 A cast of Swedish and American actors contributed to the recording . While Sparks recorded the music in the United States , Wennersten oversaw the recording of the Swedish voice artists in Stockholm . Translation of the lyrics was also handled in Sweden : " Since I do not speak Swedish , I will never know how they managed , " Russell Mael said , expressing his appreciation for the efforts of everyone involved to translate the tone and spirit of the Maels ' original text into Swedish lyrics . Sparks and Wennersten communicated mainly via an FTP server , with Sparks sending Wennersten their musical material , and Wennersten sending the edited Swedish voice recordings back to Sparks . Sparks were very pleased with the results of the collaboration , and the fact that Swedish actor Jonas Malmsjö , playing Bergman , had starred in several Bergman productions , enabling him to bring this personal experience to his portrayal of Bergman . 
