Thomas La Barbera Christensen Brings Danish Cool to 'The Wrong Girls'

Photography by David Zaugh

Thomas La Barbera Christensen has lived the kind of creative life that resists easy categorization. In The Wrong Girls, Christensen steps into a sharply different kind of spotlight as Axel, the icy and calculated leader of a trio of Danish operatives sent to retrieve a mysterious suitcase from Frankie and Molly, played by Kristen Stewart and Alia Shawkat. The role allowed him to lean fully into his Danish identity on a Hollywood set, bringing language, cultural instinct, and a manicured villainous presence into a film world built on both danger and dark comedy.

For LO’AMMI, Christensen warmly. reflects on the thrill of playing the antagonist, the freedom of speaking Danish on set, the discipline behind physical transformation, and the many creative chapters that continue to shape his work, from jazz and swordsmanship to comedy, fatherhood, and the dream of building larger worlds of his own.

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In The Wrong Girls, you play Axel, the icy and calculated leader of a trio of Danish operatives sent to retrieve a mysterious suitcase from Frankie and Molly. What first drew you to Axel, and how did you approach finding the balance between menace and dark comedy?

Hello Lo’ammi great to be here!

When the audition came in from my agent I knew that there was something unique here. How often is there a Danish bad guy in a Los Angeles indie feature? So I had my intuitive tentacles out and sent in several tapes that I put together with my good friend Brian. My agent then suddenly asks for my availability a month later. I end up doing callbacks with Dylan and casting director Jessica Kelly. When the role of Axel was secured, I did the happy Danish pastry dance (I’ll show you one day) and was just super energized for the project.

We got to translate our own lines from English to Danish, which I did in collaboration with my co-villains Thomas Nicholson and Thor Knai. A super fun challenge, again how often does that happen? We integrated little Danish linguistic quirks into the lines that only Danes would understand.

Playing a manicured, icy Danish villain up against Kristen and Alia as two L.A. stoner girls was a fun contrast and part of the brilliance of writer/director Dylan Meyer. I love playing the antagonist especially in comedy. I can play things a bit bigger to achieve my character’s goal, and when I don’t get it, I can throw a tantrum. The spectrum is bigger in comedy and I love that journey from composed villain to erratic fool.

You have spent years training your American accent, but this role asked you to lean fully into your Danish identity and speak your native language on a Hollywood set. What did that shift unlock for you as an actor?

It was a bit surreal getting to speak mostly Danish on a Hollywood movie set. No one else understood what we said. The director and actors could just read our energy and our movements. I’m sure they had people checking our Danish but on set they had to trust us delivering the right Danish words with the right intensity. It actually felt very freeing and put me in touch with essentially my childhood and a deeply familiar way of being and speaking. A different language is not only word and sounds - it’s a whole culture build over decades of growing up emerged in it. Different part of the brain. I would’ve never thought that I would be yelling Danish obscenities in the face of an Oscar nominated actor. I hope to be doing more projects with talented Danish and Scandinavian filmmakers.

Axel is described as manicured, terrifying, and controlled. With your background in fashion and runway work, did style, posture, or visual presentation become part of how you built his presence?

That’s a fun question. We did have several shots walking towards the camera and some posing in front of our car. Maybe I did channel my best Zoolander walk in the chic cream suits that custome designer Heidi Bivens created. It’s easy to feel cool when wardrobe is so sophisticated and comfortable. When I opened the show at Milan Fashion Week for Etro, there were internal butterflies, but my game face was relaxed with inner fire. That energy is a learned skill that you can use on camera.

The film brings together such a singular ensemble, including Kristen Stewart, Alia Shawkat, Seth Rogen, LaKeith Stanfield, Kumail Nanjiani, Zack Fox, and Tony Hale. What was it like stepping into that kind of comedic world while playing one of the film’s central threats?

I had to do a couple of deep breaths and an inner Om when doing a scene with these great actors. Kristen is such a smart intuitive thinker and actor. Alia is such a comedic genius. Zach has a really great presence about him. LaKeith is this cool laid-back bad ass who handles shit. Tony cracked me up with his lines every time! He and I had a really good talk in between scenes, and he’s a kindred spirit. It is so fun having high stakes and committing deeply to my characters' needs. Playing it seriously with great comedic writing is the key.

Before arriving in Los Angeles, you lived a very expansive artistic life across Europe, from walking runways for houses like Etro, Versace, Gianfranco Ferré, and Cerruti to fronting Danish rock bands. How did those early creative chapters shape the performer you became?

I lived as an artistic vagabond in my twenties and thirties, so I’m use to simple living and with few possessions. Now having a family, my wife and I have a solid base for our kids, so I’ve learned to settle into routine, school, and soccer practice. It doesn’t mean that I don’t want to do an adventure race across the Amazon rainforest tomorrow if someone asked me. Also, those early experiences taught me how to navigate people, languages, and cultures. It has taught me to morph into different characters as an actor and to bring my life lessons to the role. Did I mention hard work is needed?

For Relic, you trained extensively in Zweihänder swordsmanship to portray the outlaw swashbuckler Eoin. What does that kind of physical preparation teach you about discipline, character, and being fully present in a role?

Portraying a swashbuckler character like Eoin in Relic has always been one of my dream roles, since watching the Three Musketeers and The Count Of Monte Cristo. Corrin Evans and Gregory Shelby had an initial table read that I wasn’t part of. I then approached Corrin and told her how much I wanted that role. I send her a tape and got the role. I would ride my Ducati with a Zweihänder sword sticking out of my backpack, going to the local park to practice with our instructor three months before the movie. We used real steel blades on set, and it gave me a confidence and an appreciation for the art of choreography. Also, an appreciation for those master swordsmen who came before us. That disciplined training pays off in the scene when you’re able to get intense without hurting each other.

You have also become deeply connected to the Los Angeles jazz world through Vibrato Grill Jazz, where you have witnessed thousands of performances and performed with a 15-piece big band. How has jazz influenced your instincts as an actor, especially when it comes to rhythm, timing, and improvisation?

Jazz music is a fascinating combination of improvisation and learned skill. These musicians are masters of their instrument so they can easily improvise. It’s the same with acting. You have to know your stuff before you can improvise within the framework. In that sense jazz music and acting is very related. It’s been fascinating to observe thousands of performers on stage: some put on a rehearsed show they’re comfortable with, while others allow themselves to be surprised; every performance is different. They allow themselves to get lost in the moment. Practice and then going live on stage is very different. Once the band starts playing and lights are on, you, as a singer, better get on the train and roll with it. At my performance at Vibrato I was surprised how the key had changed from rehearsal to live, so my first lines came out wrong, I had to adjust quickly and roll with it. If you get a chance, go to Vibrato Grill Jazz. It’s the best jazz club in California.

Your one-man comedic show, The Divine Teat and 7½ Other Outrageous Self-Help Principles, channels mental health awareness through humor and an alter ego named Jürgen Liebedich. What has comedy allowed you to express that drama sometimes cannot?

It’s liberating being silly. In comedy I can connect with the wacky side of myself. Writing a one person show about a Divine Teat and in-the-moment-nipple pins can be transformative. It feels gratifying to create something that’s uniquely yours. You don’t know if other people will understand or connect with it at all. Putting it up on stage and out in the world is scary. You say fuck it, this is who I am. Sometimes there are four people in the audience, other times, forty-five. I created my show as a healing process because I went through years of depression and unwanted intrusive thoughts. I tried many spiritual practices that had somewhat of a healing effect. I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry about it. But I needed to put that inner turmoil out there and go through writing, planning and acting it out to make it exit.

Looking ahead, you have Hard to Say, an action-drama screenplay set in Denmark, work on your fashion label, and a dream of making an Indiana Jones-style adventure film across Europe. What kind of creative world are you most excited to keep building for yourself?

At the moment I’m very focused on acting and hoping to work consistently with great filmmakers and artists. Definitely want to work with The Wrong Girls crew again! I would love to do another period piece and a gritty Indiana Jones-type movie, which is a big dream. As a dad, I’m focusing on creating something creative that my kids can be part of, whether that’s a business or an artistic groundwork for them to express themselves. To be of service to my family and community is important. I've always regarded creativity as a continuum rather than a collection of separate disciplines. Whether through acting, music, mixed media art, fashion, or graphic design, I've been driven by the same impulse: to explore ideas through different creative languages.