millenium man alexander skarsgard

8/3/2019 Millenium Man Alexander Skarsgard

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Millenium Man Alexander Skarsgard

You cant accuse Alexander Skarsgrd of going Hollywood. At a recent photo shoot, the six -foot-fourSwedish stunner currently heating up the small screen on HBOs hit series True Blood showed upsans entourage, parking his own car in the same lot as the crew. His outrageous on-set demand? A

cup of coffee, please. Oh, and he volunteered to be his own stand-in for lighting setup. Unheard of!

The actors unaffected manner all the more striking given his angular movie-idol looks put the setin a state of mild bewilderment. This is, after all, the home of high-maintenance celebrity needs. Sowhen someone as easygoing and ego- free as Skarsgrd comes along, we almost dont know what todo with him.

And yet theres no arguing Skarsgrd is a born star. The acting bug is hereditary. Hes the son of Swedish screen veteran Stellan Skarsgrd. Like his father, Skarsgrd the younger got his start as achild actor in Sweden. For American fans, he first emerged from the dust and cynicism of HBOsGeneration Kill by command ing scenes as easily as his character, Sgt. Brad Iceman Colbert, orderedaround his marines.

But its True Bloods wickedly sexy vampire sheriff Eric Northman that made him a bona fide sexsymbol. Now, at 33, Skarsgrd is in such high demand both here and in Sweden he shot two films

simultaneously during his last hiatus. And his chiseled, athletic frame and riveting pale blue eyeshave sent fans into such a worshipful tizzy theyve given themselves a name: Skarsgrdians.

The plot for season three of True Blood, coming in June, is tightly cloaked (oh, how those vampirefranchises bring out the puns), but Skarsgrd has hinted that Northmans machinations will growmore intense than ever. Lets just hope the Skarsgrdians can control themselves.

Leslie Gornstein: I would imagine that playing a vampire these days is almost like plunging into amajor franchise like Star Trek or Star Wars the scrutiny and adoration just go off the scale. What doyou think it is about vampires, anyway?

Alexander Skarsgrd: People are kind of intrigued because they represent immortality. And acharacter like Eric has been around for a thousand years. All that wisdom and experience you carryit around with you. Thats attractive. What makes vampires a platform for good drama is theyre alsolethal. Eric is an animal. Hes on that edge where you dont know if he will turn and kill you in asecond.


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You filmed both an American film, Straw Dogs, and the Swedish film Puss known stateside as TrustMe during your latest hiatus. Youve also said you never want to stop doing Swedish cinema. Tellme about that.

Its not about if its a Swedish project or an American one. For me, its about the quality of thematerial, who the filmmaker is and if theres something in the script or the char acter that gets meexcited. I need that to get my creativity going.

Straw Dogs and Puss are so different. One is a reimagining of a Sam Peckinpah classic, and theothers an indie. Why those two?

I shot Straw Dogs with Rod Lurie, who directed The Contender and [the TV series] Commander inChief. We had a meeting, and I found the project very interesting. Puss thats Swedish for kisswithout a doubt was a film that excited me. It was directed by Johan Kling, who directed a moviecalled Darling three years ago a beautiful little film about a woman and an older man and theirfriendship against all odds. When he called and asked if I wanted to be in his next movie, I said,Absolutely. I want to be able to do different characters, different projects, work i n differentlanguages. Doing Straw Dogs and Puss simultaneously and then going back to True Blood? That keptme on my toes.

And on a plane, from what I understand.

Oh yes, I flew back and forth between Shreveport, Louisiana, and this tiny island on the Baltic Sea. Itwas a bit of a nightmare, because it took, like, 23 hours to get from one place to another. And thenas soon as I landed, I had to go straight from airport to studio to work for another 14 hours. Iprobably aged about 20 years doing that.

But so many actors require time to transition between characters, prepare themselves, really sinkinto a role.

I agree. Ideally, I would have gone back to Sweden, chilled out for a week or so, gotten into focus,but this was the only way we could work things out. I prepared for both projects before they started,then got as much sleep as possible on the planes.


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Apparently, the paparazzi have shots of you going to the movies by yourself. Rising Hollywood idolsdont go anywhere by themselvesdont you w atch Entourage?

Im not a Hollywood actor. I am a social guy, but Im not one of those actors who will show up to ashoot with 15 agents and managers and publicists. An entourage like that just makes meuncomfortable.

You were a child actor in Sweden. That term carries a very specific set of stigmas here in the States loss of childhood, too much pressure. Is the experience any less Drew Barrymore esque over there?

Yeah, we dont have, like, Hollywood moms and dads in Sweden the way you do here, where its aprofession for kids. Its not that big of an industry there, and my parents never pushed me. It can bereally, really tough being a child actor. A lot of them have huge problems growing up. I didnt likebeing famous when I was 13. I didnt like pe ople recognizing me.

So you quit is that right?

Yeah, I told my parents I didnt want to do it anymore, and they both said, Its a tough job, and if you feel like theres something out there youd rather do, do that. Only become an actor if you feellike you dont have a choice. My father is an actor. I didnt have a plan for what I wanted to do, I

just wasnt comfortable doing that anymore.

What made you come back?

I missed it being onstage or in front of a camera. I thought, All right, Im 20 now instead of 13.Maybe Im a little different from how I was seven years ago, and I owe it to myself to try it now, andat least I can dismiss it if Im still not comfortable. I will know for sure, and I can move on. But it was

just like my father said: I fe lt like I didnt have an option.

Can I get away with saying something negative about your favorite soccer team, Hammarby, or areyou a hoolie?

[Laughs.] I try to be a grown- up about that, but I cant.


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I see there are Mrs. Skarsgrd mugs available for purchase on one of your fan sites. Flattering orunnerving?

Oh no, I am flattered by it. So very flattered. In order for me to stay sane, though, I try to mostly stayaway from the fan sites, the blogs and the Twitterers.

Skarsgrdians, actually. So th en if theres someone out there whos tweeting as Alexander Skarsgrd,its not you?

Its not me.

At age 23 according to one interview you did way back when your idol was Eddie Izzard, yourfavorite movie was Duck Soup and your favorite book was Angelas Ashes. Care to update?

Well, I am still a huge fan of Eddie Izzard, so I probably did say that. I was pretty obsessed with himback in the day. And Duck Soup, yeah, thats still up there as well. As kids, my brothers and I had VHStapes of all these Marx Brothers movies, and on Sunday mornings we would get up and makenonalcoholic egg toddies. Do you have those here?

Nogs?

No, toddies. Basically we cracked open, like, six eggs and put them in a blender with about two tonsof sugar. Then we would mix it up and watch the Marx Brothers.

In that same interview, you did a little doodle of a man with stringy hair and a long, picklelike nose.Who was that?

[Laughs.] I dont actually remember, but, knowing me, it was probably me.

http://www.latimesmagazine.com/2010/03/millennium-man.html

millenium man alexander skarsgard

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