Touch could be called a family affair: Kormákur’s oldest daughter introduced him to the novel, and later his son, Palmi Kormákur, became one of Touch’s leading men, playing the younger Kristófer.
It was an unexpected twist, as Pálmi Kormákur was the son who had shown little interest in acting. Pálmi’s brothers, Baltasar Breki Samper and Stormur Jón Kormákur Baltasarsson, are both following in their father’s footsteps, but Pálmi was in fine arts school in the Netherlands and had several times declared that he didn’t want to act. Until he did.
Kormákur’s initial reaction when he realized his son was the best suited Icelandic actor to the role was: ‘Fuck.’
“I thought: ‘Shit, now I have a problem. He is by far the best choice. We’ve checked every Icelandic actor and they were great, but they were just not right for this role.’ Then I realized that nepotism might end up in the conversation.”
But Baltasar was sure of his choice and so was everyone who saw Pálmi’s audition. Baltasar’s other son, Stormur, had also auditioned, but was too much of a ‘dude’ like his father had been as a young man, whereas Pálmi was shy, gentle, and soft-spoken.
“In a weird way, it’s the same when a painter paints a portrait of himself and it’s projecting his face and his inner life,” explains Kormákur about working with his son. “A filmmaker is not that different. Often filmmakers choose some leading characters that are kind of related to them in some way, in the way they look or in spirit or whatever, and certainly, when you are directing your son, it’s almost like it doesn’t only come from inside of you, it comes from inside from inside of you, you know? It’s so much from inside of you that every little thing he’s doing, you know whether it’s true or not, because you’ve known him since he was a child.”
Pálmi Kormákur’s scenes take place mainly in London presented as the late 1960s, when Kristófer leaves university to learn the craft of the Japanese kitchen and to be close to Miko. He speaks Icelandic, English, and Japanese in the film.
“I was floored by how easily he could connect with his own emotions both in Icelandic and English, which is not always easy.“
