Hans Bruntt was born in 1983 near Fredericia, Denmark, the youngest of two children to Polish illegal immigrants Josef Bruntt and Maria Bruntt. As a child, he was remembered as being quiet and a loner by those who knew him. When Hans was two, he had a concussion when a dumbbell fell on him, and he had over 30 stitches. His mother was an alcoholic and his father was a political figure in the trade union. Hans suffered from grand mal seizures and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy when he was six. By the age of 10, Hans reportedly began to spend nights in cemeteries. He was known as an introvert, obsessed with WW-II guns and Italian pop music, and he was often seen climbing trees for no reason.
When he was 13 years old, he spent some time with his uncle Bronislaw, a war veteran. The two spent time driving around in Funen and Jutland and, according to Hans, it was during that time that Brosnislaw taught him how to shoot and cut animals for ‘maximum effect’. He also introduced him to the new wave of British heavy metal, and Hans was particularly fond of Judas Priest, in particular their song Between the Hammer and the Anvil.
In seventh grade Hans started skipping school, and he continued smoking unfiltered cigarettes and was caught eating uncooked rice. He soon took to stealing cans of paint, pressured by older underground graffiti artists. Hans was arrested twice and the authorities removed him from his parents and sent him in foster care. But Hans ran away and started the life of a drifter, still smoking pall malls and living on junk food and rice. After two years living in sewers and in the forest, he was arrested for bicycle theft in the Aarhus suburb Brabrand. His young age saved him from a fine.
Instead he was sent to an institution for youngsters in Middelfart. He became friends with Bo Jørgensen and they developed a common interest in the horror movies of George A. Romero. This was the beginning of a long friendship and the foundation of the ideas behind the Foking Films company. Leaving the institution, they both moved to Aarhus and Hans started working at a run-down burger joint. At the same time, the dynamic duo made their first short films, inspired by Japanese cult-cinema pioneer Shinya Tsukamoto ‘s work, using the industrial setting on the harbour of Aarhus. Hans also started taking classes at a public high school, and he frequented the alternative business school The Kaospilots. Unfortunately, he also started smoking again and eating uncooked food, and was expelled from the school after a few months.
Hans sold everything he owned (an extensive comics collection and more than 50 “hip hop” CDs) and flew to South-East Asia, planning to earn money by selling low carb banana pancakes. After returning to Aarhus he used his fortune to start the independent film company Foking Films with this friend, the special effects master mind Bo Jørgensen.
Interview with Hans Bruntt from February 2011, excerpts taken without premission from the Danish “Ud og Se” Magazine. Translated with Babel Fish.
With a fit body and charming personality, Hans Bruntt can easily trick you to believe that he is in his early 20s. The actor tells us about the new film and working with Irish actor Anna Murray, with whom he has been linked up in gossip columns now:
Seems your expectations are really flying high with “Comfort Clones”.
HB: Why not? It’s my film and I love it. The experience has been great. Roskilde is so very colourful. We have made a good product and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly while making the film. I made some really nice friends on the sets and the memory of the film is going to stay with me forever. The film is a beautiful master piece, capturing the moment of love and harmony at such a big festival, with no fatal casualties.
What made you say ‘yes’ to do the film?
HB: I am an instinctive person. I do a film when I like it; I don’t think too much about it, only later when I grow old and cry. What caught my eyes in “Comfort Clones” is the direct narration of the film. My character is an extension of Roskilde through 30 years. He is free-spirited but also ambitious. The tagline of the film is
“Clone Your Lover”, and that basically speaks for all the characters. I mean, the cyber-tech reality is all around us now! Mobile phones and small computer chips in your car! At some point in your life you do something for which you have to pay back. So all the characters undergo a bit of transformation. The movie is too real and so futuristic that we hit the new hippie/yuppie generation spot on! We will make a fortune!
You are said to be very choosy about accepting films. Why?
HB: I am choosy because I cannot afford to repeat myself as an actor. I cannot afford to get typecast in films featuring me as a heavy-metal freak, so the characterizations are different. My name sells because film makers and my audience like my acting. I do not have a face that can sell tickets; let’s face it. I tried a new look in Comfort Clones and the director liked it. I am constantly looking for stories that portray me in characters I have not done before. The co-star matters a lot to me too, and I am particular about who I share a lot of screen space with. Especially when the script demands more of interaction between actors than hardcore action and reaction. For me, working with Anna Murray and Claus Opstrup was a wonderful experience.
How is Anna Murray as a co-actor?
HB: Anna and I have done a lot of films together. In fact, both of us faced the camera for the first time together as we were to be launched in a film called Sex and the Zombie. Anyway, as for Anna, she’s always fantastic in her job as an actor. We always have a lot of fun on the sets when Anna is around. So, not only Comfort Clones, but all films that I have done with her have been a real pleasure.
You have achieved many milestones in your career. Is there anything that you still want to achieve?
HB: I am grateful to God for giving me so much. I was given to power to express despair and lost love, but always with humour and true feelings. People have given me their love and blessings. I am very happy. If you see, there’s no end to our wants. I believe that whatever we get in life, we should be satisfied with that. That is what I strive to express in films!
