New Swedish series Barracuda Queens has just arrived onto Netflix, a story that has been loosely based on true events about a spate of thefts from large wealthy homes in Stockholm.
The show features a nostalgic 90s soundtrack and some brilliant performances, as we watch a group of female friends from priveleged backgrounds and a taste for the finer things in life, all start struggling with debt issues, family dramas and mistreatment at the hands of men.
They decide to solve their money problems and get revenge by breaking into the homes of their wealthy neighbours and selling some of the goods. Things slowly start to fall apart, but will these unlikely suspects manage to get away with their brazen crimes?
Nordic Watchlist briefly spoke to three of the stars who play some of the members of the Barracuda Queens gang, to discuss their characters and what we can expect from this six-episode series.
Nordic Watchlist: Tell us a little bit about your characters who are part of the gang?
Sarah Gustafsson: I play Amina and I get introduced to the girls in the first episode. They all seem to have lost touch with reality because they have grown up in such a posh area in Stockholm with their wealthy families – so their view on the world is not totally normal.
Amina has very high integrity, she is artistic, and originally she was supposed to be a tougher character, but we made her a little nicer.
She’s quite an influential character to the group when she joins the girls.
Tindra Monsen: I play Klara and she is a bit of a prude. She has this very moral high ground and acts a bit more like one of the mothers in the gang. There is this desperation in her to break free from everyday life and so her character arc is really interesting.
She’s also a bit of an alcoholic. When I was reading the script, I kept seeing that in almost all her scenes she is drinking wine.
Sandra Zubovic: I play Klara’s sister, Frida, and I am the youngest. A lot more quiet and introverted, but if someone has a good idea she will jump into it. She might suddenly smash a window or something.
NW: The series has been said to be ‘loosely’ based on true events – how familiar were you with those events and also the neighbourhoods these occured in?
Sarah Gustafsson: When I first got the role I didn’t want to know too much about what actually happened, because it might then affect the way that I played my character. Everything that happens in the series kind of happened in reality but in a different way.
Tindra Monsen: The girls like to leave a symbol behind, which is five glasses around a bottle of champagne – apparently that really happened too.
Sarah Gustafsson: The big thing is that it was actually boys who did this in real life, so here the roles are reversed, with the added drama of what is going on in the characters lives.
Tindra Monsen: None us had really been to the area before so when we started shooting we couldn’t believe how big these houses were – with like, one lady living inside them – it was incredible.
‘The big thing is that it was actually boys who did this in real life‘
– Sarah Gustafsson
NW: The soundtrack is full of 90s classics but what would you say is your favourite 90s artist or music?
Tindra Monsen: That’s a really hard question!
Sarah Gustafsson: I really love Janet Jackson, also any 90s hip hop!
Sandra Zubovic: I mean, Wannabe by the Spice Girls, you can never go wrong with that song – I know it word for word. That would be my choice.
Tindra Monsen: Radiohead is 90s right? I can pick Radiohead.
NW: If you were able to steal anything in the world, perhaps a work of art or car for example – what would you steal?
Sarah Gustafsson: Any item?
Tindra Monsen: Maybe a giant diamond or something?
Sarah Gustafsson: You could sell it and go buy more nice things!
Tindra Monsen: Actually I would steal something old, like a painting, that would be cool.
Sandra Zubovic: I would steal a really fancy car, so I could just pull up and see everyone in something like a Porsche.
NW: Who would you say is most like the character they play in the series?
Sandra Zubovic: Right. It’s not me. No, no, it’s not me. I mean, it may be you (Sandra points at Sarah). Yeah, it could be me, but, like, not her thrill seeking side like going off and robbing people’s houses, but more the way she stays quiet and then becomes super hyped. I love the impulse of her.
Catch Barracuda Queens over on Netflix from 5th June.
