With Sentimental Value, Renate Reinsve Gives Audiences a Lot to Chew On

Renate Reinsve was on the verge of quitting acting when Joachim Trier called with the offer that would change everything: the lead in 2021’s The Worst Person in the World, a role he’d written just for her. The restless, searching Julie became Reinsve’s breakout part, winning her best actress at the Cannes Film Festival and setting the course for her next collaboration with Trier, Sentimental Value. In the family dramedy, the now 38-year-old plays Nora, an actor navigating a fraught relationship with her famous director father (Stellan Skarsgård). If the anxious, melancholic Nora feels like an echo of Julie, that’s by design. While making Worst Person, Reinsve and Trier imagined Julie’s future selves. “We started playing a game of what it would be like if she was a little darker, a little bit more mature,” she recalls. That “seed of a character” grew into Nora—and into Reinsve’s first Golden Globe nomination, with the film earning eight total nods, including for best director.

Your character in Sentimental Value is named Nora. Is that a reference to the Nora in A Doll’s House, by Henrik Ibsen?

Good question. I don’t think so, but the house in the film is its own character, so I think there is a subconscious link. Being Scandinavian, we can’t get away from Ibsen or Bergman; it’s part of our DNA.

In the film, your character initially turns down a part because her father, played by Stellan Skarsgård, is directing the film. They have a tense relationship. Have you ever turned down a part because of emotions?

Taking a part, especially if you have a director who wants to make a personal movie, is very emotional. You have to dive into something that is already a part of you or will become a part of you. It’s a big decision. I get scared by a part if it feels too close to me or to a situation that I’ve been in. But you get a lot out of it too.

Do you have a favorite reality show?

Love on the Spectrum. I think I watched the first season three times. Love is so complicated, and on the show they say exactly what they’re thinking. It’s so freeing to watch these lovely people. And it seems a little easier when you see someone else going through the complexity of love.

Are you superstitious?

Well, I have tried to stay at the Chateau Marmont, but I had to move because the doors were opening and stuff. I was on the sixth floor—that’s where it was happening. The handle of a door was twisting, and then I heard something that sounded like a scream. I know other people have stayed there for years and have never seen a ghost. But I was like, I’m out of here.

For this shoot, you played dead in a pool of blood.

Death and sex belong in cinema. There are some beautiful corpses that “live” on: Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks is one of my favorites.

Do you have any good scars?

Well, Stellan Skarsgård is my favorite Skar. [Laughs] We’re such a bad influence on each other. We have tequila shots, and it’s become this game. I love him so much.

Have you ever lied about having a skill to get a part?

No, I can’t lie because I will always be found out. I blush so much. If I lie, I will just start blushing and then, in three seconds, they’ll say, “Oh, that’s not true, is it?”

Style Director: Allia Alliata di Montereale. Codirector: Frank Lebon. Director of photography: André Chemetoff. Hair by Jawara for L’Oréal Professional at Art Partner; makeup by Lauren Parsons for Sisley Paris at Art Partner; manicure by Jolene Brodeur for Dazzle Dry at the Wall Group. Set design by David White at Streeters.