An animated, fictionalized Nick Cave is the co-star of a new TV series alongside the Swedish rock legend Thåström, The Hollywood Reporter notes. Before They Were Gods presents the pair, who in reality have never met, as 14-year-olds forming a friendship despite clashing personalities: Thåström a “harsh existentialist,” Cave a “struggling Dionysian agnostic,” according to a press release. The Swedish director/writer Måns Mårlind said he came up with the unlikely concept in a dream: “While asleep, I watched two of my musical heroes as young teenagers, drinking cheap beer while discussing love and the meaning of life. I woke up writing and have been trying to catch up with them ever since.”
Cave added: “Since I was never in Sweden in 1971 and haven’t ever met Thåström, I am obviously intrigued to find out what we never did.”
Thåström, who is the same age as Cave, rose to fame with the Swedish punk band Ebba Grön before fronting the new wave group Imperiet. “I always wanted to be a cartoon hero,” he said of the new show.