Hannes Halldorsson, the Goalkeeper and Film Director

DBasia.news – The career journey is like human life: it can change at any time. In that case, Icelandic national team goalkeeper Hannes (Thor) Halldorsson has a detailed plan if he retires from football in the future.

“I have one year left on my contract so I’m not done yet but I feel that the end is near,” Halldorsson told Sky Sports.

“I’m really tired of not controlling my schedule and having to be somewhere every afternoon. I think it’s holding me back as a filmmaker, so I would welcome the opportunity to jump into the film industry in full force when the time comes.”

“There are more doors open than I thought. I want to make the most of it.”

His comments serve as a few initial tips on Halldorsson’s story in this article. Halldorsson may now be pursuing a professional football career, but he is aware that his career will not be long and he will have to make plans when he retires.

Regarding the plan, Halldorsson chose to pursue the world of film. Instead of being an actor, Halldorsson instead became a film director by making his story as a professional footballer, as well as references from other films, as a narrative in a film.

His career as a film player and director made him a ‘unique’ player in Europe. Because in terms of a career as a goalkeeper, Halldorsson is not very special, especially since he does not play in one of Europe’s top leagues.

Even so, for Icelanders Halldorsson was a big figure who led his country to qualify for Euro 2016, beating England, and one special thing that will certainly always be remembered is when he saved six Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi’s penalty at the 2018 World Cup.

“People find my story inspiring,” said Halldorsson.

“Being a lower league player and then making a penalty save from the best player in the world in the first game a small nation has ever played in a World Cup. It’s an unusual story. Personally, I think it sounds like a bad script from a cliché sports movie. “

Career and Love of Film

It took a long time for Halldorsson to experience professional football because at the age of 14 and 19 he dislocated his shoulder. His career at club level is not widely known to the public from Leiknir R, Afturelding, Fram, KR, NEC, Randers, and now with Valur at the age of 37.

But his persistence brought him to the Icelandic national team in 2011 and to date Halldorsson has 77 caps. In between his routine as a player, Halldorsson has started to fall in love with the world of film at the age of 12 years.

“I started making short films when I was 12 years old. I joined the video club at my high school. When I graduated from business school, my friends continued to work in economics but I continued to work in the film industry,” explains Halldorsson.

“I work as a filmmaker and play in lower league Icelandic football. If you are in lower league Icelandic football you don’t get much lower than that in world football. But it went well and I made it going up fast.”

It is not easy to divide time between two different activities, especially since Halldorsson moved from Norway, the Netherlands, Denmark, to Azerbaijan. But he can do it well.

“I’ve been balancing football and film for eight years. We (Halldorsson and wife) have our first baby,” added Halldorsson.

Halldorsson’s focus was split, but he managed to keep his focus from being one-sided. Evidently, recently his new film entitled “Cop Secret” appeared and was shown at the London BFI film festival so that the public in Europe knew about it.

The new film is an action comedy genre and Halldorsson is inspired by the film “Hot Fuzz” with a story about the best cops stationed in a small village, a place with low crime rates.

“We never imagined that anyone outside of Iceland would ever see it. There’s so much in it that only locals would understand but people still seem to relate to. Maybe there’s something genuine about it,” added Halldorsson.

“We had the idea of taking overkill, super villains, everything we don’t have in Iceland, and playing it out in the peaceful city of Reykjavik.”

“It has a lot in common with Hot Fuzz, if you remember that movie, where you take the best cops in London and put them in a small English village where nothing ever happens. That’s the basic source of comedy in movies. high tempo but has heart and soul.”

“It gives the action film archetype a twist and highlights some important topics. It makes the film a bit more interesting. We tried to treat subject with as much respect as possible. This film is about him making peace with himself. I’m glad we did.”

Interesting. Marvel has a fictional hero named Thor, the son of Odin and also the Sun God who comes from Asgard with great powers to fight crime, while the movie world has Hannes (Thor) Halldorsson with the power to play football and also make movies.