Published: 2002-09-05 Photo: Leif Hansen Bear's Kiss literally speaking Rebecka Liljeberg hadn't been in Venice for more than one day before it was time to meet the press and talk about Bear's Kiss by Russian Sergei Bodrov. She was in Cannes already in 1998 with Fucking Åmål (aka Show Me Love).

Rebecka Liljeberg, 21, and her small family, Alexander Skepp and son Teodor, 2 months, are eating breakfast in a sunny hotel terrace. They have been in Venice for less than 24 hours but have already been away for a gondol ride and been having dinner with the Swedish film company Memfis (who also produces Lukas Moodysson's films). In little more than an hour it will be a press conference for the contestant film Bear's Kiss by Russian director Sergei Bodrov, in which Rebecka Liljeberg has the leading part. Teodor is hungry all according to plan and drops off in his baby carriage just in time for the walk alongside the channel over to the festival area. Rebecka enjoys the film festival in Venice better than the one in Cannes, where she was with Fucking Åmål in 1998.
- It's really a different pace here. So I have nothing against being here, but then again I haven't done any interviews yet. Tomorrow there will be interviews all day, it's pretty hard work, says Rebecka and tells about the group interviews for Fucking Åmål in Berlin.
- We got really sick questions, like if me and Alexandra Dahlström were lovers for real and whether or not we liked touching each other...

You have stated that you don't want to concentrate on acting but rather study to become a doctor. What was it that still made you go for this project?
- It seemed like a nice thing to travel around and then I got really well paid, Rebecka laughs. It's fun to work abroad and such. And then it's not like I think acting is the worst thing, it's just that I don't want to invest, take study loans and educate myself to be an actress. But if a director should make a phone call...
Rebecka doesn't see the fact that she became a mother this summer as an obstacle for a possible career.
- I know some people who have children and are working with film, the film company can always arrange for the children to be taken care of at the shooting. So I don't feel that's a problem.

Rebeckas character in Bear's Kiss is named Lola. She and her parents are travelling circus artists - the film is shot in Russia, Sweden, Germany and Spain. Lolas best and only friend is the circus bear Misha, who she has taken care of since he was a little cub. But suddenly one night a young man is sitting in the cage instead of Misha...
Rebecka got the offer about her part in autumn 1999. At the time she had never heard about Sergei Bodrov.
- From the beginning, I thought the whole idea sounded suspect, a film about a bear... but then I got some help from the people at Memfis to read the script and they said "this is alright, of course you should do it".

How was it to work with Sergei Bodrov compared with Lukas Moodysson?
- They are quite alike in the way that they don't direct in that bad way "now just stand here and then take four steps to the right". It's more fun when they give you some freedom.

Cuddling with living bears is nothing Rebecka will miss.
- It wasn't very funny really. They had muzzles so they couldn't bite, but the paws... they were not particularly nice. But I don't think I would be so nice if I was put in a cage either... although the bear trainers were there all the time.
The director's son, Sergei Bodrov Jr - who made his directors debut with the film Sisters which had Swedish premiere earlier this year - has the leading male part. The nude scenes with him were no high point either, Rebecka thinks.
- It was really tough, the worst thing during the whole shooting. It was very difficult to be relaxed, it's a very uncomfortable situation to be naked with another person. But the director as well as the photographer were also naked, so at least it was fair...