Alexander Skarsgård


Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård is a Swedish actor. He is best known for his roles as Brad "Iceman" Colbert in the miniseries Generation Kill, Eric Northman in the television series True Blood, and Perry Wright in the television series Big Little Lies. 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 and The Legend of Tarzan.

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. He has five younger siblings: Gustaf, Sam, Bill, Eija and Valter, and two half-brothers from his father's second wife, Megan Everett. Gustaf, Bill, and Valter are also actors.
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. In 1989, the lead role in the Swedish television production Hunden som log made him famous in Sweden at the age of 13. Uncomfortable with being recognized, he quit acting for the next seven years.
Skarsgård applied to do his national service at age 19. He served in the Swedish military for 18 months, in the SäkJakt unit that dealt with anti-sabotage and anti-terrorism in the Stockholm archipelago. 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.
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.

Career

Upon his return to Sweden, Skarsgård began picking up acting jobs, working in film, television and theatrical productions. While on vacation in the United States, he auditioned for and landed the role of Meekus in the 2001 film Zoolander.
In 2003, his work in Hundtricket-the Movie earned him an Guldbagge Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was named the Sexiest Man in Sweden five times.
He moved to Los Angeles in 2004 but continued to work in Sweden. 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.
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. 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". He was the voice of Stefan in the 2009 animated film Metropia, directed by Tarik Saleh. In 2010, Skarsgård portrayed Terje, a gay Norwegian trekking to the North Pole, in the British mockumentary Beyond the Pole.
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. He covered the September 2010 issue of Rolling Stone with his True Blood co-stars, Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.
Skarsgård appeared in two 2011 films. Melancholia, an apocalyptic movie directed by Lars von Trier and starring Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kiefer Sutherland, premiered at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. 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.
In 2012, Skarsgård appeared alongside Taylor Kitsch and Rihanna in Peter Berg's Battleship, an adaptation of the Hasbro game. 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. He was also part of the ensemble cast in Henry Alex Rubin's thriller, Disconnect, playing opposite Paula Patton.
Skarsgård starred alongside Brit Marling and Ellen Page in Zal Batmanglij's 2013 film, The East. 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. 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.
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".

Personal life

Skarsgård is a fan of Swedish football and supports Hammarby Fotboll, a club based in Stockholm, his birth city. 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.
In July 2011, Skarsgård received an honorary degree from Leeds Metropolitan University, where he was formerly a student.
Skarsgård was the Ambassador for the American team for a Walking With The Wounded fundraising event for wounded soldiers. He trekked to the South Pole against Team UK and Team Canada/Australia. 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.
Skarsgård identifies as a feminist.

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
1984Åke and His WorldKalle Nubb
1989The Dog That SmiledJojjo
1999Happy EndBamse Viktorsson
2000The DiverIngmar
2000White Water FuryAnders
2000Wings of GlassJohan
2001Kites Over HelsinkiRobin Åström
2001ZoolanderMeekus
2002The Dog TrickRobinson-Micke
2003To Kill a Child –Short film; co-director with Björne Larson
2004HeartbeatThe PilotShort film
2005Double ShiftNisse
2005Om SaraKalle Öberg
2006The Last DropLt. Jergen Voller
2006Never Be MineChristopher
2006Kill Your DarlingsGeert
2006ScoreMicke
2006ExitFabian von Klerking
2007Järnets änglarStefan
2009MetropiaStefan
2009Beyond the PoleTerje
2010Trust MeAlex
2010Moomins and the Comet ChaseMoomintroll
201013Jack
2011Straw DogsCharlie Venner
2011MelancholiaMichael
2012BattleshipCommander Stone Hopper
2012What Maisie KnewLincoln
2012DisconnectDerek Hull
2013The EastBenji
2014The GiverJonas' Father
2015HiddenRay
2015The Diary of a Teenage GirlMonroe Rutherford
2016Zoolander 2AdamCameo
2016War on EveryoneTerry Monroe
2016The Legend of TarzanTarzan / John Clayton
2018MuteLeo Beiler
2018The Hummingbird ProjectAnton Zaleski
2018Hold the DarkVernon Sloane
2019The AftermathStefan Lubert
2019Long ShotPrime Minister James Steward
2019The Kill TeamSergeant Deeks
2020PassingJohnPost-production
2021Godzilla vs. KongPost-production
TBAThe NorthmanFilming

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
1987Idag rödFredTelevision film
1999Vita lögnerMarcus Englund10 episodes
2000D-dagLise's StepsonTelevision film
2000JudithAnte LindströmEpisode: "Del 2"
2005RevelationsGunnar EklindMiniseries
2006CuppenMickeTelevision film
2007Golden Brown EyesBoogey Knights Singer2 episodes
2008Generation KillBrad "Iceman" ColbertMiniseries; 7 episodes
2008–14True BloodEric Northman76 episodes
2013Eastbound & DownAdult Toby PowersEpisode: "Chapter 29"
2017–19Big Little LiesPerry Wright14 episodes
2018Drunk HistoryJames DunnEpisode: "Heroines"
2018The Little Drummer GirlGadi Becker6 episodes
2019On Becoming a God in Central FloridaTravis StubbsEpisode: "The Stinker Thinker"
2020The StandRandall FlaggPre-production

Music videos

Awards and nominations

YearAwardCategoryNominated workResult
2003Odense International Film FestivalGrand PrixTo Kill a Child
2003Odense International Film FestivalPress AwardTo Kill a Child
2003Guldbagge AwardsBest Supporting ActorHundtricket — The Movie
2009Scream AwardsBest VillainTrue Blood
2009Scream AwardsBest Television EnsembleTrue Blood
2010Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesTrue Blood
2010Saturn AwardsBest Supporting Actor in TelevisionTrue Blood
2010NewNowNext AwardsBrink of Fame: ActorTrue Blood
2010Scream AwardsBest Television PerformanceTrue Blood
2010Scream AwardsBest Horror ActorTrue Blood
2011Teen Choice AwardsChoice VampireTrue Blood
2011Scream AwardsBest Horror ActorTrue Blood
2011Scream AwardsBest EnsembleTrue Blood
2012Robert AwardsBest Supporting Actor Melancholia
2012Fangoria Chainsaw AwardsBest Supporting ActorStraw Dogs
2017Primetime Emmy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Television MovieBig Little Lies
2018Golden Globe AwardsBest Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television FilmBig Little Lies
2018Satellite AwardsBest Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Film – TelevisionBig Little Lies
2018Critics' Choice Television AwardsBest Supporting Actor in a Television Movie or MiniseriesBig Little Lies
2018Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or MiniseriesBig Little Lies
2020Screen Actors Guild AwardsOutstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama SeriesBig Little Lies