The Worst Person in the World: how director Joachim Trier and star Renate Reinsve channelled their life experiences into the Oscar-nominated relationship drama
- Renate Reinsve says the script about a woman about to turn 30 who has yet to find her true calling in life felt instantly familiar
- Joachim Trier drew on his own past: when he was insecure about wanting a family, and later when he was ready to settle down but was with someone younger
When Joachim Trier took The Worst Person in the World to Cannes in July 2021, he couldn’t have imagined the journey that was to come – one that took him all the way to the Oscars.
This “little Norwegian film” – Trier’s fifth – coming from a country with a population of just over 5 million saw the movie industry take notice. When you get the likes of Knocked Up filmmaker Judd Apatow tweeting that it’s “stunning” and “remarkable”, you know you’ve done something right.
The movie’s star, Renate Reinsve, won Best Actress in Cannes, beating the likes of Tilda Swinton and Marion Cotillard. Largely unknown outside of Norway, she finished the festival being feted by some of the best performers on the planet.
“Who should I mention?” she blushes, when I ask who came up to her after seeing the film. “Isabelle Huppert – who I’ve been a fan of my whole life and is the greatest actress on Earth. She told me that I was good, and I was like, ‘OK, I can quit now.’”
Reinsve was also nominated for a Bafta and was signed up by fashion giant Louis Vuitton as a brand ambassador. Meanwhile, Trier’s film became only the sixth Norwegian film ever to compete at the Academy Awards in the Best Foreign Language category. Even more remarkably, it was nominated for Best Original Screenplay.