Seven years later, season two of “De Bunker” will air after all, and the late actor Mark Van Eegem still plays a role.

Also in the sequel, you will fight against terrorists, extremists, sects and foreign spies. The team welcomes two new members, played by Peter Verelist and Gert Verstreet. Notably played by Mark van Eegem, who died in 2017, who had been battling prostate cancer for several years at the time. “Last year the series was suddenly disbanded on Streamz, so the logical conclusion is that VTM will not follow suit long after that,” says Sven De Ridder, which was initially made at the time. Because there was no question about Streamz in 2015. (He laughs) Of course it cannot be denied that we are now seven years after the last day of registration.”

According to De Ridder, this has nothing to do with quality. “The sequel is stronger because we were able to develop the characters further and the scriptwriters were more in tune with each other.” Sven still remembers the last day of shooting very well. March 2016, when the attacks took place in Zaventem and Malbec. Then VTM paused the series, but it took longer than planned.” Still, he has many memories from the recordings. “The project was close to my heart. Who does not dream of working in state security? The roles furthest from your life are always the most interesting. Because then you end up in a world you don’t know. It was a pleasure to delve into this and master those professional jargon.”

Walk along

In preparation for the role, the actors were also allowed to walk with the real people of State Security. “My respect only increased because of that. Or were those also very sensitive files? I can’t answer that question. By being able to get a taste of that world, I became more and more convinced that the job would have been something for me. A job with a high stress factor. But I am aware.” Already so.” (He laughs)

Sven’s character is the common thread throughout the second season. In the first series he is sometimes mentioned as carrying a personal tragedy. In the sequel, flashbacks reveal exactly what is going on. There was an attack targeting him. But the result was that his daughter died. He is now looking for the perpetrators. Kudos to the screenwriters, they were some of the most impressive scripts I’ve ever played. The story ends with a double episode directed by Robin Brunt. If you put those two episodes together, you have an incredibly powerful movie.”

Comic roles

On stage shelves, the actor often chooses comedic roles, while De Ridder has put together an impressive list of TV dramas. He is also playing at the moment Trade fair on Streamz. “I owe it in part to director Jan Verheyen, who around 2007 asked me to play a villain in the series. Missing. It is also my role as doctor at Hofkens Speed move things. It’s strange that you don’t see me as a comedian on TV. Then you have to go back to the early years of the VTM, when it appeared in adolescence 3 men under one roof. ”

For now, all attention is focused on Sven De Ridder. Meanwhile, five years into the business, she founded it with fellow actor Breck Van Dyck and producer Mark Bonet. We are currently breaking all records with Gulf men. The future looks bright.”

“The Cellar”, VTM, Thursdays at 9.45pm