Sven Gunderson

Sven Gunderson
Background Information
Feature films	Titanic (1997)
Portrayed by	Dan Pettersson (1997)
Character Information
Full name	Sven Gunderson
Gender	Male
Born	1880s-1890s (1997)
Relatives	Olaf Gunderson
Titanic Statistics
Class/Dept	Never boarded, but Third
Boarded at	Never boarded, but aiming for Southampton
Destination	Never boarded, but headed for New York
Fate	Never boarded, survived

“	(In Swedish) You lost our money. I'm just trying to get it back. Now shut up and take a card.	”
—Sven Gunderson to Olaf Gunderson

Sven Gunderson is a fictional minor character in the 1997 film Titanic. He was portrayed by Dan Pettersson.

Role in the 1997 film

Sven and Olaf Gunderson playing poker games with Jack Dawson and Fabrizio de Rossi

“	Sven? Uh-oh. 2 pair.	”
—Jack Dawson

He was a Swede, brother/cousin of Olaf. They played poker with Jack Dawson and Fabrizio de Rossi shortly before the departure of RMS Titanic. He had bet their tickets as well as a pocket knife, some money and a pocket watch as a way of making their opponents go all in with everything they had, something Olaf was against. Despite Sven having two pairs, Jack beat him with a full house, resulting in them losing their tickets aboard the ship.

Olaf Gunderson beats Sven

As Jack collected their winnings, Sven watched supportingly as Olaf grabbed the American and prepared to strike only to instead strike Sven himself, knocking him out, due to the man having lost them tickets that cost them a fortune.

Jack and Fabrizio whoop it up about going to America, only to be snapped out of it by the bartender, who motioned to a clock and said the Titanic is departing in five minutes, with or without them. The pair rushed to the dock and were admitted by a sailor just as the ship cast off. Sven is not seen for the rest of the film, but mentioned when Fabrizio settles into his cabin, where two other men ask themselves "Where is Sven?"

It may have been likely that Olaf made amends with Sven over striking him once he learned of the Titanic's fate. Had they boarded as planned, the odds were against them making it to a lifeboat.

Trivia

• The loss proved fortunate for Sven and Olaf after all as it likely saved their lives.
• When MAD Magazine spoofed the film, they included a strip where Olaf punches out Sven, only to later buy him a bottle of expensive liquor out of remorse; the punchline being that Olaf just saw a headline of the Titanic's sinking whereas Sven had not.
• As it's shown that both Sven and Olaf's last name is Gunderson, indicating that they are somehow related with Bjorn and Olaus Gunderson.