‘Vikings: Valhalla’ star shares what Henry Cavill taught her about creative collaboration

Frida Gustavsson has come a long way from strutting in major runways around the world. The Swedish star is currently shining in her role as Viking Freydís Eiríksdóttir in Netflix’s Vikings: Valhalla, the sequel to the critical hit, Vikings. 

Gustavsson earned the lead role in the historical series after playing a minor role in a previous Netflix medieval hit alongside Henry Cavill in The Witcher. The actress may have only had a brief appearance as Geralt’s mother Visenna in the show’s first season, but it gave her the opportunity to learn from Cavill’s starring experience. On Collider’s Ladies Night podcast, she revealed what she learned from the British actor, noting how he made sure it was a collaborative process.

The thing that I think I take away from it the most is working with Henry Cavill. He taught me so much on how a #1 should behave. Even though I came in, I have only like two little scenes with him, it was incredible to see a star of that magnitude for me coming in and being this random Swedish actress, the way that he was so collaborative. He was very, very sweet about, ‘Would you mind if I changed this line? Did you want to run the scenes together?’ Making sure that everyone on the set’s comfortable, making sure that everyone knows his name, that he knows their names. I think that was really eyeopening for me because coming from Sweden, you hear so many stories about, ‘Oh, all of these Hollywood actors and they’re just in their trailers with their massage therapists and they’re so horrible,’ and then to meet this man who is like, not only the most talented and gorgeous man, but just such a lovely person, that was a big inspiration for me and I hope that I can bring those qualities to set and make sure that everyone who works on my sets feel seen, feel like they’re a creative partner.

It’s great to see how our modern-day Man of Steel remains humble and collaborative with his cast members, and it’s one more quality to add to why fans love Henry Cavill. Clearly, he positively impacted Gustavsson because she has received praise for her confident portrayal on the show. 

If you haven’t caught up with it yet, you can watch Vikings: Valhalla on Netflix. It is set 100 years after the events of the original Vikings series and showcases the tensions between the Vikings and the English, as well as the historic Battle of Stamford Bridge. With 24 episodes already greenlit and season two already filmed, we can’t wait to see more of Freydís on our screens.