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Evil lives here

Pilou Asbæk’s the new Mule for ‘Foundation’ S3

Pilou Asbæk in a scene from “Foundation,” premiering July 11, on Apple TV+. PHOTO HELEN SLOAN — APPLE TV+

(L-R) Terrence Mann, Lee Pace, Lou Llobell, Laura Birn, Cassian Bilton and Pilou Asbaek attend the “Foundation” Season Three Photocall at The Croc Bowling Ally inside the Ham Yard Hotel last month in London, England. NEIL P. MOCKFORD — GETTY IMAGES

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As “Foundation” gears up its third season, there’s a surprising new face in this fantastical world created decades ago by Isaac Asimov.

The Mule, a mutant telepath who controls the galaxy as a dictator, was Mikael Persbrandt in Season 2 and is now Pilou Asbæk.

“First, I’m extremely honored because Mikael is one of the best,” Asbæk, 43, said in a Zoom interview. “He’s Swedish. I’m Danish. And as we say in Denmark, the Danes do everything a bit better than the Swedes, okay?

“It’s always wonderful to come onboard big productions such as ‘Foundation where you get the scale of something so grand that you could never, ever experience back home in Denmark.

“The two weeks’ catering budget,” he said with a laugh, “on ‘Foundation’ is like the biggest film ever made out of Denmark. So I love it. I get to be a kid in Disneyland when I’m doing this.”

The Mule’s first appearance confirms: He is full-out evil.

“He is one of the most iconic villains ever and when you do something so iconic, it’s always with a little bit of fear. But this is a free interpretation. The physicality of the Mule in the books is very different from how I look. We had to create a character who would feel as a threat from the beginning. A little bit more rogue.

“No one is a villain in their own story,” he knows. “The thing with the Mule is that I’ve done so many villains what I really like about this guy is that he’s lost. He’s got a lot of layers.

“Throughout this season, you understand why he is the way he his — that was the biggest reason why I wanted to do it.

“He wants to conquer the world. He wants to see the world burn. But he also wants to feel loved. He also wants to be loved.”

Is Pilou ever offered a script that prompts him to say, Why can’t I be the good guy here? Or is his destiny to be able to give an attractive twist to reprehensible people?

“The thing is, I do heroes at home. I do kitchen sink dramas. So for me to play in this big playground with big studio productions and films — these are the offers that I get.

“At the end of the day, it’s also just a job that paid the rent. I can go home to my house, be with my wife and my daughter, and if I do six months of a big American production, I can take six months off.

“Back home, I would need to work 11 months a year to get the same pay. So it’s very practical.”

“Foundation” S3 streams on AppleTV+ July 11