Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers for Your Friends & Neighbors Episode 5
There werea lot of unforgettable characters in the second seasonof the mind-bending hit Apple TV+ seriesSeverance. Heck,Ben StillerandDan Ericksonwent out of their way to make sure that all of the characters are weird and extremely eccentric in some way.Your Friends & Neighbors, currently available to stream on Apple TV+, may not have the bizarre world and cast of the sci-fi thriller series, but that doesn’t mean that theJohn Hamm-helmed show doesn’t boast its fair share of colorful and swanky players — all of whom live in an upscale neighborhood lined with mansions.
One of the most over-the-top characters from the first season of the show appeared in Episode 5, and thisSeverancestar was almost unrecognizable in what is a terrific change of pace. The enormous Mr. Drummond (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson)was always on point to reprimand Mr. Milchik(Tramell Tillman) orsacrifice a verve-filled goatfor Kier Eagan and Lumon. You might not even recognize him in his turn as an art dealer inYour Friends & Neighbors, but when you do,you’ll be shocked that it is the same person.
What Is Apple TV+’s ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’ About?
After losing his hedge fund job, Andrew “Coop” Cooper (Hamm)resorts to a life of petty crime, robbing his friends and neighbors to keep up appearances and a seemingly endless pile of bills and expenses following a divorce from his wife, Mel (Amanda Peet). After initially going out on his own and successfully lifting and selling a couple of valuable watches from his neighbors, he is caught in the act by the housekeeper of his ex-wife Elena (Aimee Carrero),who leverages him into making her his new partner.
Together, the duo hatches a variety of risky schemes to finance their complicated personal livesthat find them eluding the cops and running with all manner of sordid and seedy underworld characters who want their piece of the pie and stolen loot. It is far from the life that the Princeton graduate Coop and the hard-working Dominican immigrant Elena envisioned for themselves, but they both have the same reason for doing it, and that is quick cash. Their most recent heist brings them into the world of art dealer and curator Christian (Ólafsson), who certainly leaves his larger-than-life mark on the tandem and the show in Episode 5.
Who Does Ólafur Darri Ólafsson Play in ‘Your Friends & Neighbors’?
In Episode 5, “This Tourist Has Balls,” he and his partner in crime are trying to sell a valuable painting and come across Christian,who is the only dealer in town willing to take on the hot piece of stolen artwork. Larger than life is certainly the best way to describe Christian, and he is the polar opposite of what we saw from him inSeveranceSeason 2. Christian is abrasive, crass, and has a huge appetite for all the hedonistic pleasures of life, including illegal drugs, clubbing, and sex. He’s a likable character until he tries to force himself on Elena in the dance club. Coop comes to her rescue, and she hits Christian with the pepper spray.
Ólafsson is a mountain of a man, andhis unmistakable, bellowing bass dulcet is the only way you can tell it’s the very stern and imposing Mr. Drummond. He is dressedin a very fashion-forward styleconsistent with his job. It’s a fun departure for the starchy character fromSeverance, and the actor really cuts loose and has a good time with the unscrupulous and materialistic Christian. In just over 15 minutes of screen time, he steals his scenes with Hamm and Carrero with his boisterous and gregarious turn. He’s like a big teddy bear — that is, until he really isn’t.Coop and Elena have to team up to handle the big man and lose out on the lucrative deal they had in place to make a cool $125,000.
Ólafur Darri Ólafsson Has Incredible Range
The 52-year-old Icelandic-American performer is busy, appearing in three very different roles and genres. On top of his stellar turn inSeveranceand unforgettable turn in Your Friends & Neighbors, the big man also starred in one of the year’s mostunderseen and underrated shows on MGM+ calledNine Bodies in a Mexican Morgue. He is scheduled to return to his native Iceland to assume the lead role in aReykjavik Fusion.The Icelandic show has yet to set a release date, but Ólafsson will likely show even more range and versatility as he continues to make his mark on the television landscape in America, Iceland, and throughout the world of entertainment.
BothSeveranceandYour Friends and Neighborsare currently streaming on Apple TV+
Your Friends and Neighbors
