Trivia / Wallander

• Character Outlives Actor: Linda's original actor, Johanna Sällström, tragically died when she was only 33 by suicide. This lead into quite a lot of confusion on the set, as directors and writers had already prepared to make an entire season focusing on Linda. However, they found a new actress for season 3, which fits the fact that Linda is older during that time. The canon excuse they made for why Linda didn't appear in season 2? "She was on vacation"...
• Creator Breakdown: Henning Mankell was so distraught by Johanna Sällström's suicide in 2007 to the point that he shelved plans for a trilogy of books about Linda Wallander.
• Died During Production:
  • Johanna Sällström's sudden suicide in 2007 caused Henning Mankell to scrap a book trilogy starring her character, Linda Wallander, after writing only one volume.
  • Narrowly averted with Henning Mankell himself. Despite succumbing to lung and throat cancer in 2015, Mankell completed the main Wallander storyline in advance.
• Fake Nationality: The British TV series features a mostly-British cast playing Swedes, most notably Kenneth Branagh as the titular Kurt Wallander.
• The Other Darrin: Invoked for the third and final season of the Swedish TV series due to Johanna Sällström's suicide in 2007. Linda Wallander is now played by Charlotta Jonsson.
• What Could Have Been: There was going to be a trilogy of books featuring Linda Wallander. After Johanna Sällström's suicide, however, the project was cancelled.
• You Look Familiar: A Swedish nationalist that Branagh's Wallander shoots dead is played by Fredrik Gunnarsson, who is in the Swedish version as Officer Svartmann!

---