Swedish star Rolf Lassgård is playing a Norwegian scientist in the Paramount Pictures film Downsizing directed by the Oscar-winning Alexander Payne (Nebraska, Sideways).

Lassgård (pictured) stars next to Matt Damon, Christopher Waltz and Kristin Wiig. The film set in a near future follows humanity’s efforts to shrink itself as a solution to overpopulation and climate change. Damon plays a man who undergoes the downsizing test and Lassgård one of the Norwegian scientists.

The US director told the Swedish press agency TT: “I chose Rolf because he is a fantastic actor. He sent me a tape in which he’d made a scene from the film and he’s got the right age for the part…I hope the Norwegians will forgive me to let a Swede play a Norwegian!”

Lassgård added: “It’s absolutely amazing to be working with someone like Payne, a director who has never made a bad movie. We used his film About Schmidt as a source of inspiration when we made A Man Called Ove.”

Downsizing is currently filming in Toronto after a few weeks shoot in Los Angeles and the crew will then move to northern Norway in August. The experienced line producer and location scout Per Henry Borch - Norwegian rep for Iceland’s Truenorth- is working on the project.

The film was the first recipient of Norway’s new filming incentives, together with Tomas Alfredson’s The Snowman. The theatrical release is set for the end of 2017.