This Was The Toughest Scene To Shoot On Ragnarok According To The Cast
If you're one of the many devoted fans of Emilie Lebech Kaae's contemporary spin on Norse mythology, "Ragnarok," you've likely googled "Ragnarok dance scene." Whether it's because you find the mesmerizing song in the background compelling, or because you want to see actors Theresa Frostad Eggesbø, Herman Tømmeraas, and Jonas Strand Gravli pull off some of the most complex and intriguing choreography to hit Netflix in some time, it's difficult to deny the scene's strange appeal (see: this YouTube clip). The scene occurs in Episode 2 of Season 1 and sees Laurits (Gravli) join faux high school siblings and real Frost Giants Saxa and Fjor (Eggesbø and Tømmeraas) in a dance that hints at Laurits connection to the mysterious duo. In a recent interview with Moviezine, the actors behind the enigmatic Frost Giants opened up about the difficulty of filming the now infamous dance.
The outlet asked the actors about the time and choreography that went into the scene, and Tømmeraas laughing with his head in his hands pretty much said it all. "So much time," Eggesbø said, "so much choreography," while Tømmeraas noted that the fans' obsession with the scene is all the more hilarious given that filming it was "kind of the worst...or not the worst, but most tough scene (the actors) did."
It's clear from the complicated dance moves, cuts, lighting, framing, and timing of the scene that an immense amount of planning and hard work went into what appears, to the viewer, like a stunning but spontaneous outburst of power, movement, and connection. At one point in the scene, Tømmeraas appears to defy the laws of physics, while Eggesbø contorts her body into positions that are at once unnerving and — despite their inhuman angles — undeniably cool. Here's what went into filming it.
Ragnarok's famous dance scene is even more complex than it looks
Herman Tømmeraas explained in the interview that the team "spent a couple of days making the choreography," though the scene was ultimately, as Theresa Frostad Eggesbø notes, "just bits and pieces" of the extended and strenuous sequence they'd originally filmed. Eggesbø also pointed out that the dance was a great deal "more elaborate" than the audience can see since everything in the scene is in slow-motion. "Everything that isn't slo-mo," she explains, "is actually done ten times faster." As Tømmeraas puts it, "it was us going bananas for three minutes straight."
The actors shared that they spent hours shooting the scene — which involved "fifty or sixty extras," none of whom were informed about what was going to happen — and that the exhausting physical work was made all the more complicated by sound logistics. "There was like, strange rock music," Eggesbø explains, but it was extremely quiet. "The stereo didn't work," she added, "so they had to play it from a little boom speaker."
The dance did not go unnoticed or unspoken of by fans, who discussed its possible meanings in a variety of threads on the series subreddit. Given how much narrative legwork the scene does in terms of setting up the complex dynamic between Laurits, Saxa, and Fjor, it certainly makes sense to have put an equal amount of physical legwork into the scene. Despite the fact that it was "about three hours of awkwardness" and "a big step out of the comfort zone," as Tømmeraas said, the actors both agreed that it was all ultimately worth it. Here's hoping any dance scenes in the rumored Season 3 will be just a little bit easier on the cast.