I’m always looking for something that’s real and that’s got meat on it. I think it’s artistic suicide if you’re too vain, or if you’re afraid to play ugly. I would never fall for that.
BILL SKARSGARDI’m always looking for something that’s real and that’s got meat on it. I think it’s artistic suicide if you’re too vain, or if you’re afraid to play ugly. I would never fall for that.
BILL SKARSGARDTo me, it’s all about inspiration. What gets me creatively excited is a challenge.
BILL SKARSGARDI don’t want to ever think that I don’t know what to do. I want to deal with my own things, to perform my own roles, to be like, “I did this.”
BILL SKARSGARDI worked with Lady Gaga for a day on a video shoot. It was crazy; we had a lot of fun. I had a great time.
BILL SKARSGARDThere’s something I love about how stark the contrast is between January and June in Sweden.
BILL SKARSGARDIt’s funny: it takes a while to really get your character. It’s impossible to do it on the first day. That’s the same way in films; if you start shooting a film, maybe a couple weeks in, you’re like, “Ah! Now I think I really get him.”
BILL SKARSGARDI don’t think I would ever be a doctor, but the reason I majored in science was because you could become a civil engineer, you could become a biologist, you could become a computer scientist – that was the point of it.
BILL SKARSGARDPersonally I don’t believe in bad people. I think there’s always a reason for people acting badly.
BILL SKARSGARDI come from a family of pacifists, so it’s not like I was going to join the war. Sweden is not like the States or England where you might get sent to Afghanistan next month.
BILL SKARSGARDAt the time, number four of the Skarsgård actors. So in high school I majored in science and was like, “Maybe I’ll do something rebellious and become a doctor.”
BILL SKARSGARDI had no idea what I wanted to do. In my last two years of high school here happened to be these few scripts that I really responded to.
BILL SKARSGARDConfidence comes in a more rooted sense; part of being confident is being able to say, “I can be really shitty,” and to accept that. But also not to crumble under it.
BILL SKARSGARDWhen I read a script and have my first interaction with this character, do I feel like there’s something I’m gonna’ learn here? If I feel like it’s something I’ve done before, then what’s the incentive for me to do it?
BILL SKARSGARDMy height can be a problem. A lot of directors and photographers are sometimes not happy because I’m pretty tall and especially if I work with short actors the difference can be pretty massive.
BILL SKARSGARDIn movies we tend make things black and white: you’re either this, or you’re that.
BILL SKARSGARDI’ve always been a night person. There’s a sense of virtue attached to getting up in the morning and doing things and starting the day, and I always felt bad for not being that person. But as I’ve gotten a bit older, now I’m completely okay with it. That’s just who I am.
BILL SKARSGARD