SCRIPTING SUCCESS: Amy Poehler (left) helped her brother, Greg Poehler, learn how to write a script for his new show, Welcome to Sweden, based on his real-life move to Sweden and the adjustments he’s had to make to live there. The show premieres on July 10.
By Luaine Lee
Everything was hunky-dory in Greg Poehler’s life. He was a lawyer, married to a lawyer and the father of three kids. Then two years ago he tried something he’d always wanted to do. He tried standup comedy.
That was the end of the life he’d known for 12 years. If the name sounds familiar, it should. He’s the brother of Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation.) But instead of pursuing comedy like his older sister, he earned a law degree, fell in love with a Swedish lawyer, married her and moved to Sweden.
“I started doing standup comedy in Sweden and that was kind of the first step,” he says in the noisy vestibule of a hotel here in Pasadena, California.
“That went really, really well. It was something I’d always wanted to do. A few months later I sat in my attic and wrote the script for Welcome to Sweden, which is based on my life. It was something I’d been thinking about for a long time. I wrote it in one day on a snowy Saturday in Stockholm. I said I wanted it to be sold to the US and to Sweden and have a bunch of cameos (in it) and I will play the lead role.”
All that may sound like a pipe dream. But it all came true, and no one is more surprised than Poehler. “It’s amazing! It’s a really bizarre kind of fairy tale,” he says.
The comedy, Welcome to Sweden, hits American airwaves on NBC this month. It’s already aired in Sweden and has been a tumultuous hit. Out of 9mn Swedes, 3mn have been watching the show.
Laughing, Poehler says, “I hope NBC is not expecting that, it’s Super Bowl numbers.”
It all began when he met his future wife at work. “The first night we met she said, ‘Would you ever consider moving to Sweden?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ I would’ve said anything at that point. And she held me to that. We lived together after that for five years in New York so it was always part of the plan to move to Sweden. I put it off as long as I could.”
But when their first son was born, it was time for a reckoning. “From New York City to Stockholm is such a huge difference in terms of family friendliness,” he says. “That was the main reason behind the move. But it was always part of the plan. People say, ‘I would give up everything to be with this person.’ What happens when you DO? That’s really what this show is about.”
The series begins the day he left his former life behind. When he transferred to Sweden he had no job, no friends, no business connections. “I had my son. There was something about that move that I think a lot of people can identify with. There are certain times in your life when you have to re-invent yourself and who you were before doesn’t really matter anymore.”
But the adjustment wasn’t easy. In fact, Welcome to Sweden is about the subtle cultural differences and the way people mishandle them. “It’s still hard for me,” he says. “Swedes have an interesting kind of dynamics socially. They seem to have a group of friends from a very young age, and it’s kind of hard to break in to that social circle. It’s very unlike the US.
“In the US a lot of my friends in New York I met one night and I was invited to their party the next day. In Sweden it takes about five years to get invited. And they have dinner parties so it’s limited to how many seats they have around their table. So somebody has to die or get divorced basically for you to break into the friend circle,” he says.
“I think we tried to show that on the show that regardless of the country, the adjustment of the immigrant is oftentimes a lonely one. I think it’s impossible to hit the ground running and adapt and assimilate right from the start. It takes a while.”
When he first wrote the script in that chilly attic, he actually Googled “How to Write a Script.” He sent it to his sister just to check that the formatting was correct. But she fell in love with it and offered to serve as executive producer on the show (and also pull in some of her comedy friends for cameos).
Poehler, 39, says he’s learned a valuable lesson from the experience. “The moral of my story is it’s never too late. If there’s something you’ve always wanted to do and think you’d secretly be good at, it doesn’t necessarily have to be in the acting field. There are a lot more noble professions. Even becoming a doctor — people have a passion for and feel they’ve missed it. It’s something you’re supposed to do when you’re younger. But I’m proof it’s never too late.” — MCT
Injured Harrison Ford back on feet
Actor Harrison Ford, who broke his leg while shooting Star Wars: Episode VII around three weeks back, is now back on his feet following a surgery. The 71-year-old movie star recently underwent surgery. Just days after he was photographed in a wheelchair, he is showing signs of making a quick recovery.
Over the past weekend, the Blade Runner star was seen walking here with his left limb bent at the knee and strapped into a supportive crutch. His lower leg and foot were wrapped in a white cast. — IANS
Robin Williams enters rehab
Actor Robin Williams has checked into rehab for the second time to maintain his long-term sobriety. The 62-year-old is seeking treatment at Hazelden Addiction Treatment Center in Minnesota, reports femalefirst.co.uk.
“After working back-to-back projects, Robin is simply taking the opportunity to fine-tune and focus on his continued commitment, of which he remains extremely proud,” said his representative. In 2006, he had checked himself into a substance abuse rehabilitation centre after admitting he was an alcoholic following two decades without booze. The Mrs. Doubtfire star also battled with cocaine addiction in the late 1970s and early 1980s, but quit the drug following the death of his close friend John Belushi in 1982 and the birth of his son Zachary in 1983. — IANS
Halle Berry finds TV better than films
Actress Halle Berry agreed to star in new TV show Extant because the script was much better than the movies she was being offered. The 47-year-old, who has children Nahla, six, with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry, and eight-month-old Maceo with husband Olivier Martinez, was unimpressed with the movie scripts and had no desire to return to work until she was approached to appear in sci-fi drama series.
“I was being offered parts that I felt like I had done before. They weren’t exciting enough for me to leave my family for four months. I realised some of the best writing especially for women, was on television,” contactmusic.com quoted her as saying. “The minute I started to read (Extant), I couldn’t put it down. I thought, ‘Wow. This is different.’ It’s innovative,” she added. The highly-anticipated miniseries sees Berry play infertile astronaut Molly Woods who returns from a year-long solo space mission pregnant. — IANS