Pernille, a fresh-faced nurse at a hospital in Denmark, begins to question the attention-seeking tendencies of her colleague Christina when a number of patients flatline during their shifts. From the producers and director of The Chestnut Man, The Nurse is an unsettling drama based on true events. Tudum spoke to director Kasper Barfoed about the real-life characters who inspired the series.
“I had heard about the story as most people in Denmark had,” Barfoed tells Tudum about the real-life events, which led to one of Denmark’s most sensational murder trials. “[It’s] a relationship drama between two people. The fact that it could boil down to a relationship between two people made it really fascinating to me and also underscored how difficult this must have been [for whistleblower Pernille].”
Read on to learn who’s who in this mysterious Danish series.
Pernille, a new nurse at Nykøbing Falster Hospital, is fresh out of school and wants to prove herself. At first she idolizes her colleague Christina, but can’t help but begin to notice that deaths occur nearly every time Christina works the night shift. “Our main point of view is Pernille,” Barfoed tells Tudum about the nurse who put her job on the line when she suspected her co-worker of foul play. “It takes a certain kind of personality, I think, to risk it all.”
Bernth is an up-and-coming actor known for her roles in The Lord’s Ways, It’s So Charming and A Horrible Woman.
Craving drama during slow night shifts at the hospital, beloved ER nurse Christina begins to create her own — at the risk of the patients she’s supposed to be caring for. At first, Pernille becomes her close friend and confidante, but then she creates distance after witnessing Christina’s bizarre behavior and outright lies. “Everybody who knew her says she was the greatest nurse at the hospital — super skilled and very charismatic,” Barfoed says of the real Christina, who was accused of killing multiple patients at Nykøbing Falster Hospital. While Christina took it a step too far, her addiction to hospital drama is not uncommon in trauma care.
“People who are attracted to this part of the hospital are special,” Barfoed says. There’s a certain energy, he says, that keeps them going. “What’s driving Christina? The adrenaline, the attraction of saving lives — something [Pernille] completely understands.”
Park starred in the series Baby Fever, Doggystyle and Attachment.
The chief resident physician at the hospital, Niels is a busy but easygoing doctor who takes a romantic interest in the hospital’s new nurse, Pernille. As they become close, he listens to her theories about Christina and soon becomes involved in uncovering the truth.
Zandersen is known for his role in the series Borgen. He’s appeared in the series Tæt på sandheden med Jonatan Spang, Elvira and The Sommerdahl Murders.
Fanny Louise Bernth as Pernille Kurzmann and Amalie Lindegård as Katja Lorentzen in The Nurse.
Pernille’s friend at the hospital, Katja, is suspicious of Christina but doesn’t want to cause any trouble by speaking up against her. “There were people, including Katja, who said, ‘Yeah I’ve noticed things as well — let’s look closer. But if you want to do this kind of thing, you’re on your own,’ ” Barfoed says.
Lindegård is featured in the series Baby Fever alongside The Nurse co-star Park and has a recurring role in the series 29.
Dick Kaysø as Kenny Herskov, Trine Runge as Birthe, Kurt Dreyer as Jung and Asger Gomez Frøkov as Andreasen in The Nurse.
The brother of one of Christina’s patients, Kenny has been fighting for years to get to the bottom of his sibling’s unexpected death — which was ruled a suicide by overdose.
A longtime actor, Kaysø is known for the series Krøniken, The Crumbs movie franchise and the film Strømer.
