Tomas Laustiola Swedish actor. Date of Birth: 01.03.1949 Country: Sweden

1. Biography of Thomas Laustiola
2. Overcoming Addiction and Return to Acting
3. Role in "Interdevochka"
4. Alternate Endings and Thomas' Thoughts
5. Later Career

Biography of Thomas Laustiola

Thomas Laustiola is a Swedish actor who began his theatrical career at the Bergman Theater. However, his addiction to alcohol eventually destroyed his life. As the actor himself recalls, he drank excessively, leading to his expulsion from the theater and the departure of his wife. At times, Thomas found himself lying under fences due to his alcoholism.

Overcoming Addiction and Return to Acting

To his credit, Thomas found the strength to overcome his addiction. After a long treatment period, he returned to his profession. In the years 1986-88, he appeared in several films, including John Lindström's drama "Skuggan av Henry," Agneta Fagerström-Olsson's family TV film "Seppan" (Father Piero), Jonas Cornell's crime film "Manguden" (John), and May Zetterling's drama "Amorosa," among others. By the time Petr Todorovsky invited Thomas Laustiola to his film "Interdevochka," he had become a completely different person. A respectable man, remarried to a Jewish woman named Basya Friedman, and owning three clinics for alcoholics. What motivated Thomas to get involved in this field? Simply put, he believed that only a former alcoholic who had experienced all the "joys" of alcoholism could help others free themselves from this disease. He now had a strongly negative attitude towards alcohol, and if anyone smelled of vodka on the set, he would create a terrible scandal.

Role in "Interdevochka"

In Petr Todorovsky's melodrama, which tells the story of the fate of a currency prostitute named Tanya Zaitseva (played by Elena Yakovleva), Thomas Laustiola played Edward Larson, a Swedish businessman. He was the Swede whom Tanya married and with whom she left for Sweden. The film was released in 1989, following Vasily Pichul's "Little Vera," and caused a similar sensation in society. Until then, no director had dared to touch such a topic.

Alternate Endings and Thomas' Thoughts

The film was released in two versions. In the Russian version, the main character died, while in the Swedish version, she survived. When asked about the future of Larson and Tanya, Thomas Laustiola reflects, "Realizing that she did not need me, I would have separated from her. She would have spent several months in the hospital, divorced me, and gone back to Russia. In the film, when I first met her, I was a vice director of a small computer company. We worked with Russia, and things were going well in the East. I would have opened branches, become rich. I would have married a Swedish woman for the second time. Perhaps we would have had a child. But it definitely would not have worked out with my wife. And there I am, having learned a little Russian, aged, coincidentally meeting Tanya in Moscow - also somewhat faded. She had been married, her husband died, or she got tired of him, or he became alcoholic. She has a growing son, or maybe two. And I would have realized once again that I cannot live without her..." Well, this is just a film, but in real life, could our hero have married a prostitute? As the actor himself says, why not? For him, it doesn't matter who his beloved was before or the circumstances that have weighed on her. He also admits that when he was studying at the ballet school in Helsinki, he lived with a Czech currency prostitute for quite some time.

Later Career

In the future, Thomas Laustiola continued to appear in numerous films, mainly in Swedish cinema. In Gunilla Ambjörnsson's comedy "Stannar du sa springer jag," he played Erik, Frida's father. In Sue Clayton's detective film "The Disappearance of Finbar," he portrayed Yukka. In Daniel Bergman's drama "Svenska hjaltar," he played Police Officer Johnson, and in Razia Bagher's melodrama "Glass Wings," he portrayed Bengt.