Film star Joel Kinnaman describes his 'untraditional family' and how it changed his outlook on life

When it comes to family, there’s nothing more important to Joel Kinnaman. By his own admission, his family is certainly less traditional than most and is an indication of how the idea of what family means has changed in the modern world.

The Swedish-American actor (best known for his roles in ‘Suicide Squad’, ‘The Killing’, and Netflix’s ‘Altered Carbon’) spoke to us while he was promoting his partnership with Volvo and explained his unique view on family (or “tribe” as he so fondly calls them).

“I have five sisters but we don’t all have the same parents,” Joel says. “I have an adopted sister too, it’s just a litter of people from different places. One of my sisters has a baby with her gay friend, but also another kid with her man, so there are these untraditional little units in our larger untraditional unit.

“The traditional definition of family doesn’t apply to my family and I think that’s how the world is now.”

There’s certainly truth to that statement; the traditional nuclear family has gradually been making room for the blended family unit as more and more people adopt kids, remarry and really expand their idea of what a family actually is.

His family also gave him a feminist outlook, which is unsurprising considering he grew up with five sisters. With the growing movement of female empowerment, Joel felt able to support it, and be an ally, without question.

“The traditional roles of a man and a woman, they didn’t really apply to the way I grew up so this movement that’s happening now, I felt that I could very easily identify with that,” he says.

In Joel’s household, in his tribe, each voice is worth as much as another and he has his family to thank for that.

Joel feels that the “the concept of family is always evolving,” and his own “tribe” has evolved to include his wife of four years, Cleo Wattenström, her family and his friends too.

This notion of “tribe”, not family, was realised during a recent trip to South Africa. Joel invited his entire family, friends and their kids to join him in Cape Town and for the whole group to all spend time together.

“I didn’t grow up with a lot of money and so it was a way to give back to my family, to be able to give them the sort of experience that we never had… just watching my parents raise my friends’ kids and seeing the conversations going on.

“Seeing how all the generations were hanging out together you could really see how everyone was thriving from that.

“That’s when I felt this is more than just a family, this is a tribe, this is something very human.”

Joel’s growing success as an actor has allowed him to give back to his family, but it’s because of his mother, Bitte, that he also makes sure he gives back to the world too.

“Now that I’ve reached some level of security and I’ve achieved some of my goals I think I have from my family, my mom, in particular, a need to give back, to direct my energy into helping others,” he explains.

“When we grew up we had, for a whole year, had a refugee family from Lebanon living in our house. They had been expelled from Sweden and they didn’t get the right to stay so they were hiding in our house for a year.

“This is the kind of thing that my mom would be engaged in and instilled in me,” Joel continues. “This attitude of, if we don’t put this world in a better place than when we left it then we haven’t really done our jobs.”

He smiles as he describes the voice in the back of his head that reminds him to think of others, to do some good by helping those less fortunate than himself. “It’s almost like a guilty conscience, like my mom’s spirit, is nagging at me, ‘now you have to do something good, now you have to share, you have to give back,’ and I think that’s something I really got from my family.”

The conversation naturally circles back to his recent work with Volvo, the Swedish car brand that Joel feels shares some of these core values and are what interested him in the project.

As a brand, Volvo are certainly exploring the evolution and redefinition of what ‘family’ actually means. The modern world is rife with alternative interpretations of the traditional nuclear family and Volvo are happy to celebrate these unique relationships – something made clear by their decision to work with Joel.

“I think over the years they’ve started to define themselves as a company that has personified some of those values that are inherently Scandinavian. Caring for the collective, caring for the environment and trying to move the technology and innovation to a place that is better for all of us.”

After our chat, it’s also clear that Mr. Kinnaman and Volvo have the shared goal of ensuring that your family, whatever that term means to you, remains the most important and protected thing your life.