“It’s just about showing the world that I’m not Simon”: Omar Rudberg on life after ‘Young Royals’

Omar Rudberg doesn’t get a lot of downtime. In the year since we bid a tearful farewell to Young Royals, the Swedish-Venezuelan star has been busy carving out a space all of his own, while resisting any kind of label (except, of course, his record label). We join Rudberg in his Stockholm studio, between legs of his first solo global tour, to hear about how he’s trying to balance big moves towards global domination with moments of rest and self-care.

Amid a whirlwind of sold-out tour dates, chart-topping releases, red carpet appearances, plus a burgeoning beauty empire, where does Swedish-Venezuelan sensation Omar Rudberg find time to recharge? Right here – on a low-slung couch in a quiet corner of Ten Studios in Stockholm where I meet him for this chat. As we settle in, his team teases him about his cat-nap tendencies. “Just last week, I was so tired I couldn’t even think anymore,” he says, his chunky Cartier and Maria Nilsdotter rings flashing with each animated gesture. “I ended up sleeping here for an hour, woke up completely confused, then kept working and jamming with everyone for three more hours.”

Rest is something 26-year-old Rudberg has come to prioritise throughout the past adrenaline-fuelled year. One rare moment of downtime came at the close of the first leg of his global tour, when he and his crew booked an Airbnb in Joshua Tree to decompress after shows in New York and Los Angeles. It was there, in an unplanned moment, that these photos of Rudberg for Vogue Scandinavia came to life. “Everyone was out on a walk or something, and I was so exhausted,” Rudberg recalls. “I was like ‘You know what? I’m not going to wander around looking at, like, plants that are half-dry. I’m going to chill at the pool that we paid for’.” Back at the Airbnb, he stepped out of the shower and friend and photographer Joel Hördegård urgently summoned him to pose in the fast-fading light. “We shot the photos in literally five minutes,” he says, mimicking a rapid flurry of camera clicks. “I didn’t even have time to fix my hair.”

Despite the frenzied race against time, the resulting images are ones of total serenity. Rudberg, hair still wet, aglow in the last golden light of the day, holds a steady gaze. There’s an unguarded intimacy to the photos – stripped of the high-octane polish of red carpets and stage lights that have shaped his public persona following Young Royals, the Netflix coming-of-age phenomenon that catapulted him to global fame.

In the time since the beloved series wrapped last March, Rudberg has pulled out all the stops in furthering his music career. “This year has been huge for me when it comes to performing live,” he says. “There have been so many milestones – my first solo show, my first European tour...” He pauses, as if still processing it. “I’ve done festivals, played to crowds I could only dream of. It’s been everything.” For Rudberg, the stage has been his canvas to redefine himself – proving that he’s far more than just a breakout star from a zeitgeisty TV show. “For me, it’s about taking that step and showing people I’m actually an artist. Giving people a show, that’s what I’ve wanted to do for years and years. It’s what I love most.”

While Rudberg’s no stranger to the stage, touring as a solo artist has been a steep learning curve. “I’ve done so many shows – especially back in my band era when I was a teenager,” he says, referring to his formative years in Swedish boyband FO&O. “We played countless festivals and performances, it was insane,” he recalls. “But looking back, I don’t really remember how we built those shows, who put everything together. No clue.” Now, with full creative control, Rudberg has been learning the intricacies of crafting a show from the ground up. “It’s completely different now – understanding how to structure a setlist, how to pace the energy, the choreography, everything.”

"I remember walking out of a Loewe show and I ran right into Naomi Campbell. She turned to me and said ‘Oh, hi Omar’. I was like, ‘No f***ing way, Naomi Campbell just said my name"
Omar Rudberg

Life on the road has offered other kinds of lessons too, including how to best look after himself. “I’ve learned a lot about what I personally need, everything in between the shows,” he says. Just look at Rudberg's rider, for instance. You would expect a 20-some-thing artist on their first solo global tour to have at least one near-outrageous request, like Justin Bieber’s personal masseuse or Keith Richard’s meat pies. “For me, it’s protein bars, usually,” he laughs. “But we do have some beer, maybe some Champagne – just in case we want to celebrate.” Rudberg rarely indulges, however. “I’m not a drinker at all,” he says. “Don’t get me wrong, when I go out, I really do party. But I’m not someone who has a glass or two just for the sake of it. For me, it’s either all or nothing. So most of the time, I just skip it.”

The protein bars have gone to good use, with Rudberg developing a gym junkie routine on tour as well, despite prior lacklustre attempts. “I’ve tried going to the gym so many times, but I always quit after a few months because I hated it,” he says. But last summer, things changed. “I had a crush,” he confesses with a grin. “And this specific crush got me into working out.” What started as a fleeting motivation has turned into a lasting habit. “Since then, I haven’t stopped. I realised – wait, I’m actually seeing results. I feel better, my skin’s cleared up – not just from working out, but because I started eating better, too. I’ve made healthier choices, and my immune system’s way better now. So, you know, it's really good having a crush, I guess.”

What became of the crush? “Nothing really happened with him, it was just fun,” he says, plainly. His candid nature is partly why Rudberg resonates so deeply with his fandom, as he actively defies labels and pro- motes queer acceptance. His recent release ‘I’m Not A Boy’ perhaps captures it best. At one point during our conversation, Rudberg leaps up excitedly to play the song – still an unmixed demo at the time. His voice floods around us from the studio’s speakers: ‘I’m not a boy, I’m not a girl, I am an alien out of this world. I am nothing you can put into words, I am an idiot looking for love.’

Afterwards, he’s open about the vulnerability that came with expressing the track’s sentiment. “It’s definitely one of the scariest songs I’ve done,” he says. “It’s euphoric, an arena-type anthem. But the lyrics? They’re huge. They mean a lot. It’s a whole new vibe for me. It’s not literal, but more of a ‘f*** you’ song. Like, get out of here, don’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do.”

This is Rudberg making a clear and confident departure from the world of Young Royals and his character, Simon. Still, he remains sentimental about the series. “I still get a little sad whenever I see the others,” he says, referring to his Netflix castmates. “It was such a huge part of my life, so it’s just weird to me that life keeps moving forward, you know?” Rudberg, however, remains close with co-star Edvin Ryding, with whom he formed the internet’s favourite fictional ‘will-they-won’t-they’ couple, ‘Wilmon’. “We still try to see each other, call each other up, and check in on each other,” he says. “We had a little movie night last week, together with another friend.” Though he has clearly moved forward, there’s no sense that Rydberg is trying to ‘shed’ his connection to the character. “I’m not going to try and shake off Young Royals, because it’s a huge part of me. It’s just about showing the world that I’m not Simon,” he says. “Even though he is within me, he’s not me, you know?”

Being so comfortable in his own skin, it feels only natural that Rudberg has been steering his own beauty line, OMR Beauty, since 2023. At the moment, it’s a tight edit of perfumes, with some merch for good measure. One of the fragrances, the sold-out Duo scent for which he and Ryding are the faces, is so in-demand that Rudberg can’t even get his hands on it. “I’m like, ‘Yo, where’s my Duo? Everyone has Duo except me!’” Aside from replenishing coveted stock, Rudberg and his team are trying out makeup product samples (“the dream has always been to do my own makeup line”) and preparing the roll-out of the brand’s third scent (“It’s going to be light pink, soft and sweet”).

As if acting, singing and beauty entrepreneurship weren’t enough, Rudberg’s been making waves in fashion, too. There was the 2024 Oscars where he turned heads in a ra- zor-sharp Prada suit, sans shirt. Then there have been the fashion week invites that have left him starstruck in the close orbit of A-listers. “I remember walking out of a Loewe show and I ran right into Naomi Campbell. She turned to me and said ‘Oh, hi Omar’,” he says. “I was like, ‘No f***ing way, Naomi Campbell just said my name.” Later, at dinner, he found himself seated in close quarters to Timothée Chalamet, Troye Sivan and Arón Piper. “It was nerve-racking but so cool. I just kept thinking, ‘What am I doing here? How is this even happening?’”

He still holds an earnest humility and awe in all that is happening to him. But it’s clear Rudberg is made for big things. “I really just want to take over the world,” he says. “I’m so ready. I want to do big shows and collaborate with big names. I want to go to Latin America, make music in Spanish, dive into pop in the US and Europe, tour, and just keep doing what I love. That’s always been my dream. So, I’m focusing on that – putting out the best music I can and putting on the best shows.” It’s full steam ahead, but Rudberg knows the value of hitting pause – even if just for a stolen nap between rehearsals or a protein bar on the go. After all, even global domination requires a little rest.