Amon Amarth’s Johan Hegg Talks Acting in ‘Northmen: A Viking Saga’ + More

Amon Amarth frontman Johan Hegg was the guest on Full Metal Jackie's weekend show. Hegg spoke about his association with the film 'Northmen: A Viking Saga' and offered an update on the band's plans for the remainder of 2014. Check out the chat below.

I wanted to talk to you about this new film. Amon Amarth is already synonymous with viking culture. Aside from that obvious connection, what first got you interested in being cast for 'Northmen: A Viking Saga'?

They contacted me asking if I wanted to do it and I thought it would be fun to try, so I told them if you send me a script and I like it, I'll do it. That's the way it happened.

That's pretty easy.

Yeah.

There's a cinematic quality to the music video for 'Father of the Wolf.' How did filming that, and other music videos making acting in a movie easier?

I'm not sure if that in particular or any of the ones helped me as much as actually talking with the other actors and getting help from the director and everyone involved in the project. I think that helped more than anything. The video, there's a little bit of acting in there, but basically you're mainly being yourself … or at least your stage persona.

What similarities between your on-screen character and the way you present yourself onstage?

The characters are fairly similar. I mean, I know one of the writers from the show is a big Amon Amarth fan. He actually said that they had, when they wrote the characters, they had me in mind for the part. That's the person they had in mind when they wrote the character. I think that it was easy for me to get into it, but on the other hand I got to shape the character myself, as well. It was simple. It's a small part.

Did you have a good time?

Oh yeah, it was a lot of fun. Especially fighting with swords.

[Laughs] What did you enjoy most about the filmmaking process and would you like to be considered for more movie roles?

I think I like the stunt scenes the most, actually. Everything was really fun because it's so new. It's totally an incredible experience. I would love to do more film work if the opportunity arises, but music will always come first. But sure, I had a blast and I thought I did really well.

Looking forward to more on that. What's to come from Amon Amarth for the rest of the year into 2015?

We're headed to the States to do the U.S. and Canada. We're going to do a full North American run and then go to Japan after that. Then we have a little break over New Year's.

Keeping busy as always.

Yup [laughs].

Good luck with the film and all that's to come with Amon Amarth. Thank you so much, Johan.

My pleasure. Thank you so much.

Thanks to Amon Amarth's Johan Hegg for the interview. You can catch the band on tour at these locations. To learn more about 'Northmen: A Viking Saga,' click here. Full Metal Jackie’s weekend show can be heard on radio stations around the country — for a full list of stations, go to fullmetaljackieradio.com.

Watch the Trailer for 'Northmen: A Viking Saga'