{"id":1222,"date":"2013-05-01T08:27:13","date_gmt":"2013-05-01T06:27:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/?page_id=1222"},"modified":"2022-03-13T16:25:21","modified_gmt":"2022-03-13T14:25:21","slug":"expressen-sunday-meets-helen-sjoholm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/helensjoholm.nu\/_eng\/press-clips\/interviews-2011\/expressen-sunday-meets-helen-sjoholm\/","title":{"rendered":"Expressen Sunday meets Helen Sj\u00f6holm"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Expressen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Expressen S\u00f6ndag 111225<\/strong><\/p>\n

By: AMANDA TAAWO
\nPhoto: MAGNUS JONSSON<\/p>\n

I have a need for control<\/strong>
\nHelen Sj\u00f6holm is learning to let go of requirements<\/strong><\/p>\n

Helen Sj\u00f6holm makes success as mother Karin in the movie “Simon and the Oaks.” And now the singer herself will be a mother of twins at 41 years of age. To “Sunday” she talks about her own upbringing, the strong women and her life as a mom.<\/strong>
\n– It’s just amazing. But I can not grasp this, she says.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was in her dad’s sheet metal workshop in Sundsvall Helen Sj\u00f6holm started her singing career. There she sat singing herself hoarse during the days.
\n– I’ve always been a vocal child, talked and sang all the time. Now I have a four-year old boy who is the same. And it\u00b4s charming but also incredibly intense. My mom drove me around to all sorts of activities to find a vent for it somewhere else, it was synchronized swimming, horseback riding, jazz dance, until I got into a choir, then it was right, she says.<\/p>\n

Since then singing has been Helen’s base, where the road has travelled from success musical “Kristina from Duvem\u00e5la”, “Chess”, theater, and her big breakthrough on movie as the abused woman in Kay Pollack’s “As it is in Heaven”.<\/p>\n

And now it’s time for Helen to appear in her first leading movie role in “Simon and the Oaks” – where she for the first time doesn\u00b4t take a tone – based on Marianne Fredriksson’s best-selling novel with the same name. Here she plays Karin, the mother of Simon, who gets a sparse childhood in Gothenburg during World War II.<\/p>\n

How did you do to find Karin within you?
\n<\/strong><\/em>– There were many personality traits that I immediately could juggle like motherhood, pride and very strong fears of losing things in life. The story is profound in many ways and it\u00b4s a lot about finding your identity. For Karin it\u00b4s also a great fear that she doesn\u00b4t dare to tell the truth. That fear creates more distances between her and Simon. And therein lies the tragedy of the story.<\/p>\n

Like Karin Helen could identify with carrying a picture of how life should be. Something she only discovered that she did when she met her current husband David:<\/p>\n

– We were so very different. For me it was liberating in some way. I\u2019ve had a self-image dictated by what you want to be like. That I also thought was interesting in the role of Karin, how she has a picture which really is a wishful picture many times, of how you want to be and live up to that as a person. Then maybe you can\u2019t do it, and it may cause crashes, more or less, from that.<\/p>\n

What was it like for you?
\n– <\/em><\/strong>I had an idea of \u200b\u200bhow I wanted to live, many children and not start a family too late. I knew what I liked and what I didn\u00b4t like. Then when I began to question that with David, I noticed that I had been too categorical. But it’s also an age issue, you know more when you’re younger, now I think I know less. But he was a part of that for me.<\/p>\n

And at the age of 41, it\u00b4s now time for Helen to be a twin mother. Was it planned to have more children?
\n<\/strong><\/em>– Twins wasn\u2019t something we thought of, we have no family history of that. But there was a desire to have children, but it took time. Then it came with a vengeance. But it’s amazing.<\/p>\n

What do you think life will be like now?
\n<\/strong><\/em>– No idea. What can you expect? I can\u00b4t grasp this yet, you can\u2019t imagine. The coolest thing about it is that I thought I had an eye on what life would look like now. But that late in life it can change so quickly.
\n– This takes all the focus now. Last time I had pretty good control of when I would start working again but it doesn\u00b4t feel like that now. I have no idea what this will be like.<\/p>\n

Tell me, what is Helen Sj\u00f6holm like in private?
\n<\/strong><\/em>– Stubborn, creative and full of energy. I have a need for control, especially in the job but also in my private life. I like to keep control of the whole procedure even if I can\u2019t. But it\u00b4s seldom that I prepare too little, so to speak. Privately I\u00b4m not an adventurous person, but on stage I can let go of the inhibitions.
\n– Private, I can be quite antisocial, I think. I\u00b4m much more interested in observing people and on stage I can use that. I can be very easily influenced by the vibes and people, and it\u00b4s easy for me to feel the mood, simply a capacity for empathy.<\/p>\n

You grew up in Sundsvall. What was your childhood like?
\n<\/strong><\/em>– Extremly good with an incredibly safe childhood. We are three siblings and I am the oldest, I’m a typical big sister. We have no artistic abilities in the family, even though there have always been a lot of expressions and energy. There wasn\u2019t anyone who had worked with it just like that, so it wasn\u2019t a natural move that one wanted to be a singer. It was far off the map.
\n– I have had very strong women in my family who have been determined and inspired me. My mom is a tough type, she’s incredibly stubborn when she\u2019s decided about something. She has proved to me many times that everything is possible. She and my grandmothers are pretty much those who are the greatest role models and who have been with me in everything. In Kristina from Duvem\u00e5la I took a lot from my grandmother.<\/p>\n

In the movie “As it is in Heaven” Helen sang the ballad “Gabriella’s Song” which stayed 68 weeks on the Swedish charts.<\/p>\n

How does it feel that it touched so many people?
\n<\/strong><\/em>– I think it’s fantastic, I\u00b4m touched by that. There is something in it that is radical. It’s amazing how people get strength from the song in different ways. It was not entirely expected. That it affects many people very strongly was surprising at first. That\u2019s not something you think about when singing the song.
\n– I sing it a lot. And it\u00b4s one of the few songs that I never get tired of. It always feels nice and important to sing it.<\/p>\n

What about long-running “You Are My Man”, that many people also love to play?
\n<\/em><\/strong>– Privately, it hasn\u00b4t meant that much to me at all, even if it has meant a lot that people liked it. It hasn\u00b4t reached my heart as Gabriella’s song has.<\/p>\n

After “Simon and the Oaks, have you got a taste for movies now?
\n<\/em><\/strong>– It’s been so exciting and I definitely want to do more movies. But I have no illusions that I should change careers or that this will create a new platform for me.<\/p>\n

\n

HELEN SJ\u00d6HOLM
\n<\/strong>Name: <\/strong>Helen Sj\u00f6holm
\nAge:<\/strong> 41
\nFamily:<\/strong> Husband David Granditsky, son Ruben, 4, and expecting twins
\nLives:<\/strong> In Nacka outside Stockholm
\nCurrent:<\/strong> As Karin in the movie “Simon and the Oaks”, with among others Bill Skarsg\u00e5rd<\/p>\n

\n

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Expressen S\u00f6ndag 111225 By: AMANDA TAAWO Photo: MAGNUS JONSSON I have a need for control Helen Sj\u00f6holm is learning to let go of requirements Helen Sj\u00f6holm Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":996,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1222","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t