Alexander Skarsgård

Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (Swedish: [alɛkˈsǎnːdɛr ˈskɑ̌ːʂɡoːɖ] (listen);[1] born 25 August 1976) is a Swedish actor. He is best known for his roles as Brad "Iceman" Colbert in the miniseries Generation Kill (2008), Eric Northman in the television series True Blood (2008–2014), and Perry Wright in the television series Big Little Lies (2017–2019). The lattermost earned him several accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. He has also appeared in films such as Melancholia (2011) and The Legend of Tarzan (2016).

Alexander Skarsgård
Skarsgård in 2016
Born	Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (1976-08-25) 25 August 1976 Stockholm, Sweden
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1984–present
Parent(s)	Stellan Skarsgård My Skarsgård
Family	Gustaf Skarsgård Bill Skarsgård Valter Skarsgård

Early life

Alexander Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden. He is the eldest son of actor Stellan Skarsgård and his first wife, My Skarsgård, a physician.[2] He has five younger siblings: Gustaf, Sam, Bill, Eija and Valter, and two half-brothers from his father's second wife, Megan Everett.[3][4] Gustaf, Bill, and Valter are also actors.[3]

A friend of his father, who was a director, gave Skarsgård his first film role when he was seven years old. He played Kalle Nubb in Åke och hans värld (Åke and His World). In 1989, the lead role in the Swedish television production Hunden som log (The Dog That Smiled) made him famous in Sweden at the age of 13. Uncomfortable with being recognized, he quit acting for the next seven years.[5][6][7]

Skarsgård applied to do his national service at age 19. He served in the Swedish military for 18 months, in the SäkJakt ("protect and hunt") unit that dealt with anti-sabotage and anti-terrorism in the Stockholm archipelago.[8] After completing his service in 1996 he left Sweden and attended Leeds Metropolitan University in England for six months. He enrolled to study English but admits he did not study much and "had a blast" instead.[3][6]

After seven years away from acting, he started to consider it again. In 1997, he enrolled in a theater course at Marymount Manhattan College and moved to New York City. He returned to Stockholm after six months, but the time he spent studying theater showed him that he wanted to act.[3][9]

Career

Upon his return to Sweden, Skarsgård began picking up acting jobs, working in film, television and theatrical productions.[3] While on vacation in the United States, he auditioned for and landed the role of Meekus in the 2001 film Zoolander.[10] In 2003, his work in Hundtricket-the Movie (The Dog Trick) earned him an Guldbagge Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was named the Sexiest Man in Sweden five times.[5]

He moved to Los Angeles in 2004 but continued to work in Sweden.[11] His break came when he was cast as Sergeant Brad "Iceman" Colbert in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill. An adaptation of journalist Evan Wright's book of the same name, Generation Kill follows the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps during the early part of the Iraq War. The role of Brad Colbert was the closest to a "lead" in Generation Kill, and director Susanna White and executive producer David Simon at first disagreed about casting Skarsgård. White wanted to cast him but Simon was not convinced he could pull off the American accent. After four auditions in three cities, Skarsgård learned the role was his just 36 hours before he had to board a plane for Namibia where the project was filming. The cast and crew filmed for seven months in the desert, shooting six days a week. Skarsgård worked with a dialect coach to master the American accent.[3][5][12]

Skarsgård at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival

Just before leaving to shoot Generation Kill, Skarsgård heard about True Blood, a new series HBO was developing based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris. At first he was unsure about playing a vampire, but when he learned that Alan Ball, creator of the HBO series Six Feet Under and Academy Award winning screenwriter of American Beauty, was behind the project, he sent in an audition tape. The audition was for the role of Bill Compton, which eventually went to Stephen Moyer. Skarsgård was later cast as Eric Northman, a 1000-year-old, Viking vampire sheriff, local bar owner and potential love interest of heroine Sookie Stackhouse in October 2007.[5][13] True Blood launched its seventh and final season in June 2014.

In 2009, Skarsgård appeared in the music video for pop singer Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi".[13] He was the voice of Stefan in the 2009 animated film Metropia, directed by Tarik Saleh.[6] In 2010, Skarsgård portrayed Terje, a gay Norwegian trekking to the North Pole, in the British mockumentary Beyond the Pole.[14]

Suit maker Hickey Freeman chose Skarsgård to model a new look it debuted in 2010. Annie Leibovitz photographed the ad campaign which appeared in The Wall Street Journal Magazine, GQ and Details.[15][16] He covered the September 2010 issue of Rolling Stone with his True Blood co-stars, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.[17]

Skarsgård appeared in two 2011 films. Melancholia,[18] an apocalyptic movie directed by Lars von Trier and starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kiefer Sutherland, premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.[19][20] Skarsgård appeared in Straw Dogs, a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, as Charlie Venner. The remake's director, Rod Lurie, transferred the small town setting from Cornwall to Mississippi, and described Venner as "an ex-football star gone to seed". The film co-starred James Marsden and Kate Bosworth and was released 16 September 2011.[8]

In 2012, Skarsgård appeared alongside Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna in Peter Berg's Battleship, an adaptation of the Hasbro game.[21] He also starred with Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan in Scott McGehee and David Siegel's film, What Maisie Knew, an adaptation of the Henry James novel of the same name.[22] He was also part of the ensemble cast in Henry Alex Rubin's thriller, Disconnect, playing opposite Paula Patton.[23]

Skarsgård starred alongside Brit Marling and Ellen Page in Zal Batmanglij's 2013 film, The East.[24] Skarsgård starred in the 2016 film The Legend of Tarzan, portraying the title character, opposite Margot Robbie as Jane. Skarsgård worked out for 7 months to prepare for the role.[25] In 2017 he co-starred in HBO's Big Little Lies. For his role as an abusive husband, Skarsgård won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie.[26]

In 2019, he played opposite Keira Knightley in The Aftermath, a film set in 1946 post-war Hamburg, where he portrays a sensitive German architect, forced to take in a British military couple in his stately home. Skarsgård will star in The Stand, a CBS All Access miniseries based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Stephen King, portraying Randall Flagg, a "charismatic rockabilly demon".[27]

Personal life

Skarsgård is a fan of Swedish football and supports Hammarby Fotboll, a club based in Stockholm, his birth city.[28] In October 2010, he participated in "Bajen Aid" by donating several items he had autographed and auctioned to raise money for the Hammarby football club.[29]

In July 2011, Skarsgård received an honorary degree from Leeds Metropolitan University, where he was formerly a student.[30]

Skarsgård was the Ambassador for the American team for a Walking With The Wounded fundraising event for wounded soldiers.[31][32] He trekked to the South Pole against Team UK (Prince Harry, Ambassador) and Team Canada/Australia (actor Dominic West, Ambassador). A few days into the trek, it was decided that the competition part of the race would be cancelled due to hazardous terrain and weather conditions, so the teams combined forces and continued the journey together. All three teams successfully made it to the South Pole on 13 December 2013.[33][34]

Skarsgård identifies as a feminist.[35]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Åke and His World	Kalle Nubb
1989	The Dog That Smiled	Jojjo
1999	Happy End	Bamse Viktorsson
2000	The Diver	Ingmar
	White Water Fury	Anders
	Wings of Glass	Johan
2001	Kites Over Helsinki	Robin Åström
	Zoolander	Meekus
2002	The Dog Trick	Robinson-Micke
2003	To Kill a Child	–	Short film; co-director with Björne Larson
2004	Heartbeat	The Pilot	Short film
2005	Double Shift	Nisse
	Om Sara	Kalle Öberg
2006	The Last Drop	Lt. Jergen Voller
	Never Be Mine	Christopher
	Kill Your Darlings	Geert
	Score	Micke
	Exit	Fabian von Klerking
2007	Järnets änglar	Stefan
2009	Metropia	Stefan (voice)
	Beyond the Pole	Terje
2010	Trust Me	Alex
	Moomins and the Comet Chase	Moomintroll (voice)
	13	Jack
2011	Straw Dogs	Charlie Venner
	Melancholia	Michael
2012	Battleship	Commander Stone Hopper
	What Maisie Knew	Lincoln
	Disconnect	Derek Hull
2013	The East	Benji
2014	The Giver	Jonas' Father
2015	Hidden	Ray
	The Diary of a Teenage Girl	Monroe Rutherford
2016	Zoolander 2	Adam	Cameo
	War on Everyone	Terry Monroe
	The Legend of Tarzan	Tarzan / John Clayton
2018	Mute	Leo Beiler
	The Hummingbird Project	Anton Zaleski
	Hold the Dark	Vernon Sloane
2019	The Aftermath	Stefan Lubert
	Long Shot	Prime Minister James Steward
	The Kill Team	Sergeant Deeks
2020	Passing	John	Post-production
2021	Godzilla vs. Kong		Post-production
TBA	The Northman		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	Idag röd	Fred	Television film
1999	Vita lögner	Marcus Englund	10 episodes
2000	D-dag	Lise's Stepson	Television film
	Judith	Ante Lindström	Episode: "Del 2"
2005	Revelations	Gunnar Eklind	Miniseries
2006	Cuppen	Micke	Television film
2007	Golden Brown Eyes	Boogey Knights Singer	2 episodes
2008	Generation Kill	Brad "Iceman" Colbert	Miniseries; 7 episodes
2008–14	True Blood	Eric Northman	76 episodes
2013	Eastbound & Down	Adult Toby Powers	Episode: "Chapter 29"
2017–19	Big Little Lies	Perry Wright	14 episodes
2018	Drunk History	James Dunn	Episode: "Heroines"
	The Little Drummer Girl	Gadi Becker	6 episodes
2019	On Becoming a God in Central Florida	Travis Stubbs	Episode: "The Stinker Thinker"
2020	The Stand	Randall Flagg	Pre-production

Music videos

Year	Title	Role	Artist
2009	"Paparazzi"	Boyfriend	Lady Gaga
2013	"Free Your Mind"	Cult Leader	Cut Copy

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominated work	Result	Ref.
2003	Odense International Film Festival	Grand Prix	To Kill a Child	Won
		Press Award		Won
	Guldbagge Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Hundtricket — The Movie	Nominated
2009	Scream Awards	Best Villain	True Blood	Won	[36]
		Best Television Ensemble		Won	[37]
2010	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated	[38]
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actor in Television		Nominated
	NewNowNext Awards	Brink of Fame: Actor		Nominated
	Scream Awards	Best Television Performance		Nominated
		Best Horror Actor		Won
2011	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Vampire		Nominated
	Scream Awards	Best Horror Actor		Won
		Best Ensemble		Won
2012	Robert Awards	Best Supporting Actor (Årets mandlige birolle)	Melancholia	Nominated
	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Straw Dogs	Nominated
2017	Primetime Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Television Movie	Big Little Lies	Won
2018	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film		Won	[39]
	Satellite Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Film – Television		Nominated
	Critics' Choice Television Awards	Best Supporting Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries		Won
	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries		Won
2020	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series		Nominated

References

1. "The Correct Way To Pronounce "Alexander Skarsgård"". The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. 21 June 2016. Archived from the original on 4 February 2017. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
2. Behdjou, Behrang (8 November 2014). "My Skarsgård: "Till slut handlade det om att välja livet eller döden"". Dagens Nyheter. Archived from the original on 9 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
3. Harvey, Chris."Alexander Skarsgard interview: True Blood lust" Archived 11 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Telegraph, 12 August 2010. Retrieved 4 May 2011.
4. Sundholm, Magnus Jag hinner inte ens käka Archived 30 December 2013 at the Wayback Machine, Nöjes Bladet, 26 July 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
5. Raymond, Joan. "Alexander Skarsgard Is a Neck Man" Archived 20 January 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Newsweek, 11 September 2009. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
6. Hillis, Aaron. "Alexander Skarsgard Gets Animated", IFC, 12 May 2010. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
7. "Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood) Interview" Archived 15 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Last Broadcast. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
8. Martin, Brett. "Here Comes the Viking" Archived 6 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine, GQ, June 2011.
9. "Alexander Skarsgård" Archived 23 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine, Bizarre. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
10. Mohney, Chris. "The New Carnivore: Alexander Skarsgård" Archived 22 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine, BlackBook, 18 December 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
11. Wilson, Benji. "Alexander Skarsgård on starring in both Generation Kill and True Blood: interview" Archived 5 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Telegraph, 2 October 2009.
12. Robinson, John. "Calling the Shots on Generation Kill" Archived 27 February 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian, 2 October 2009. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
13. Daum, Meghan. "The Men of True Blood" Archived 11 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Details, May 2010.
14. Elley, Derek. "Film Reviews: Beyond the Pole" Archived 8 November 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Variety, 10 January 2010.
15. Smith, Ray A. "Do Men Want Boxy or Bold?" Archived 28 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Wall Street Journal, 15 July 2010. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
16. Millar, Jamie."Alexander Skarsgård exclusive!" Archived 19 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine, GQ.com, 29 September 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
17. Everett, Cristina. "True Blood stars Alexander Skarsgård, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer get bloody nude for Rolling Stone" Archived 27 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, NY Daily News, 17 August 2010. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
18. "'Blood' star Alexander Skarsgard shows true range in films". USA Today. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
19. Eriksen, Lars. "Melancholia? With Lars Von Trier at the helm, don't doubt it" Archived 26 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine, guardian.co.uk, 29 July 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
20. Chang, Justin. Debruge, Peter. "Tree of Life wins Palme d'Or" Archived 28 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Variety, 22 May 2011.
21. Benigno, Anthony. "Rihanna to make movie debut in 'Battleship' opposite Alexander Skarsgård, Taylor Kitsch" Archived 27 May 2012 at the Wayback Machine, Daily News, 27 July 2010. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
22. Kemp, Stuart. "'True Blood's Alexander Skarsgard Sinks Teeth Into 'What Maisie Knew'" Archived 24 July 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Hollywood Reporter, 11 May 2011. Retrieved 15 September 2011.
23. "Disconnect" Archived 28 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine, The Hollywood Reporter, Retrieved 8 September 2013.
24. Kilday, Gregg. "Brit Marling's 'The East' to Close SXSW Film Festival" Archived 5 April 2019 at the Wayback Machine, The Hollywood Reporter, 13 February 2013. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
25. "'Tarzan' to Swing Into Theaters July 1, 2016". Variety. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 11 February 2014.
26. "Emmys 2017: Full List of Nominations". Variety. 13 July 2017. Archived from the original on 13 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
27. Breznican, Anthony (20 May 2020). "Exclusive: Stephen King's The Stand Comes to Life Again". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on 22 May 2020. Retrieved 22 May 2020.
28. Canales, Andrea. "Canales Daily: Keeping The Faith In The Feeders". goal.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2011. Retrieved 11 June 2011.
29. "Bajen Aid-auktionen: Ännu större succè" Archived 7 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine, 3 October 2010; retrieved 11 June 2011.
30. "Leeds Metropolitan University: Degree honour for True Blood actor Skarsgard". Yorkshire Evening Post. 20 July 2011. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019.
31. Cooney Carrillo, Jenny (21 June 2016). "Alexander Skarsgard reveals his childhood connection to The Legend of Tarzan". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
32. "Prince Harry and his Walking With The Wounded team reach South Pole". The Telegraph. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019.
33. "Prince Harry and mates reach South Pole". The Mercury News. 13 December 2013. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
34. Kim, Eun Kyung (13 December 2013). "Prince Harry, teammates finally reach South Pole". Today.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
35. "ELLE UK Exclusive: Alexander Skarsgård On 'Disgusting' Double Standards In Hollywood". 7 February 2018. Archived from the original on 1 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
36. "TV Scream 2009 Award Winners Announced" Archived 3 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 18 October 2009.
37. "2009 14th Annual SATELLITE AWARDS" Archived 8 October 2011 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved on 20 December 2009.
38. "16th ANNUAL SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARDS" Retrieved on 23 January 2010.
39. THR Staff (8 January 2018). "Alexander Skarsgård Accepts Award for 'Big Little Lies' | Golden Globes 2018". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on 8 January 2018. Retrieved 8 January 2018.

External links

• Alexander Skarsgård on IMDb
• Alexander Skarsgård at the Swedish Film Database