Confidence 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.
I started acting when I was 9. I did smaller parts here and there as a kid, and then as I grew older I started resisting it, because I didn’t like the idea of being.
It’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.”
Sweden is a small country and, well, our family’s pretty prominent in that world, I guess. And I really didn’t like the sound of just being ‘the fourth acting Skarsgard.
I 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.
I’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.
A character on screen that’s the ‘good guy’ or the ‘bad guy,’ they’re never interesting. There’s got to be an internal struggle, the duality is important to find.
I 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.
At 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.”
My 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.
When 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?
I have three older brothers, and each one of them has chosen one of my parents’ education. Two of them are actors, and the third is a doctor as my mother is.
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.
