Exclusive: Mads Mikkelsen on becoming the Lion King’s darkest villain, the movie he’s a giant Disney fan of, and his return to Hannibal…

Bond. Marvel. Indiana Jones. They’ve given us some of the most — if not the most — iconic villains in cinema history. And in each series, Mads Mikkelsen has sprinkled magnificent malevolence into his scene-stealing bad guy roles.

Now, the prolific Hannibal star is turning his expertly villainous charms to another pillar of iconic cinema, Disney animation, by taking on the role of the snarling white lion Kiros, the formidable antagonist of stunning new prequel Mufasa: The Lion King. It’s an origin story that reveals the rise of the legendary Mufasa and rival Scar, full of jaw-dropping visuals, heart, and musical numbers — in which Mads also happens to make his all-singing debut.

We sat down with Mads to talk about what makes a great villain, being a giant Disney fan and his hopes for a return to the ludicrously good Hannibal show…

Shortlist: Tell us about your new Lion King character, Kiros, and what made you want to be part of this prequel?

Mads Mikkelsen: The reason I wanted to be part of this movie is, obviously, I grew up with Disney, as did you, as did my parents' generation — it's been part of four or five generations of upbringing, right? So, for a Danish kid who grew up with that, to be invited into that family and create a character from scratch together with Barry [Jenkins, director], that is a no brainer, that's an absolute yes. Kiros is an albino lion. He was an outcast, kicked out of his pride, his family, out of society. He survived it, and now he's back with a vengeance. He wants a piece of that pie… maybe he wants the entire pie.

SL: Kiros is a great villain. How do you go about creating a character that menacing using your voice alone?

MM: That's Barry's doing. Obviously, he's directing which way to go. A little less, a little more. Once we saw more animation, both of us would go back and forth and do the same scene again, because there's more stuff coming in, and we realised how formidable and gigantic this lion is. I think we both agreed that I should pitch my tonality a little down, because he was bigger than my natural voice.

SL: Did you have any other favourite villainous characters you looked to for inspiration for this?

MM: Not really. Obviously Scar was there, who is a legendary character, but Scar is different. There's a part of Scar that's a coward, and he’s also betraying people around him. Kiros is not like that. Kiros is a much stronger lion in many ways — but his heart might be even darker than Scar’s.

SL: Kiros is a complex character, too. Did you draw from any personal experiences for him?

MM: I would say there is something heartbreaking about being kicked out of society because you have the wrong skin colour, right? That's just brutal; that will darken anyone's heart. So that part is understandable, that he's been a survivor, and we feel pity for that. But so was Mufasa, and he's not ending up in the same place. You always have a choice to go that way or that way, and they choose different directions.

SL: You've played your fair share of iconic on-screen villains now — what do you think makes a great villain?

MM: The story, and the director has to want to humanise the characters. Not necessarily get empathy, but at least have something recognisable in the characters, so they're not just standing over there being something we can't identify with. Yeah, humanise is a good word — even though it's a lion this time — we've got to feel like we can find something that we can recognise.

SL: What do you think it is about you in particular that makes such a good villain?

MM: I don't know. I think it's partly because when you do something in America and they like it, they kind of want another bite of that cake.

SL: You have a musical number in this as well. How did you prepare for that?

MM: I walked in circles, biting my nails and waiting for the day to come. That was a little nerve wracking, because I don't sing. I'm not a singer, but after the first half hour, I think we found a way and the singing coach was super cool. We just agreed that it was, ‘We don't want to hear you sing Mads, we just want to hear the character’. So we went through the character and made it our own.

SL: Do you have the bug now — could we see you in more musicals?

MM: When you say it like that, yeah, maybe! But also part of me goes, like, ‘That was fine, that was it!’

SL: Were you a fan of the original Lion King?

MM: Yeah, a giant fan. I mean, it was my daughter's generation’s film, right? So I watched it with her, and later on, my son as well, over and over again. Fifty times, maybe. It is a fantastic, iconic film.

SL: Are you a Disney fan in general?

MM: It's hard not to be. We grew up with that, right? Every Christmas, we have two hours on Christmas Day, where the entire family gathers and watches little Disney films. It's something that's been around forever, and one of my first memories of any film I remember is The Jungle Book. So, yeah, I’m a giant fan.

SL: Is that your favourite?

MM: Yeah, The Jungle Book might be my favourite, still.

SL: Who is your favourite Jungle Book character?

MM: Well, it's hard not to say Balloo, right?

SL: On that note, if you could join a sequel to any other Disney movie, what would it be?

MM: The thing is that I think this was smart. This was an achievement to go back and see how Mufasa became Mufasa, and how Scar became Scar. I think that's a standalone film, but it's also a beautiful prequel. It’s always hard for me to go back because you don't want to mess it up. You want to keep the curiosity. If they decide to do something, I'm sure they’ll do it for a good reason. But I can't say which one!

SL: You’ve starred in so many iconic roles, if you could return to one of them, what would it be?

MM: I think there's a season left — we need to wrap up on Hannibal. I think we all feel like that. We had it lined out. We knew exactly what we were going to do with it. So if anything, wrap up that story.

SL: There was talk of another series, then a movie. What was the last you heard about that?

MM: Both! But, I mean, I heard a lot, and then nothing's happened, so we'll have to wait. I prefer the series; I know how that works in Brian Fuller's world. But if there's a film coming along, we'll look at it.

SL: What would you like to explore more of as Hannibal?

MM: Oh, we have to dive into The Silence Of The Lambs, of course…

Mufasa: The Lion King is released in UK cinemas on 20th December 2024.

Lead image Credit: Samir Hussein/ WireImage/ Getty Images

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