Ghost’s Tobias Forge Takes Fiddle Beating in Netflix Series ‘Clark’
Eagle-eyed Ghost fans watching the new Netflix gangster series Clark have spotted none other than Tobias Forge ending up on the wrong side of his preferred instrument while making a recent cameo.
Clark is directed by acclaimed video director and former Bathory musician Jonas Akerlund and is based around the life of notorious Swedish gangster Clark Olofsson. Given Akerlund's pull in the music community, it should probably come as no surprise that he was able to sway Forge to make a cameo in the series.
Forge's cameo comes in the sixth episode of the season, as he appeared as part of a traditional band providing musical entertainment for a Midsommar festival gathering. But things get a bit rowdy as the titular Clark and his crew show up and start trying to liven up the party. Eventually, an elder festival organizer confronts Clark about their combative presence, leading to a physical confrontation, and when Forge's fiddle playing character tries to intervene, he ends up getting a smackdown from the wrong side of his instrument courtesy of one of Clark's cohorts.
Akerlund told Metal Hammer, “In the 70s and 80s [Clark] was a superstar. Everybody over 40 in Sweden knows who he is, but opinion tends to be split. He looked like a rock star and teens would have posters of him on the wall, but older people remember him being the guy that put fear into people, as nobody knew where he’d pop up. Clark robbed a bank with a Coca-Cola bottle! He pretended it was a gun, screaming, ‘I’m Clark Olofsson, everybody knows what’s happening now!’ and everybody just went along with it. That’s how famous he was.”
Olofsson also is reportedly the inspiration for the term Stockholm Syndrome, which refers to hostages starting to show compassion for their captors over a lengthy period being held against their will.
Clark is currently airing on Netflix.
Meanwhile, Forge is having better fortune with his primary gig. Ghost are currently touring Europe in support of their most recent album, Impera. See the dates and get ticketing info here.