Joel Kinnaman has been a busy actor ever since he arrived in the U.S. in 2010. Since then, the Swedish actor has appeared in various films including "The Darkest Hour," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "RoboCop," "Run all Night," and "Knight of Cups."
Currently, the actor is working on his latest projects "House of Cards" and "Suicide Squad."
Kinnaman joined the politics-themed web television drama series during its fourth season to play Will Conway, the Republican candidate who's running against Kevin Spacey's Frank Underwood as the next President of the United States.
Fans of the series are well aware of Underwood's character. Through the show, he is portrayed as a cerebral and calculating figure who's not afraid to use his power and position as president to go up against anyone.
But, the dynamic of power and dominance, which were usually attributed to Underwood, seem to have shifted after the arrival of Conway. According to Kinnaman, Conway is probably the first character in the series who's capable of standing up to Underwood. He also poses as a real threat to his presidency.
"That's what really drew me to the part," Kinnaman said about playing Conway according to Forbes. "It was an opponent he hadn't faced before. Someone who was formidable, but a different kind of threat."
"But in many ways, I think they're two sides of the same coin," he continued. "They have a real ruthlessness to them. You get the feeling that they will do anything to get the power they are after."
Kinnaman also noted that Conway is very different from the other characters he normally plays. In many of his projects, he usually portrays rough-looking working class types of characters. One of those is Rick Flag from the upcoming film "Suicide Squad."
In the film, Flag is a military officer who leads the group in their missions. Kinnaman noted that given the character's background, Flag has developed various issues that come with being a military operator.
"He is a very competent, damaged, dangerous man that is in the process of finding or knowing his moral compass still exists," he said. "I don't think he really knows if he's a good person. If you can think of yourself as a good person, if you've done all the things you've done."
"He's at the ppinnacle of military force," he added. "He's been part of every special operations unit there is. He's a man that has seen most of his friends die and he's killed many people."
