Bill Skarsgård Stars As Celebrity Gangster Clark Olofsson For Netflix

Bill Skarsgård, best known as Pennywise The Clown in Stephen King’s IT, will star in six-part Netflix drama Clark as celebrity Swedish gangster Clark Olofsson, who escaped prisons and committed robberies across Europe. Jonas Åkerlund (Polar) is on board to direct.

Based on Clark Olofsson’s autobiography Vafan var det som hände, this Swedish language series will cover his life from the beginning of his criminal career in the 1960s through to present day as one of the most controversial personalities in contemporary Swedish history.

Convicted of several counts of drug trafficking, attempted murder, assault, theft and dozens of bank robberies, he has spent more than half his life behind bars and it was one of his failed bank robberies in the 1970s that gave rise to the idea of Stockholm Syndrome.

Jonas Åkerlund said: “Clark is the story about the most politically incorrect man, who lived the most politically incorrect life. These are the kinds of stories I always look for. It’s an ultra-violent, witty, emotional, real and surreal biography to put a face to the name Stockholm Syndrome, but it isn’t just about the Norrmalmstorg Robbery. It’s about his whole life and what made him who he is, the truth and lies of his incredible career.”

Bill Skarsgård added: “Clark Olofsson is, for good and bad, one of Sweden’s most colourful and fascinating individuals. I accept this challenge with delight mingled with terror and think that with Jonas and Netflix in the back, we can tell a groundbreaking story with a pace and madness we may not have seen on TV before. Clark’s life and history is so incredible and screwed that it would even make Scorsese blush.”