Clark, a new drama based on the story of notorious Swedish criminal and "celebrity gangster" Clark Olofsson, lands on Netflix this week, and eagle-eyed Ghost fans have spotted one unexpected and amusing cameo.
The show, directed by Lord Of Chaos filmmaker and former Bathory drummer Jonas Åkerlund and scored by Opeth's Mikael Åkerfeldt, lifts the lid on one of Sweden's most infamous and divisive characters, and stars It actor Bill Skarsgård in the title role.
As well as the involvements of Åkerlund and Åkerfeldt, Clark has seemingly notched up another metal connection with a brief appearance from none other than Ghost mainman, Tobias Forge.
In a clip taken from episode six, Tobias can be seen dressed in traditional garb playing a fiddle as Skarsgård's Clark and his cronies arrive on the scene of a Midsommar party, no doubt looking to cause trouble. After Tobias' character attempts to intervene, one meanie steals his fiddle and proceeds to give him a good old smacking with it. Poor lad! That's what you get for trying to help!
In the latest issue of Metal Hammer, on sale now, we take an in-depth look behind the scenes of Clark in an exclusive interview with Åkerlund.
“In the 70s and 80s [Clark] was a superstar,” says the director, who has also helmed a variety of music videos with everyone from Madonna to Rammstein. "Everybody over 40 in Sweden knows who he is, but opinion tends to be split. He looked like a rock star and teens would have posters of him on the wall, but older people remember him being the guy that put fear into people, as nobody knew where he’d pop up.
“Clark robbed a bank with a Coca-Cola bottle!” Jonas adds. “He pretended it was a gun, screaming, ‘I’m Clark Olofsson, everybody knows what’s happening now!’ and everybody just went along with it. That’s how famous he was.”
Clark was the inspiration behind the term 'Stockholm syndrome' thanks to his presence at a bank robbery in Norrmalmstorg square that resulted in a lengthy hostage situation, during which the hostages began to show compassion towards their captors.
Read more from our interview with Jonas Åkerlund in the new issue of Metal Hammer, out now. Clark is out now via Netflix, and you can watch Tobias Forge's star turn below. Amalie Bruun - AKA Myrkur - is also believed to have a cameo in the series, though we haven't yet confirmed if any violins are involved.
