“The Best Policy for Sweden Is Not the Best Policy for Me”

Alexander Karim says Jimmie Åkesson is the Swedish party leader who performs best on stage. Yet Karim also says he will vote for policies that do not serve his own wallet.

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The policy I believe is best for Sweden is not the one that suits my wallet best.

“The policy I believe is best for Sweden is not the one that suits my wallet best,” the 50-year-old actor says. Karim, known for roles in productions including “The Lawyer,” “Gladiator” and the “Johan Falk” films, has appeared in about 80 films and television series. He is now working on his third novel and paused that work to appear on Svenska Dagbladet’s political podcast.

Karim follows American politics closely and has also been watching Sweden’s election campaign. He says the country’s political tone has become “much uglier” and misses what he sees as the steadier values of former prime ministers Fredrik Reinfeldt and Göran Persson. Politicians, he says, now appear more willing to change positions depending on which alliances might give them greater power. He calls that tendency a form of Trumpism.

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Now I think politics has become much uglier in Sweden.

As an actor, Karim judges politicians not only by their messages but also by how they perform. He compares American politics to a musical and Swedish politics to an Ingmar Bergman-style chamber drama. In his view, however, the Swedish production lacks good actors and has little charisma.

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I would have loved it if Jimmie were a Social Democrat!

Åkesson is his exception. Karim says he would have loved it if Åkesson were a Social Democrat because he is so effective at what he does, although Karim considers his views wrong. Karim gives Ebba Busch a failing grade as a speaker, describing her style as overacted and not genuine. He says he expects to lose money by voting left, but believes those policies are better for Sweden and for people beyond his own circumstances.

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I think it is overacted, and there is something inauthentic about it.