Sofia Helin: Saga’s over 40, socially awkward and wears no make-up … but fans still love her

The Bridge actress Sofia Helin has hailed the popularity of her character Saga Norén as a “sign that the world is maturing” when it comes to women on screen.

The Swedish star, who has played the blunt-speaking detective in the Swedish/Danish crime series since 2011, said the character was untypical of most female roles.

She said: “I’m 46 now, and people are following a woman who is over 40 and has a disability and wears practically no make-up. It’s a sign that the world is mature enough to embrace new types of women in films and television.”

Although not specified — writer Hans Rosenfeldt has said “the audience have decided” — homicide detective Saga is believed to have Asperger’s syndrome, a form of autism.

Viewers warmed to her for her bluntness, awkwardness with social cues, unembarrassed approach to changing her clothes in public and her struggle with relationships, in contrast to original partner, Danish policeman Martin Rohde, played by Kim Bodnia.

The pair were brought together in the first series after a dismembered murder victim was left halfway across the Øresund bridge, on the border between Sweden and Denmark. Of her character’s popularity, Helin said: “I think why people love Saga is that she so obviously has problems and disabilities, she is so lonely and she is struggling to get love. That is something almost everybody can relate to.”

She admitted that the success of Nordic Noir in Britain had shocked her. “I would never have dreamt this. I’m so happy it’s uniting us,” she said. The show, first screened in Britain in 2012, was such a hit that it became BBC Four’s most watched drama, prompting a move to BBC 2.

In the fourth and final series, which begins tonight, Helin is reunited with her co-star from the last series, Thure Lindhardt, who has played her Danish counterpart Henrik Sabroe since the departure of Bodnia. Helin said Saga and her partner — and on-off lover — have “good chemistry” and “you just want her to succeed [finding love]”.

Of being a woman in the industry, Helin, a mother of two, said there was “a lot to learn”. She said: “In Sweden, in my business, 65 per cent of the women have experienced sexual harassment or worse. You can’t call that okay.

“The laws and the system and what we aim for is right, but the behaviour isn’t right. That’s where we have to start learning to be better. All of us.”