Following the release of Copenhagen Cowboy on January 5, director Nicolas Winding Refn has opened up about the making of the series. During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Refn reveals what brought him back to Denmark, how the idea for the film came about, and what it was like working with the cast members and Netflix.

During the interview, Refn revealed that he was brought back to Denmark out of necessity due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He worked on Copenhagen Cowboy during quarantine, which is his second streaming project aside from his limited Prime Video series Too Old to Die Young. “Well, we got stuck here [Denmark] because of the pandemic. I was working on another thing to shoot in L.A and then the whole world shut down. And you know, what better place to be but in Denmark?” Refn said. “We went to the countryside, to my mother’s house, like a good boy. And I just came up with this idea [for Copenhagen Cowboy].I hadn’t worked in Denmark for a long time, 17-18 years. When I had to put the crew together, I was like, who’s still around? But a lot of the people I’d worked with in the past, on my Danish films, were still working.” Refn continued.

When asked about what specifically inspired the film, Refn explained that the film has both an autobiographical and fictional basis, saying:

“Well, the way I live, I’m controlled by women. I have a wife and two daughters who are obviously my entire existence., I came out of my mother and basically went straight into my wife. So I really have only known women. For Copenhagen Cowboy, I thought it would be fun to create a modern, female superhero. And, because many people believe I’m like the reincarnation of Hans Christian Andersen, there are certain parallels in our lives, and I wanted to add a fairy tale element to it.”

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Speaking about what it was like to work with Netflix and how the streaming service reacted to his idea, Refn said:

“It was a very fluid discussion. It’s all about trust. We had the same goal: to make a great, exciting entertaining experience. The committee process doesn’t work very well for creativity in my opinion. It took a lot of balls from Netflix to go with it. But they owned it, and I had to respect that. We had a sort of silent agreement: Make sure it works. Yes, sir, I will.”

Refn is a Danish-born film director who is known for the Pusher trilogy (1996-2005), the crime drama Bronson (2008), and the adventure movie Valhalla Rising (2009). In 2011, his action drama film Drive won the Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Director, which shot him to newfound stardom. Refn’s Copenhagen Cowboy is a dark tale of revenge. Since its premiere it has been met with both praise and controversy, but still holds a decent approval rating of 71% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Copenhagen Cowboy is a noir-thriller series that follows the story of a young girl named Miu. Miu is a renegade who embarks on a quest for vengeance against her nemesis Rakel, after she devoted years to an unknown organization. As she seeks to exact revenge, she must also navigate the ominous criminal netherworld of Copenhagen that is filled with both natural and “supernatural dangers.” She also revisits her past and begins to piece together aspects of her past to her future. Copenhagen Cowboy stars Angela Bundalovic, Li li Zhang, Andreas Lykke Jørgensen, Jason Hendil-Forssell, Zlatko Burić, Emilie Xin Tong Han, Hok Kit Cheng, Valentina Dejanovic, and others. Nicolas Winding Refn also makes an appearance alongside his daughter Lola Corfixen in the film.

Copenhagen Cowboy is currently available for streaming on Netflix. Checkout the official trailer below: