Tobias Santelmann, Joel Kinnaman to Star in Netflix's Harry Hole Nordic Noir Series

Tobias Santelmann (Exit, The Arctic Convoy) and Joel Kinnaman (Altered Carbon, The Suicide Squad) are set to star in Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole, Netflix's upcoming Nordic noir series based on Nesbo's series of best-selling crime novels.

Santelmann will play the obsessive but introverted homicide detective Harry Hole, with Kinnaman as Tom Waaler, a corrupt cop and Hole's long-time nemesis within the Oslo police department. Pia Tjelta (Made in Oslo, State of Happiness) will play Hole's romantic partner Rakel Fauke.

The first season on Detective Hole is based on Nesbo's novel The Devil's Star, the fifth in his Harry Hole series, which have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide. Nesbo is adapting his own work for the Norweigan series. Netflix is hoping this version of Harry Hole will make audiences forget The Snowman, the ill-fated 2017 Nesbo adaptation that was a box office disappointment and launched a thousand mocking memes.

In a statement, Santelmann said he was "very much aware of the huge global fan base and the millions of readers who love the character" of Harry Hole. "For me, it is about creating a Harry that people can both recognize and be surprised by."

Commenting on the casting of Santelmann, Nesbo noted that he guessed "all readers of the book series have their own vision of what Harry Hole would look like, and they should be allowed to keep that. [But] we will create a Harry that is based not only on the books but on the actor Tobias Santelmann and everyone involved in this project – both in front and behind the camera. For me, storytelling isn't about serving people what they think they want, but what they didn't know they wanted."

Universial Pictures-owned Working Title, who produced The Snowman, are also on board for the Detective Hole series. Oystein Karlsen (Exit) will direct. Harry Hole is set to begin principal photography on May 23 on location in Oslo.

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