Alexander Skarsgard Biography

ALEXANDER SKARSGARD

Childhood

Actor and director Alexander Skarsgård was born in Råcksta, located in the north-western suburbs of Stockholm, between Blackeberg and Vällingby, Sweden, to mother My Skarsgård, a doctor, and to father Stellan Skarsgård, a famous Swedish actor, probably best known in the US as Bootstrap Bill Turner in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. He is the eldest of seven children: sister Eija, a model b. 1992, and brothers Gustaf, an actor b. 1980, Sam, a doctor b. 1982, Bill, an actor b. 1990, Valter, an actor b. 1995 and new little half brother Ossian b. 2009 (born to Stellan and his new wife Megan). When Alexander was just 6 months old, the family moved to Götgatan in Södermalm, or Söder as it's often shortened to, a district in central Stockholm. Today Söder is considered a fashionable place to live, boasting prominent shopping districts, a wide range of cafés, restaurants and bars, and a broad range of cultural amenities, but this was not the case in the 70s (Söder's ascendancy towards a better reputation started around the 1980s). At this time it was still regarded as a slum, and growing up in this neighbourhood undoubtedly shaped Alexander, mainly because he grew up in a working class environment, but also due to the fact that you had to be a dedicated Bajen (nickname for Sweden's Hammarby IF football team) supporter if you didn't want to be beaten up in the school yard, a team which he still stands by to this day.
AS: "No one had successful parents. Several had single mums or parents that were alcoholics. We had no money. Mum didn't work and dad had a crappy actor salary. We had tea tin cans that I used as drum sets. That was my best toy for years, I thought they were hilarious. As long as none of your neighbours have radio-controlled cars you have fun with the little you have. It's only when envy comes in that you despair."
Alexander had his first taste of acting in a small theatre when he was 4 years old, but in 1984 he got his first official role, making his acting career debut in the award winning Swedish film "Åke och hans värld" (Åke and His World) where he played Kalle Nubb.

Teenage Years

Alexander became a teen star in Sweden after portraying Jojjo in the 1989 Swedeish film "Hunden som log" (The Dog That Smiled). Shortly after this Alexander became uncomfortable with celebrity, his self-confidence was knocked, he hated the media attention and being recognised everywhere he went. He wanted people to see him and like him for the kind of person he was and not because they had read about him in some magazine or newspaper. During this period of acting hiatus he thought of becoming an architect, a bricklayer, a pilot, anything but an actor, and like many teenagers, he rebelled against his parents, deciding to shut them out.
AS: "My room was close to one entrance of the apartment. Mum and dad had theirs in the opposite direction. I used to be in my room with my mates drinking home brewed beer and listening to punk music, go out and stay there until night and then go home and sleep. In the mornings I could take a sandwich in the kitchen on my way out again. We had no close relation at all during that time."
His parents were worried, they couldn't reach him no matter how hard they tried, and the more they tried, the more he shut them out. If they asked if he had a girlfriend, Alexander would simply reply "See ya", to him this was none of their business, he was living his life and his parents just happened to live in the same apartment. He was out on the streets a lot and pretty messy, although no real harm was ever done, once, when he was 17, his father had to pick him up from a drunk cell.
AS: "First he didn't say anything. He just looked at me. Then he said, "You are intelligent Alexander. You know what you did tonight had how fu**ing stupid that was so I don't need to yell at you." He was right of course, I had huge regrets and anxiety feelings about it and he knew that."
This period lasted for 4-5 years until Alexander moved out when he was 19, he wanted to live his own life and felt like his parents were opressing him. He went to college to study political science until he joined the Swedish Navy.


Return to Acting
 
During his 15 months of military service as a marine, Alexander had plenty of time to think, spending all that time in a tent gives a person different perspectives on life, he came to a realisation, he missed acting. In 1996 after completing his conscripted service at the Berga Naval Academies as a sergeant, he moved with a friend to Leeds in England, where they lived down in a basement with no windows or heat. He has described this time as cold, windy, poor and fun as hell!
AS: "We were pretty much broke and what little money we had went to buying beers. It was a very shady place. We shared a bathroom with the other people in the house. One guy had long gray hair and looked like the Twin Peaks killer. He was sitting in his room and had long loud arguments with himself. On the second floor lived David that had a praying corner with a Swedish flag and framed pictures of Queen Silvia of Sweden. He had been smuggling drugs to Sweden for 20 years and was obsessed with her for some reason."
Alexander studied at the Leeds Metropolitan University, leaving the school with a proficiency certificate. From here he moved to New York where he enrolled at Marymount Manhattan College to study theatre and acting, he was living with a 55 year old Philippine clothes designer called René.
AS: "He rented out several rooms and I noticed that there were only guys in their twenties that moved in. When I was home studying he thought I looked a bit tense and wanted to give me a massage. I just laughed. He knew i was straight but he refused to give up his hopes. Every day he came crawling towards me on all fours, trying to get something to happen. I told him: "René, cut it out. I'm not going to suck your d**k, you know that"."
After six months in New York Alexander left the college and returned to Sweden. He had met a girl in Stockholm and was so passionately in love that he had decided that was the most important thing in his life, but two days after he had arrived, she broke up with him.
AS: "Damn ironic. I had dropped out of school and could not move back. New York is a difficult city to be in when you are a poor student and unhappily in love. It will eat you up. I was so damn miserable. That spring was horrible."
But Alexander was still convinced that he wanted to act, all of his other career ambitions gave way to his desire to become an actor. He took a job in a cafe and some extra work as a model to keep himself afloat financially. But it wasn't long before he was offered and accepted a role in Christina Olofsson's 1999 film "Happy End", his first role as an adult, he also got a part in the Swedish TV Soap "Vita lögner" (White Lies) as Marcus Englund, appearing in 10 episodes. Afterwards he realised that he was back in the same position he had been in 10 years ago, but, older and wiser with new found self-confidence, now knew how to handle the media attention.


Actor and Director

Now the job offers started coming in fast, some of these roles included Ingmar in Erik Gustavson's film "Dykaren", Ante Lindström in Alexander Moberg's TV movie "Judith", Anders in Jon Lindström's Swedish film "Järngänget" (White Water Fury) and Johan in Reza Bagher's award winning drama/romance "Vingar av glas" (Wings of Glass) about a young woman who is torn between her father's culture and the desire to make her own life. The film was a hit and Alexander suddenly became a Swedish star. This led to him being introduced to the US when he landed a small role in Ben Stiller's 2001 comedy "Zoolander" where he played Stiller's dim-witted model roommate Meekus, which put him on the Hollywood map. But Alexander decided to stay in Sweden and make the 2002 movie "Hundtricket" (The Dog Trick) about a shy but very romantic young man who tries to meet a girl by walking a borrowed dog. The trick works well and they fall in love. The film was a big success and earned Alexander a Guldbagge (Swedish Oscar) nomination for best supporting actor. At this time in 2002 his Hollywood agent wanted him to come back to the US but once again Alexander decided to stay in Sweden, as he had received an amazing offer to play Nick in Edward Albee's play "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" at Södra Teatern in Stockholm. This was followed by a part as Leonardo in the Emilio Hernandez production of Lorca's play "Bloody Wedding" at Gothenburg City Theatre.
AS: "Theatre for me is as close as I'm going to get [to being a rock star]. To stand on a stage in front of a live audience is an incredible experience. It's the contact with the audience that you never get in film."
That same year Alexander had his first taste of directing when he co-wrote and co-directed the short film "Att döda ett barn" (To Kill a Child) with his friend Björne Larson, based on the short story by Stig Dagerman. The (close to) 8 minute long short centres around a family and their little boy who is killed by a speeding driver. Alexander's younger brother Valter plays the lead and father Stellan acts as narrator. The film won 2 awards and has been shown at many film festivals, Tribeca in New York and Cannes, among others.
AS: "I knew about the novel so me and my friend Björne Larson wrote the script and went out to find funds. It became a big project that cost a lot. I am very happy with how it turned out and hope that people watching like it."
After this success Alexander continued acting in many films, such as the 2005 Othman Karim drama "Om Sara" (About Sara) where he played Kalle Öberg, the short film "Never Be Mine", a film outwith Sweden, the UK war movie "The Last Drop", and "Kill Your Darlings" in which he teamed up again with director friend Björne Larson, playing Geert, a transvestite with suicidal tendencies. These are just to name a few. Alexander was doing good for himself, but by 2007 he found himself running back and forth to LA for auditions for parts that he had no interest in and really didn't want.
AS: "I had started to have doubts. For a long time my agent just sent me on castings for bad projects. Horror teen movies with story lines my 12 year old brother could have come up with. Like, "5 kids in a house in the forest. 200 years ago a man lived there and now he kills kids because they are wearing something blue coloured and he doesn't like blue because that reminds him of when he was a sailor and hated the ocean." That was the type of manuscripts I was forced to read and I felt I was soon reaching a point where I needed to decide if this was something I really wanted to do. Either tell my agent that I couldn't take this crap anymore or prostitute myself and go there screaming, "Oh My God!"."
For several months he wondered what he was supposed to do if he could never find a project that he really wanted to do. But things were soon going to change for the better when he received his big break in the US, partnering with HBO as Brad 'Iceman' Colbert in the 11 times Emmy nominated TV war drama "Generation Kill."


Of a Marine and a Viking Vampire

In May 2007 when Alexander was on his way home from LA to Stockholm, to spend the summer with his family and friends in Sweden, he got a call from his at the time agent Alex Irwing that changed his plans. He told Alexander about a TV production that would start in Namibia just two weeks later, it was produced by the men behind "The Wire", Ed Burns and David Simon, so this was not just any project. His agent told him that this role was definately worth fighting for and the he would be perfect for it, so he should read the book because the producers wanted to meet him in New York in a weeks time. Well, Alexander agreed and auditioned for three scenes, he was asked what plans he had for the summer which was a good sign and then they gave him the general message, "Thank you! Next!". But, he was told to wait in New York and two days later he got a call to go to London and audition for one of the directors, Susanna White, then it was back to New York to wait for another phone call. Three days later David Simon and Ed Burns wanted to see him in Baltimore, then, a few days later they called again for a 4th audition in New York with Burns, Simon, Susanna White and Alexa Fogel. 24 hours after this he got the message, "In two days you are going on an airplane to Namibia. You are coming home in 7 months", and the rest is history.
AS: "I had tried to convince myself that I was the only one that could do the part justice. I had to have that confidence during the casting and never doubt myself, or they would never have thought I was the right one."
When the cast arrived in Namibia they went to a three week long training camp with the US marines. They underwent combat training, man against man, wrestling, running, shooting and weaponry. They learned radio communication, maps and how to march. Alexander could benefit from his knowledge of the time he served with the Swedish Navy.
AS: "Even though it was ten years ago that I did my service, it's in my bones. Of course I could benefit from that education."
During this 7 months Alexander was busy every day, when the other team members went out drinking, he would stay at the hotel preparing for the next days shooting or working on his pronunciation with the vocal coach. He was so focused and determined to do the part justice, he even spoke English with the other Swede in the production, Ulf Brantås, who was director of photography.
AS: "I almost stopped calling home. Even though I missed people there, I needed to live in a bubble. It wasn't a hard decision after all. I couldn't allow myself to perform badly in any scene. That would have created self-abnegation."
This role didn't do too much for Alexander financially, as all actors involved were paid minimum salaries, but he has stated that he would have paid just to join the production, and he still remains close friends with many of his co-stars. But, during the shooting for "Generation Kill" he was accepted to play another role in a big HBO production. This was "True Blood" created by Alan Ball the man behind "Six Feet Under", the show is based on the Charlaine Harris novels "The Southern Vampire Mysteries." The series follows Sookie Stackhouse, a telepathic waitress living in Bon Temps Louisiana, and how her life is changed when vampire Bill Compton enters her work place two years after the vampires have 'come out of the coffin'. Alexander was to play the viking vampire bar owner Eric Northman, although he had never read any of the books beforehand, once he landed the part, he started to make his way through them. Despite the fact Eric only appeared in a few episodes of season 1 he definately made a lasting impression, getting fans begging for more Eric screen time in season 2, they got their wish, and Alexander's performance has solidified Eric as one of the shows most compelling characters. Developing a relationship with HBO is one of the best moves Alexander has made, both shows extremely successful, and shooting him to worldwide fame, thanks in large part to True Blood. But already voted 5 times Sexiest Man Alive in Sweden, and one of Sweden's most beloved actors of film and theatre, this new found attention will come as no shock.

Now
Most recently Alexander can be heard as the voice of Stefan in Tarek Saleh's Swedish animated sci-fi film "Metropia". He will be starring in as Terje in "Beyond the Pole" due for release some time this year and in the 2010 movie "13" Géla Babluani's remake of his French-language film "13 Tzameti", Alexander will be acting alongside Jason Statham and Mickey Rourke. Currently he is in Shreveport, Louisiana (ironically this is the location of Eric Northman's bar Fangtasia in "True Blood") filming Rod Lurie's remake of the 1971 Sam Peckinpah thriller "Straw Dogs" which starred Dustin Hoffman. He is also finishing up filming Johan Kling's comedy "Puss" (aka Trust Me) in Sweden. Alexander will begin filming the third season of "True Blood" along with the rest of the cast in December of this year, it's due to air in June 2010. There is no doubt with Alexander's rising popularity and amazing talent, that we will be seeing great things from him in plenty of future productions.

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