on his way to recover the records of the expedition to map out Greenland.

Get an exclusive first look at the trailer above, and below, Coster-Waldau — who wrote the Against the Ice screenplay with Joe Derrick, based on a novel by Mikkelsen — answers a few burning questions about the film that also stars Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders) and Ed Speleers (Outlander).

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Is this something that sounded so good on paper and then... you finished day one in subzero temps and thought "what the hell have I gotten myself into?"

NIKOLAJ COSTER-WALDAU: At the end of day one, after having spent a day shooting at the edge of a glacier in the most breathtakingly beautiful landscape with the best group of people, I was overwhelmed by pure excitement and gratitude… for getting my feet warm again. But truly, after developing this story for years, the thrill and joy of finally shooting was miraculous.

Where did you film?

We shot the vast majority of the film on location, first in Iceland and then in Greenland. Temperatures ranged from 40 to -20 Fahrenheit. It was intense.

What will we learn about this expedition that is not widely known?

Everything about this expedition is not widely known. It's a great story that we can't wait for people to experience.

You reunited with Charles Dance! How much time did you end up spending together on set and does he play just as much of an a--hole here as he did on Game of Thrones?

Charles is a wonderful man and a brilliant actor. I asked him to join us and he was incredibly generous in accepting the part and he brings all and more I hoped for to the film. We had a week together.

What do you mean by a--hole? Have you watched GOT? It's about this family called the Lannisters ... our heroes ... that fight these other mean horrible families that use dirty tricks, weird supernatural powers, and are scary religious cult fanatics. Charles played the head of the family, my loving caring dad, universally loved by all. He died on a Thursday that in Westeros now is called the Day of Our Saint.

Below, see exclusive first look images for Against the Ice, dropping March 2 on Netflix.