Viaplay explores ‘The Meaning of Life’ in next original drama
- ‘The Meaning of Life’ stars Celie Sparre (‘The Truth Will Out’) and Helena af Sandeberg (‘Dough’)
- Series created by Maria Nygren (‘The Lawyer’) and Tove Eriksen Hillblom (‘Solsidan’) and produced by FLX
- Viaplay set to premiere at least 70 Originals in 2022
A star cast of Swedish screen talents will portray the complex balance between family life, self-fulfillment and social pressures in the new Viaplay Original ‘The Meaning of Life’. Celie Sparre (‘The Truth Will Out’) and Helena af Sandeberg (‘Dough’) play the lead roles in the eight-part series, which is created by Maria Nygren (‘The Lawyer’) and Tove Eriksen Hillblom (‘Solsidan’) and produced by FLX. ‘The Meaning of Life’ will premiere exclusively on Viaplay in autumn 2022.
Alva (Celie Sparre) wants nothing more than to become a parent together with boyfriend Nico (Hannes Fohlin: ‘The Emigrants’), but it’s just not happening. Meanwhile, her sister Ellen (Helena af Sandeberg) has three children with husband Alex (Ulf Stenberg: ‘Love Me’) – and dearly wishes she hadn’t.
Helena af Sandberg: “When I first read the script, I just said ‘yes!’. Ellen’s feelings of having lost herself in everything that comes with children and families will strike a chord with so many. It certainly did with me.”
Celie Sparre: “This is a sympathetically told story about love, sisterhood, family ties and longing for children. It’s about understanding which life to lead – something that’s never easy.”
Filippa Wallestam, NENT Group Chief Content Officer: “Our latest Viaplay Original is based on its creators’ personal experiences. It handles sensitive questions with a deft touch and portrays characters who will be instantly recognisable for many viewers. ‘The Meaning of Life’ is warm, difficult, humorous and unpredictable – just like relationships themselves.”
Co-stars include Chatarina Larsson (‘A Man Called Ove’), Göran Ragnerstam (‘Harmonica’), Johan Jonason (‘Snabba Cash’), Nora Rios (‘Honour’), Jonatan Rodriguez (‘Bonus Family’) and Madeleine Martin (‘Dystopia’).
‘The Meaning of Life’ (Swedish title: ‘Meningen med livet’) is produced by Sussan Treshow for FLX and directed by Eddie Åhgren. Filming is underway in Stockholm. The series is distributed globally by Viaplay Content Sales.
About Viaplay Originals
At least 70 Viaplay Originals are set to premiere in 2022. In the past three months, ‘Pørni’ season two; ‘Natascha Kampusch – A Lifetime in Prison’; ‘Harmonica’; ‘Trom’; ‘Ida Takes Charge’; ‘Wisting’ season two; and ‘Hammarvik’ season three have premiered on Viaplay.
Upcoming Originals include ‘Something Stupid’ and ‘The Guilty’; ‘Stockholm Bloodbath’; ‘Wozniacki & Lee’; ‘Delete Me’ season two; ‘Boys’; ‘The Dreamer – Becoming Karen Blixen’; ‘Fenris’; ‘Gold Run’; ‘Billy the Kid’; ‘Last Light’; ‘Cell 8’; ‘Elvira’; ‘North Sea Connection’; ‘Limbo’; ‘Litvinenko’; ‘Karma and Jonar’; ‘Ronja’; ‘The Machinery’ season two; ‘The Uninhabitable Earth’; ‘Polish Murderesses’, ‘Black Dog’ and ‘Freedom of the Swallow’; ‘Partisan’ season two; ‘Honour’ season three; ‘Hammarvik’ season four; ‘The Holiday’; ‘Pørni’ season three; ‘Hilma’; ‘Sisterhood’; ‘Who Shot Otto Mueller?’; a biopic of Börje Salming; ‘Fadime’; ‘Taylor’s Island’; ‘What about Monica’; ‘THE KINGDOM EXODUS’; ‘Made in Oslo’; ‘Estonia: The Last Wave’; ‘Stella Blómkvist’ season two; ‘The Swarm’; ‘Perfect People’; and ‘Margeaux’.
Two major English-language films will be produced for Viaplay every year. NENT Group has also established a UK-based joint venture with FilmNation Entertainment and invested in US studio Picturestart.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Nordic Entertainment Group AB (publ) (NENT Group)’s Viaplay streaming service is available in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the US and the Netherlands. Viaplay will launch in the UK in 2022, followed by Canada, Germany, Austria and Switzerland by the end of 2023. We operate streaming services, TV channels, radio stations and production companies, and our purpose is to tell stories, touch lives and expand worlds. Headquartered in Stockholm with a global perspective, NENT Group is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm (‘NENT B’).
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