Nikolaj Coster-Waldau On 'Optimist's Guide To The Planet'

EXCLUSIVE: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is channeling the unique impact of Game of Thrones as he gears up for the launch of his Bloomberg Original documentary series this week.

The star, who played Jamie Lannister in the HBO juggernaut, told Deadline it would initially have been “absurd” that “a fantasy show about a girl who gave birth to three dragons and spoke in a made-up language would 11 years later have won more Emmys than any other show in history.”

However, “someone imagined it and pursued it,” he added.

The actor is taking that lesson as ammunition for his new doc series, Optimist’s Guide To The Planet with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, in which he travels the world with his team exploring humanity, witnessing its power for good, and learning about some of the remarkable solutions (both old and new) that inspire his optimism for the future. In the six-part series, the team visits Greenland, Australia, the U.S., Japan, Vietnam, Germany, Kenya, St. Vincent, Spain, Mexico, the Netherlands and Switzerland.

The series was inspired by Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier’s film Anthropocene, which looks at the physical effect humans have on the planet.

“It’s a sobering look at how humans have physically transformed our planet, but it inspired me because although that movie can be seen as a depressing look at how humans have caused havoc to our world, I saw incredible achievement and possibility,” said Coster-Waldau.

As a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Development Programme, Coster-Waldau has been travelling the world meeting local people over recent years. He said: “Every time, I was just blown away by the hope and the belief in a better tomorrow that exists everywhere. That the fear for the future that unfortunately is real and dominant in the Western world is not shared by parts of the world that, at least on the surface, have a much tougher starting point. I want to share those stories.”

He added that a large percentage of young Western people are terrified of the future, and believe that the world has taken too long to combat issues such as climate change.

“That is terrible because it’s simply not true and not supported by fact. We need to keep telling the story of the challenges we face, but we also need to include the solutions, and that the solutions are being implemented right now all over the world. There is every reason for young people to be excited about the future of life.”

David Brady, CEO of Cream, said Coster-Waldau’s star power gives An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet the chance to “draw [audiences] into the world that we’re exploring,” adding: “He is recognized in every corner of the globe. During production, passersby stopped to gather around him.”

Finding positive solutions

Brady had developed the series after Anthropocene‘s filmmakers had pitched the idea of TV follow-up. “Where Anthropocene is about the ‘problems’ or side effects of human ingenuity, An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau looks into the future and toward the positive solutions that our ingenuity will deliver,” he said.

Brady’s U.S. agents at WME had introduced him to the Game of Thrones star and his Ill Kippers production imprint, and they found they had a common passion for the project. “Together, we started talking to networks, but it was Bloomberg and Crave that jumped at our project,” said Brady.

UK producer Wildfire Television, which had worked with Cream in past, was drafted in as a co-producer, Canadian tax credits were accessed and production began. Cineflix Rights and Bloomberg Rights are jointly distributing.

“Together, the teams made the magic of flights, carnéts, ground transport, hotels, food, fixers, safety and creative brilliance happen,” said Brady. “It ran incredibly smoothly most likely because these teams are proficient at solving complex travel and production issues. The field crew, having jumped from country to country throughout production, was indefatigable.”

Looking ahead, Cream and Ill Kippers, which Coster-Waldau runs with production partners Joe Derrick and Steve Bakken, are exploring more Optimist’s Guide stories, and exploring further projects together, including scripted ideas.

Coster-Waldau is currently in pre-production on BBC and CBS Studios drama King and Conqueror, in which he plays William the Conqueror and James Norton plays Harold of Wessex.

The actor/producer calls himself an “optimistic realist” and noted that global challenges such as climate change and biodiversity loss “massive, complex and very difficult,” but added: “We are solving them. Rome wasn’t built in a day.”

The show is produced by Toronto-based Cream Productions and the UK’s Wildfire Television in association with Bloomberg and Bell Media, and will launch on Bloomberg.com and the Bloomberg app on February 8. Canadian streamer Crave is on board and Cineflix Rights is shopping the show internationally. You can watch an exclusive clip above.