Alex spoke to Finnish actress Kreeta Salminen, star of Walter Presents new series Enemy of the People. The series aired in the UK at the beginning of August and has already proved to be a hit.

Nordic Watchlist: Let us start off by finding out more about the character you play in Enemy of the People?

Kreeta Salminen: So I play Katja who is a pretty determined and relentless newspaper journalist who starts to investigate this popular football star who is involved in some shady goings on with money and corruption. He ends up murdered and more things come out from that, such as crypto money businesses.

So she decides to investigate and doesn’t give up despite the readers of the paper starting to target her and hate on her for what she is doing.

I really like her character because she is so passionate about her job.

NW: Aside from Katja being a strong and determined character, what other aspects of her drew you to the role?

KS: The script is so well written and everything really starts from there. Katja feels like such a real and whole person. So it felt like a pleasure to get the opportunity to bring that character to life.

The story’s topic had really drawn me in and it is so current at the moment!

The team behind the series did such a great job getting to understand the world of journalism with the newspapers and the journalists work. There was the series creator Roope Lehtinen, screenwriters Timo Varpio and Laura Suhonen, the director too Mikko Kuparinen. I was so excited to get to work with these people and all the talented co-stars too!

NW: Did you see any similarities between yourself and Katja?

KS: Well I can be quite determined as well, but Katja doesn’t really care what people think of her and I am quite the opposite to that – I could learn some more of that from her.

So that was interesting to play a role that was so different my own personality yet both of our jobs play such important roles in our llives so that is similarity I also felt between us.

NW: The opening episode is very hard hitting when showing the treatment of journalists which I felt was shocking and highlighted something that was not far at all from reality. How important was it to bring this character and the treatment of her to life for this series?

KS: Of course it is really important especially in this day and age.

The themes have of course been real for quite some time and journalists around the world have been harassed and trolled throughout history but especially lately this topic has been very heated.

It is scary how fake news, questioning facts, and targeting journalists has gotten more common lately and how often female reporters are targeted. We have even had some cases in Finland lately too – not to mention the situation in some countries where journalists have to be scared for their lives just doing their job.

A good drama should always feature a current topic but also be able to mix that with entertainment and I think that Enemy of the People has done a great job in succeeding with that blend.

NW: It got me thinking about what other films or series out there have a journalist as the lead and playing the detective – what are some of your favourites?

KS: It was quite a while ago now but Amy Adams did an amazing job in Sharp Objects – I think that was amazing. Then there was the movie Spotlight which is incredibly good and most recently I watched The Fourth Estate when I was preparing myself for this role.

NW: What about reading the news yourself? Are you someone who reads the news a lot of do you keep it at arm’s length?

KS: Every morning I read the main papers here in Helsinki and especially when I was doing this role for Enemy of the People – I was studying the stories and how they were written.

But I also need to take breaks too – I have a child and sometimes the world’s situation is just a bit too much. I worry too much!

Enemy of the People is out on now on Walter Presents which is part of Channel 4