The story was filmed and published in Swedish last winter. Urheilu is now publishing the Finnish version of the story.
When the film Triangle of Sadness, which was nominated for an Oscar this year, starts, the first ones to appear on the big screen of Thobias Thorwid face.
He is smartly dressed and instructs – just like in the trailer – a bunch of insecure half-naked models to pose. First boldly and arrogantly like in the Balenciaga ad. Then exaggeratedly smiling and hugging just like in the H&M campaign.
We will come back later to how Thobias Thorwid got the chance to act by Woody Harrelson with in the same Palme d’Or winning film. Before that, you have to take care of other questions.
Why has Thorwid moved east when the golden sunsets of Hollywood lie in the exact opposite direction?
Harrelson wondered the same thing.
– At the premiere, he came to me and said: you were absolutely amazing, you must get an agent, Thorwid says.
– But I’m not an actor, I’m a cheerleader.
I’m not an actor, I’m a cheerleader.
Watch Sportliv’s docker Thobias Thorwid in the clip below:
“Maybe I’m a bit hyperactive”
Thobias Thorwid, 32, is a two-meter blonde-haired verbal whirlwind who sweeps his listeners along with his tireless energy.
He is a person to whom it is impossible to be indifferent.
– When he entered the room, everyone’s eyes turned and the gang was like: “Wow, who is this guy?”.
That’s what he says Anton Hellströmwho has been Thorwid’s teammate in the Helsinki group Funky Team Gorillaz.
– Maybe I’m a bit hyperactive. But I function really well without medication, Thorwid exclaims.
Thorwid has an amazing ability to describe things colorfully and lightning fast. Take, for example, what does he think of the Swedish show Paradise Hotel, in which he was involved nine years ago?
– It is a grotesque, vulgar, disgusting and creepy program. People are treated badly, the series is sexist, homophobic and racist, and represents everything that I am not.
How about a picture of Finland before moving here last fall?
– You like Moomins, you blow glass, your clothes have flower patterns. Sauna, sweat and heavy music. These are the first that come to mind.
Let’s list the Swedish TV and radio channels in which he has been involved.
– P3, P4, NRJ, The Voice, Svensk Pop, East FM, Stockholm local radio. I have been a guest on Rix FM and Mix Megapolis. Made content for SVT1, SVT2, TV3, TV4, Kanal 5, kutosen and Expressen TV.
In February, the list was completed on Ylen TV1, when Thorwid appeared in skits parodying Finland for UMK’s million audience.
He describes himself as a spontaneous and brave person. To be a person who loves entertaining people and evoking emotions. That’s why she’s made for cheerleading.
– I fell in love with it at first sight. The sport is a mix of everything I love: gymnastics, acrobatics, dance, expression and entertainment.
Thorwid has also made podcasts, including 102 episodes of Regnbågsliv, Sweden’s former the largest LGBTQ pod.
Thobias Thorwid was in his thirties when he discovered cheerleading. Without a solid gymnastics background, the spark would have gone out quickly, because he would not have dared and would not have been able to perform the vaults required in the sport.
But the hobby of gymnastics also permanently scarred her.
At the age of thirteen, Thorwid’s coach, who was six years his senior, took advantage of him. What was supposed to be an innocent meeting between teammates at the coach’s house got out of hand.
First, the coach offered the young teenagers cigarettes and alcohol. Then he took them one by one behind locked doors to have “development talks”.
– Everything was horribly strategically planned.
Thorwid doesn’t know exactly what happened that night because he suffered a memory lapse. But some memories still live strongly in the mind.
– When I woke up, it hurt and everything was sticky. I felt terrible, I was cold and sick. I knew something terrible had happened, he says in Sportliv now, almost 20 years later.
Thorwid repressed and denied the events for many years while living with a distorted self-image. He and several other victims then took the matter to court, and the coach was eventually sentenced to prison.
But the damage was already done.
I want to prove with my example that a person can be something other than his past.
Thobias Thorwid
As a teenager, Thorwid found it difficult to accept himself. She liked boys, and for a long time she thought it was because she was a rape victim. That’s how he tried to suppress his sexual orientation.
– Thanks to the therapy, I now know what my own sexuality is. I can live and love myself.
– But it still happens that people take advantage of their dominant position and hurt innocent children. It’s downright sick. I want to prove with my example that a person can be something other than his past.
An unlikely idea became a reality
Thorwid quickly developed into a national team-level cheerleading athlete. While competing in Sweden’s colors at the European and World Championships, he saw the spirit of the game: Finland is far ahead of its western neighbor.
– When I saw Finland competing, my jaw seemed to fall to the floor. I was like “wow!”.
Thorwid applied for a place in the ranks of the defending European champion Gorillaz, and at the same time expressed his desire to represent the Finnish mixed national team. In order to be allowed to represent the country, in this case the athlete must live in Finland for at least six months before the World Championships. No nationality is required.
Much to Thorwid’s surprise, he was accepted. His head was spinning, and mixed with the euphoria was a dose of pure panic.
– Where do I live? What do I do all day long? Help!
In October of last year, Thorwid moved, and after that he lived with different teammates on a monthly basis. According to him, it was difficult to get a rental apartment without Finnish bank IDs.
Cheerarki has not been without its challenges either. Finnish has been spoken in the exercises, and in the dark winter months the extroverted Swede felt lonely.
– I know that no one intentionally shuts me out, but it still happens from time to time. I also don’t want to be a bother to others.
But Thorwid has stayed in Finland. The goal has pushed him forward and kept him afloat. He gets emotional even when he starts thinking about possible World Cup success, and says that he would sleep with a medal every night.
The World Championship debut in Orlando, Florida in April ended with Finland’s sixth place in the mixed cheer series, and the season again with the World Championship gold in the ranks of Funky Team Gorillaz. For the next season, Thorwid will change his club to Golden Spirit Phoenix, also from Helsinki, who won silver.
Oh yeah, how did Thorwid land a role in a movie that was awarded with three Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay?
The answer is that Thorwid was on site at the premiere of director Ruben Östlund’s previous hit The Square. After the movie, he walked over to Östlund and said:
– It was the sickest movie I’ve ever seen.
When Östlund was looking for a model interviewer for Triangle of Sadness a few years later, he thought of a two-meter-tall man who used to wave a fan while walking on the red carpet.
A man who creates a lasting impression in a matter of seconds.