– Parts of metoo is a witchcraft process

The 75-year-old comes cycling, takes the curb where the cobblestones are lowest, and slides in between two-wheelers of various kinds.

– The electric bike makes me feel like I was 60 years old again.

– I cycle up any hill without losing my breath, he says, and locks the two-wheeler with a chain to the pole.

Glistening beads of sweat

We crash land as elegantly as the bicycle parking at the outdoor cafe, and order pie and black coffee. The heat over the capital pushes beads of sweat on the actor’s shiny face – and he appears to be high-gloss polished and summer brown.

Oftebro senior has probably never been culturally politically correct.

– I have often been portrayed as macho. My many roles have given that impression. And that’s right, to a certain extent, but privately I’m quite soft, he says, and takes off his bicycle helmet.

The masculine loses

He has been given water on the mill, and believes that masculinity is a trait that describes men, a trait that is increasingly suppressed. He paints a picture of a society where boys and men are losers, a society where the masculine fall victim to a lack of understanding.

– Masculinity is something that does not follow you as a gender, but as an individual.

– I have been seen as macho as something negative – but it is just an expression of the masculine. It is important to show those pages more nuanced. Look at school children, so many boys who fall outside – boys and young men who lack a clear male and father figure, says Oftebro.

Drive straight towards Giske

The conversation takes us on to last year’s revitalized women’s struggle, to the metoo movement, which put a justified spotlight on some men and power structures in society. But power corrupts and is abused, Oftebro points out, not only by men – but also by women.

– Parts of metoo have developed into a witch trial, he states.

– The movement and the uprising are important, and I support metoo, but also this women’s power gets a momentum and is abused by those who want to use it. I am a Labor Party man, but I do not like the rough driving I see towards Trond Giske.

– If you have made a mistake, you will receive a “life sentence” – a punishment that is used against you again and again. This is brutal force, whether perpetrated by women or men.

Gasoline on the fire

Nils Ole dreamed as a little boy in Sarpsborg of becoming a firefighter. When he ran away from home, the boy was always found at the fire station. But instead of extinguishing with water, the adult Oftebro brings petrol to the fire. He speaks on a general basis.

– Women’s accusations often bear the same amount of abuse of power, he states.

– Many of the accusations that have been made against men are as great abuses as those the men have been subjected to and accused of. This is what I can talk a lot about: women who feel offended by men – yes, who peek and maybe make contact. But if you are over 20, have a certificate and the right to vote, then you can say no to men – of the same or double age.

Porn flow and sexual acceptance

Knowing that he is entering a minefield, he still dares to step on – fearless and incorrect. The actor has always had opinions and the courage to front them.

– I think metoo has led to a lot of sewing over us men.

– I do not defend abuse, but approach and contact between the sexes is not abuse – even though it may not be as desired. We are more liberated than ever, with porn flow, sexual acceptance and liberal habits – yet we are more violated and wronged, he says.

– Many boys and young men are insecure, I hope to be a clear masculine role model.

Is an “alien” in a new movie

This week, Oftebro is ready for the premiere with a Norwegian-Croatian film, “Grandfather is an alien”, where he speaks Croatian – but has dubbed himself back to Norwegian. It has had a difficult birth, first pushed out of the market by American family films.

– Then came the corona. The film has been ready for a year now.

– I’m the grandfather in the film, an extraterrestrial being from another solar system that lands on Earth, takes up residence in humans and is fascinated by life down here, the 75-year-old says.

The danger of «Pørni»

Nils Ole Oftebro looks at the phone, his wife and the bathing water on Bygdøy call – both maintain a high temperature. The level of activity of the pensioner is nothing to complain about.

– The acting community keeps me vital.

– I do not intend to give up, maybe step down a bit, but. Just finished the first season of “Pørni” – a wise, fun and entertaining drama by and with Henriette Steenstrup. She is Pørni, or Pernille, 40 years old and divorced, and I play her father, Oftebro says.

He also hopes to be involved in setting up “West Side Story” at Chateau Neuf this winter – if the ensemble receives support for limited ticket sales.

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