Pål Sverre Hagen

Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen (born 6 November 1980) is a Norwegian stage and screen actor. He is perhaps best known internationally for playing Thor Heyerdahl in the Oscar and Golden Globe nominated film Kon-Tiki. From 2019 to 2023, Hagen portrayed William in Exit, a series in 3 seasons that described the decadent lives of 4 men in Oslo's finance elites. It became the most streamed in the history of Norwegian national television.

Early life and education Pål Hagen was born in Stavanger, Norway, the son of Roar Hagen, a Norwegian cartoonist who has long been associated with Norway's largest daily, VG. He studied at the Norwegian National Academy of Theater in Oslo from 2000 to 2003.

Stage career His stage debut was in 2003 in Frode Grytten's Bikubesong (Beehive Song) at Det Norske Teatret in Oslo.

Hagen went on to play the title roles in Anthon Chekhov's Ivanov and Raskolnikov, based on Fjodor Dostojevski's Crime and punishment, both at Hålogaland Theater.

In 2006 he became an official member of the repertory company at Det Norske Teatret, and performed there in Verdas mest forelska par (World's Most-in-Love Couple), Få meg på, for faen! (Touch Me, For God's Sake!), and Gabriel García Márquez's Ingen skriv til obersten (Nobody Write to the Colonel). These two roles won him the Hedda Award in 2007.

Hagen played Prince Hal in a 3-hour and 40-minute version of William Shakespeare's Henry IV Parts 1 and Part 2 staged in 2008 at Det Norske Teatret.

Regarding his appearance in Henry IV, he said, “This is my first encounter with Shakespeare, and all I can do is admit that I have an overwhelming and massive piece of material ahead of me. Because really understanding the characters and the setting demands a lot more than a script." In an article about this production, a writer for Dagbladet noted that Sundquist had played Falstaff to Valheim Hagen's Prince Hal in 2008, and that they had played father and son the year after in the film Jernanger, “in roles that were too small for their talents.”

In 2014, he played Stavrogin in Demoner 2014, based on Fyodor Dostojevskij's The Devils. The play premiered on February 8 at the National Theatre in Oslo.

Television and film career

Hagen made his film debut in Cry in the Woods (Den som frykter ulven) in 2004. He appeared in several other films, including Erik Poppe's 2008 film Troubled Water (De usynlige). A 2012 article in Filmmagasinet praising Troubled Water as a great Norwegian film gave part of the credit for its excellence to “unbelievably good acting” by Hagen and other members of the cast.

In 2008, in addition to Troubled Water, Hagen appeared in four other well-received films: Cold Lunch (Lønsj), House of Fools (De gales hus), Max Manus, and The Storm in My Heart (Jernanger).

In the autumn of 2011 Hagen played the lead role in a four-part, 4-hour Norwegian TV mini-series, Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? (Buzz Aldrin, hvor ble det av deg i alt mylderet?), based on the debut novel by Johan Harstad.

He said he had considered it a challenge to “find” the real Heyerdahl, as the explorer had been a “master” at projecting a public image. “It's important to remember that when the film is taking place, Thor Heyerdahl hadn't become a legend yet. He hadn't become Heyerdahl yet.”

Kon-Tiki was chosen by the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences as one of five nominees for its award for best foreign language film of 2012. In explaining its choice, the Academy singled out Hagen for praise, saying that his performance created a feeling of intimacy in a film with a very broad scope. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe.

Personal life Hagen is based in Oslo and Stockholm. He said that he once planned to be a marine biologist.

The citation for the Heddaprisen Award praised Valheim Hagen's “imaginative skill at creating characters that... expresses itself in a vigorous physical expressiveness.”