Niklas Silseth Baarli (32) and his father Lars Baarli (70) will take Norwegian TV viewers on a very special journey: Lars, who is a retired firefighter and emergency manager, will teach his son about practical chores in the new series “Everything my father has not taught me” on TV 2.
– Should never have been shown on TV
In connection with the premiere on Wednesday night, Dagbladet has had a chat with the duo, who can tell that it has been a real pleasure to work so closely with the program. However, they admit that some frustration has also arisen.
Niklas and his father are relatively similar when it comes to temperament.
– I have asked my father to take a short walk on a couple of occasions. We are very similar in that we have a very great temperament. We go up for nothing, it also goes down again just as fast.
EQUAL: Father and son are equal when it comes to both temperament and mood. Photo: Kristin Svorte / Dagbladet
view more
Lars admits that he has learned to walk a round instead of coming up with something verbal in such situations.
Despite some frustration during the recording, father and son admit that the program has led to an even better relationship.
– We have come much closer to each other, says Niklas, and adds that they have previously had a tired tendency to talk about superficial things.
view more
–
Three rounds of cancer
During the recording, however, they have had time to go deeper.
The father of the “farm celebrity” profile has been through three rounds of cancer, the last of which was the toughest – partly because there was a lot of chemotherapy.
BIG CONVERSATIONS: Father and son have many deep conversations in their new TV program. Photo: Kristin Svorte / Dagbladet
view more
– Has the illness period been the background for the project?
– The project came from a sudden realization that I have spent too little time with my parents. It might have been natural that it came from the father’s periods of illness, but it did not, says Niklas.
– Every time the father has been ill, I have thought that it will work out. You are naive. “He’s not dying now, this is going well,” Niklas thought.
Interviewforbud
The TV profile points out that he is grateful that his father has always done well, and that it has given them the opportunity to make up for some of what they lost.
– Even though it was not the trigger for this particular program, it has put things in perspective, the 32-year-old admits.
The father speaks:
– Yes, I noticed in the worst period when I got chemotherapy and such, that you were somewhat more present than you usually are. Because then I was pretty sick.
THREE ROUNDS: Niklas Baarli’s father has been affected by cancer three times. Photo: Kristin Svorte / Dagbladet
view more
Down-prioritized family
Niklas admits to Dagbladet that he has not had much time to meet his father due to work, and points out that he has been too bad to prioritize the family.
– Yes, but then I do not have much trouble. Because I recognize myself a little, dad Lars follows up and admits that he was exactly the same when he was younger – he worked a lot.
– Threatens to beat me
– If it had been that he was lying on the sofa at home, I would probably have been reasonably grumpy, but when I see that he is trying to achieve something, it is something else. Then it’s forgivable, he follows up.
Now, however, a light has come on for them.
In the series, they touch on a number of difficult topics. In addition to their father’s illness, they talk about losing a family and getting out of the closet.
SHARES: In the new TV program, Niklas and Lars Baarli share a lot privately. Photo: Kristin Svorte / Dagbladet
view more
– It will be strange to share a lot of private things with the rest of Norway, such as the time I came out of the closet, or the loss of Christian and Thomas (the brothers, journ.anm.), Niklas admits, and adds:
– But I also think a lot of people out there can recognize themselves. All families have theirs, this was ours, he adds before the father follows up:
– I think maybe the talk we had about just that, the fact that you came out, might help someone, I hope. That someone might be able to get out of the closet in an easier way than having to hold back on their parents.
view more
–
Lars addresses his son:
– You held back for many years, and that’s what I’m really trying to say something about. Get out at an earlier time, it’s not dangerous. You are fantastically fond of your children and what orientation you may have. I love Niklas, I do.
– He wondered about talk therapy
When asked why it is time to share these difficult, personal topics with the rest of Norway, Niklas answers:
view more
–
– This program has room for that, I also feel mature to talk about it now. Now I have become so confident in myself, and we are confident in each other. Dad is 70 and has had cancer, so you never know how much time you have left to have these conversations.
– Do you feel that the conversations have helped?
– Yes, that’s what’s so banal. Because you hear it all your life that it helps to talk about it, and the best thing you do is talk about things. But then you often choose not to do it, but when you are a little forced to do it, as we have become now, you feel that it helps a lot.
About the bullying: – Made me stronger
Lars can also reveal that the program was something completely different from what he had envisioned.
– I tricked him into a kind of talk therapy, says Niklas tricked.
– It is really just an opportunity to talk to the father about things we should have talked about a long time ago, he follows up.
Although there are many heavy topics of conversation, they also manage to have a sense of humor around it.
Provoked and confused
– It is really such a jargon we have, Lars points out, before the son follows up:
– I think humor is a defense mechanism. In the face of death and heavy things, it is very liberating to be able to fuck with it. The situation is there, so if you do not deal with it in one way or another, you will go crazy.
–
