Axel Åhman is set to star in “Body in the Closet,” an upcoming series produced for Warner Bros. International Television Production Finland that blends dark humor, supernatural elements and an increasingly desperate personal crisis.
Åhman will play Staffan, a country boy working in audience services at a big-city theater. Although he knows the institution’s history by heart, he is far less assured around Betty, the woman he has a crush on. His painfully clumsy and tactless efforts to approach her culminate in an accidental death by chainsaw.
That grisly turn will not remove Staffan from the story. He returns as a ghost and continues haunting Betty throughout the series.
“I found it funny to play a murder victim. I like it when characters meet an unexpected end, and when writers dare to go darker,” Åhman told Variety.
The performer said the project also gives him an opportunity to work outside his usual creative process.
“Comedy is at its funniest when it dances on the borderline of darkness,” Åhman said. “We don’t see much dark comedy in the Nordics. When I got the chance to participate, I just had to tag along and see where it headed. It’s also a nice challenge to play someone else’s script. I have mainly played characters from my own writing.”
A Theater Full of Egos and Secrets
Elin Grönblom is directing “Body in the Closet” and co-wrote the series with Josefin Sonck, who will play the lead. Grönblom and Sonck are also known for “Bloodsuckers.”
While the new show includes death and supernatural activity, Sonck drew a line between its approach and a conventional horror-comedy label. She said comedy and horror are closely connected because both depend on surprise and the manipulation of audience expectations.
“But this isn’t a ‘horror comedy,’” Sonck said. “It’s more about one person’s increasingly desperate life situation, told through dark humor and supernatural elements.”
Grönblom described horror — or, in this instance, dark comedy involving killing — as a form that creates room for play, fun and escapism. She said audiences can watch characters act in ways they would not dare to themselves and probably should not.
The story centers on Finland’s Swedish-speaking minority, a community to which Grönblom and Sonck also belong. Even so, Grönblom said the world depicted in the series can be recognized anywhere, particularly through its theater setting and its collection of prejudiced, grandiose personalities.
That theatrical environment is more than a backdrop. According to Sonck, it becomes a symbolic space for the show’s examination of self-absorption, the desire for validation and the ways people attempt to control their public image. It is also a place where hidden truths can be exposed.
Grönblom said she and Sonck are both attracted to dark humor because it lets them approach serious subjects from an absurd angle. In “Body in the Closet,” those subjects include egocentrism and the relationship between a narcissistic parent and child.
The series will be set against what Grönblom called the visually realistic world of a gray Helsinki autumn. Against that grounded setting, the characters and action will be heightened to establish a fast-moving comic tone.
Why Åhman Fits Staffan
Producer Mia Oikarinen identified Åhman as best known for his work as a member of the comedy group KAJ. He is also a writer, screenwriter, comedian, musician and actor.
Oikarinen said his experience made him a natural match for both the character and the show’s darker sensibility.
“His comic timing and background in writing make him a particularly strong fit for Staffan and for the series’ darkly comic tone,” she said. “He was very happy that we thought of him for the role — and amused that we immediately pictured him as Staffan.”
The creative team sees the characters’ selfish behavior as central to the comedy. Oikarinen said they are motivated by their individual egos and needs, frequently overlooking the people around them and pushing one another into progressively more absurd situations.
For Sonck, the series rests on three elements: a timely and universal theme, a suspense-driven story featuring twists and cliffhangers, and quirky comic characters willing to act on thoughts that other people would never admit to having.
The team also believes “Body in the Closet” has strong international potential, pointing to the broad relevance of its concerns even though the story is rooted in a specific Finnish minority community.
ShowBiz Take
Åhman’s casting gives “Body in the Closet” a performer whose comedy and writing background directly aligns with its carefully balanced tone. Staffan’s chainsaw death may be the project’s most immediately startling detail, but his return as Betty’s ghost shows that the series intends to use the macabre as an ongoing storytelling device rather than a single shock.
The theater setting also gives the creators a focused arena for their larger themes. A story about ego, image and validation unfolds inside an institution built around performance, while its supernatural component allows concealed tensions and secrets to move into the spotlight. Just as importantly, the creative team is framing the show as dark comedy with killing rather than a straightforward horror comedy.
What Happens Next?
“Body in the Closet” is scheduled to begin shooting next autumn. Svenska YLE, the Swedish-language division of Finland’s public broadcaster YLE, is already on board. No release date was provided in the source material.