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The Daily Star, Oneonta, N.Y., Friday, April 2, 2021 4 By Kyla Brewer TV Media W hile there is no short- age of stories about World War II, that doesn't mean that every story has already been told. In fact, a new miniseries explores the lit- tle-known story of two high- profile historical figures, and it's coming to North American audiences. Sofia Helin ("The Bridge") stars as Crown Princess Mar- tha of Norway, who flees to the United States during World War II in "Atlantic Crossing," premiering Sunday, April 4, on PBS Masterpiece. The eight- part drama series also stars Kyle MacLachlan ("Twin Peaks") as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who invites Princess Martha and her three children to live at the White House as the war rages on in Europe. Inspired by true events, the program explores the relation- ship between Martha and Roo- sevelt as she struggles to con- vince the president to join the war effort at a time when many Americans were against becoming involved in another war. Separated from her hus- band, Norwegian Crown Prince Olav (Tobias Santel- mann, "Kon Tiki"), who stayed behind in England, Martha tries to find a way to help her country from afar. For his part, Roosevelt seems to be infatu- ated with the princess, testing the patience of those around him, including that of his wife, Eleanor (Harriet Sansom Harris, "Desperate Housewives"). "Atlantic Crossing" has been billed as "a true story of passion and politics" in an offi- cial PBS release about the se- ries, but it is important to note that the drama is just that — a drama. It is a fictionalized ac- count of the events written by Alexander Eik, who also direct- ed the series, and screenwriter Linda May Kallestein. They spent eight years researching the project, piecing the story together using letters between the princess and the president and by speaking to various sources. In an October inter- view with Annika Pham for NordiskFilmogTVFond.com, Eik talked about the challenge of weaving historical facts with fiction. "Writing fictional drama in- spired by true events is always a delicate balancing act be- tween staying true to history and at the same time creating a compelling dramatization, and, not least, remaining re- spectful to the subjects, many of whom are still alive today," Eik explained. "The main chal- lenge was to imagine what went on behind closed doors." In the PBS series, Roosevelt first meets Princess Martha in 1939 when she and Prince Olav visit the United States just months before Nazi Germany invades Norway. Eik and Kall- estein claim there is some evi- dence that Roosevelt had feel- ings for the princess, but little seems to be known about how she might have felt about him. Regardless of the nuances of their relationship, it does seem that Princess Martha used her influence to convince Roos- evelt to get involved. During PBS's Winter TCA Press Tour, Helin talked about her reasons for accepting the role of Martha, who, like her, was Swedish. The princess's story is not widely known, even in her homeland. Accord- ing to a February article by In- diewire's Kristen Lopez, Helin said: "Heroes don't take any credit for what they do. The character instantly came to me, but no one in Sweden knew about her." Helin's early career credits include the films "At Point Blank" (2003), "Masjavlar" (2004) and "Arn" (2007). She gained more widespread fame when she starred in the TV se- ries "The Bridge," a co-produc- tion between Sweden and Denmark. More recently, she starred in the Australian crime drama "Mystery Road." Her "Atlantic Crossing" co- star is likely more familiar to American audiences. MacLach- lan was cast in director David Lynch's films "Dune" (1984) and "Blue Velvet" (1987) be- fore landing the leading role of special agent Dale Cooper in Lynch's acclaimed TV series "Twin Peaks" in 1990, a role that solidified his star status. He's also known for his work in such movies as "The Doors" (1991) and "The Flintstones" (1994) and the TV series "Des- perate Housewives," "Sex and the City" and "Portlandia." In addition to Santelmann as Prince Olav and Harris as the first lady, "Atlantic Cross- ing's" main cast also includes Søren Pilmark ("Downsizing") as Olav's father, King Haakon VII; Daniel Betts ("The Crown") as foreign policy adviser Harry Hopkins; and Suzanne Bertish ("The Wife") as diplomat Flor- ence Jaffray Harriman. Lucy Russell ("Wolf Hall") appears as presidential secretary and rumored FDR mistress Mar- guerite "Missy" LeHand. The series is a co-production between Beta Film for NRK and PBS's Masterpiece, but it wasn't originally in contention for the Masterpiece slate this season. During the TCA Winter Press Tour, Masterpiece Theatre executive producer Susanne Simpson admitted she had been aware of the Norwegian production of "Atlantic Cross- ing" months before the COV- ID-19 pandemic hit but hadn't pursued it. When massive shut- downs led to delays in five oth- er productions, however, she took a closer look for things to bring to North American audi- ences. "Once I was able to see the show, it wasn't a very hard de- cision," Simpson said. With acclaimed performers portraying historical figures, lavish period sets and cos- tumes, and hundreds of special effects depicting one of the most memorable eras in mod- ern history, the program will likely strike a chord with view- ers on this side of the Atlantic as well. Don't miss the pre- miere of "Atlantic Crossing," airing Sunday, April 4, on PBS Masterpiece. coverstory Sofia Helin and Kyle MacLachlan in "Atlantic Crossing" Her story: The princess and the president in 'Atlantic Crossing' By Adam Thomlison TV Media Q: Is "Yellowstone" coming back for another sea- son? It has to; it left so much unresolved at the end of last season. A: "So much unresolved" is a bit of an understatement — the Season 3 finale was packed full of twists, shocks and cliffhangers. And perhaps the writers were comfort- able doing that because they already knew they were get- ting another season, but if they know when, they aren't telling. We can venture a guess, though. It's been confirmed that filming is under way (in what are now known as "bubble" conditions — lots of testing, distancing and so on), and the guess is that the show will come back in the summer. If you're a betting sort of per- son, put your money on June as each of the show's three seasons to date have debuted in June. Of course, all sorts of business-as-usual institutions have been interrupted by the pandemic, but if it's filming now, it should be ready in plenty of time to keep to the old schedule. It's not like they had to spend a lot of time coming up with ideas — it's all laid out. I won't go into too much de- tail, but I will say that actual (fictional) lives are hanging in the balance at the moment — some central characters have some serious situations to get themselves out of. As I said, the writers knew they'd have time to get them out. The show was renewed for a fourth season months before the third season even aired. That's always a gam- ble, but it paid off well this time: Season 3's viewership was up by an amazing 66% from that of Season 2. Indeed, Paramount is clearly pretty happy to remain in the "Yellowstone" business. On top of the renewal, it has also greenlit two spinoffs: the prequel series "Y: 1883" and the present-set "6666," both of which will be avail- able on the company's streaming platform, Paramount+. Q: I'm trying to remember the name of a series from the 1990s. The show would consist of several short narratives of unbelievable stories, and you had to guess if they were true or not. It was hosted by one of the guys from "Star Trek." What was it called? A: Believe it or not, despite the basic concept, it wasn't "Ripley's Believe It or Not." The show you're thinking of was called "Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction," hosted by Jonathan Frakes (though James Brolin hosted the first six episodes). Frakes is best known, as you say, as Cmdr. William Riker on "Star Trek: The Next Generation." It was reminiscent of the more famous "Ripley's Be- lieve It or Not" shows — both traded on telling hard-to- believe tales to amaze their viewers. But "Beyond Belief" leaned into the "or not" angle, including some false tales and challenging the viewer to spot the difference. Some of the "Ripley's Believe It or Not" shows (there have been many, and they're just part of the sprawling Ri- pley media empire) included small features that did the same thing, but it was only ever a sideline. Despite the name, Ripley only ever wanted you to "believe it." Have a question? Email us at questions@tvtabloid.com. Please include your name and town. Personal replies will not be provided. hollywoodQ&A

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