Alexander Skarsgård

Press & Interviews - The EricNorthman.net Interview

Conducted over the telephone using Blog Talk Radio on June 11, 2009. Click here to download an .mp3 of the interview.

DEEDEE: Hi, Alex.

ALEX: Hello?

DEEDEE: Hi!

ALEX: Hi, DeeDee. How are you?

DEEDEE: I'm good. Is it okay if I call you Alex?

ALEX: Sure, of course.

DEEDEE: Okay, well, thanks so much for being here. I know you're busy.

ALEX: No, no, my pleasure.

DEEDEE: Well, we're interviewing you for EricNorthman.net, so we're some of those crazy fans that you've been warned about. All of our questions have to do with Eric.

ALEX: Alright, cool. Are you calling all the way from Australia, I heard?

DEEDEE: I'm not in Australia. I'm in Mississippi. The girl who runs the website with me, she's the one in Australia, and she's sick, and she couldn't be here. So... By the way, I'm sorry about that weed-eater outside. Could you say hi to RJ before we get started, and just tell her you hope she feels better? I feel so bad for her.

ALEX: Oh, yeah. Hi, RJ. I'm so sorry to hear you're sick. I hope you feel better soon.

DEEDEE: I think that'll help her.

ALEX: Oh, good.

DEEDEE: Can you hear me ok over that weed-eater?

ALEX: Yeah, yeah, I hear you.

DEEDEE: Ok, good. Well, the first question is pretty quick and easy. Are we going to see Eric in the first episode?

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: Oh, great! 'Cause we were hearing that we might not, so we were all wondering about that.

ALEX: I'm definitely in the first episode, yeah.

DEEDEE: Yay! Well, that's great news. This is already off to a good start.

ALEX: Yeah, Eric will be in all 12 episodes this season.

DEEDEE: Oh, great! That's awesome.

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: There's a video clip that is a brief shot of Eric and Lorena, Bill's maker, in a scene together, and a lot of us have been wondering, you know, if you can tell us sort of what that's about. 'Cause there's nothing about them knowing each other in the books, and...

ALEX: Well, unfortunately, you know, I don't want to reveal too much, but...

DEEDEE: Sure.

ALEX: [hesitates and laughs] Yeah, I guess you'll just have to wait and see. But they do know meet.

DEEDEE: Ok, so there's nothing you can tell us about that. Oh well.

ALEX: No, not without, you know, spoiling the moment.

DEEDEE: I understand. We've also heard about a "homoerotic encounter" between Eric and another character. Is there anything you can tell us about that, like at least whether it's a flashback or in the present?

ALEX: [pauses and laughs again] No...

DEEDEE: Ok.

ALEX: No, that's all...

DEEDEE: Just another "wait and see"?

ALEX: Yeah, another wait and see, I guess.

DEEDEE: Ok, well, here's one hopefully that you can talk a little bit about. I don't know if you know about this, but there has been a TON of discussion about how Eric's hair is short now. We care about the important things! Is that... is it gonna be explained or mentioned on the show, or is he just gonna kind of show up with short hair?

ALEX: No. I mean, we knew that it was very... you know, it was a big thing to get rid of the wig that I wore in season one, the long hair. We knew that we couldn't just, like, have Eric walk in with that way-short hair and not explaining himself.

DEEDEE: Ok, so it...

ALEX: There will definitely be an explanation in the first 2 episodes...

DEEDEE: Ok.

ALEX: ...of what's going on, what happened to his long hair.

DEEDEE: Does it have anything to do with the clips we've seen of Eric with foil in his hair? 'Cause there's been some speculation...

ALEX: Maybe. Maybe, yeah.

DEEDEE: ...that he's getting highlights...

ALEX: Yeah, there might be some truth in that. Yeah.

DEEDEE: Well, that's great.

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: 85Hardy wants to know if we're ever gonna see Eric fly like he does in the books.

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: Yeah? Ok. There're some quotes that people are hoping to be able to hear: "Sookie, my little bullet sucker" and "yield to me," and things like that. Do you know if we're gonna get to hear any of those? Or can you tell us?

ALEX: Maybe eventually. I know there are a couple of, like, legendary lines, but they're not... Yeah. Maybe eventually. Not early on, no.

DEEDEE: Well, we'll hold out hope.

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: Most of us are big fans of the romantic relationship between Eric and Sookie, like especially in the later books. Are we gonna see more hints of that in season two?

ALEX: Yeah, a little bit. I mean, there's no doubt about it. I mean, Eric is intrigued by Sookie. There is... You know, in general, he's not very interested in humans, but there's something different about Sookie. There's something that he can't really put his finger on what it is...

DEEDEE: Yeah.

ALEX: And that definitely intrigues him. And he's not gonna be stopped because a little baby vampire like Bill Compton is in his way, you know? So... he will definitely pursue that.

DEEDEE: Great. We'll look forward to that.

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: This question is from Kate. She wants to know if you've ever met or spoken with Charlaine Harris, and if so, did she give you any insights into Eric's character?

ALEX: I met her briefly at the premiere of season one, but I unfortunately didn't have a chance to sit down and talk to her. It was just more, we just met and said hi and talked a few minutes. But no, I would love to do that. Of course.

DEEDEE: Ok. Are we going to see a Viking battle scene in one of the flashbacks, and if so, what kind of training did you have to do for that?

ALEX: I don't wanna reveal too much. There... Yeah, I wanna keep it fresh, and I wanna keep it a surprise when the episodes air. But what I can say is that you'll see more of Eric in season two than in season one. Like I said, I'm in all the episodes, and you'll... It's more personal this year because of the trip to Dallas, you know, it's - trying to find a missing friend - more personal than it was in season one, where it was more like Eric the entrepreneur, the bad-ass vampire leader, you know. You will definitely see a more sensitive and more vulnerable side in a way. I mean, he's still good old, the same old, you know, bad-ass Eric the vampire, but you'll see that there's more to the character than just that, you know? And yeah, there will be some... you'll see some... you'll understand more where he comes from, I can say that much.

DEEDEE: Ok. The last we heard, you had read up to book four in the series. Have you had a chance to read any more of them since then?

ALEX: No, I read the five first books.

DEEDEE: The five? Ok.

ALEX: Yeah. But when we're shooting, it's so confusing because the books are quite different from the scripts. So I just found it very... I was just, like, very confused when I read the books and the scripts at the same time, because then I didn't know if something I read was from the scripts or stuff from the book, or, you know, if characters were in the books or in the scripts.

DEEDEE: That makes sense.

ALEX: So as long as we're shooting, I just focus on the scripts and Alan Ball and the other writers' material. But now that we go on hiatus, you know, I'll have some time to read more of the books.

DEEDEE: Ok. Genevieve wants to know, what does the TruBlood taste like? Have you tasted it?

ALEX: Yeah. It's sweet, very sugary and sticky and quite nasty.

DEEDEE: Oh, really?

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: You're like your character in your hatred of it, then, I guess.

ALEX: Yeah, exactly. I mean... Well, when they drink... Sometimes when they drink TruBlood on the show, they use like a, just like some pomegranate juice or something like that. And that's always delicious. But the blood we use when... for, like, blood-sucking scenes and all that - the blood that's supposed to be real blood - that's what I'm talking about.

DEEDEE: Ohhh, ok.

ALEX: That's very sweet and sticky and...

DEEDEE: Nasty.

ALEX: Yeah. Well, TruBlood I wouldn't know. I just find it metallic and vile, so I don't drink that stuff.

DEEDEE: Right. Lori wants to know what part of Eric's personality do you like the most.

ALEX: His loyalty.

DEEDEE: Yeah.

ALEX: For people out there who've only seen season one, it might be hard to believe, but they'll understand what I'm talking about later on.

DEEDEE: Oh, well, we've read the books, so we know already. But it's good to know that there's gonna be stuff in season two to reinforce that. [Okay, I was trying to show Eric some love here, but instead it comes across... snooty or something. Yikes.]

ALEX: Yeah.

DEEDEE: And I just have one more quick question, and it's probably one that you can't answer, but it's one that we all wanna know. Are we going to see Eric in the pink lycra? The pants?

ALEX: [laughs] I'm not gonna answer that, but I can say that you will see Eric in women's clothes this season.

DEEDEE: Ok. And before I let you go, could you just say, like, "Hello, this is Alexander Skarsgard, welcome to Eric Northman dot net"?

ALEX: Sure. You just want me to say it right now?

DEEDEE: Yeah!

ALEX: Hello, this is Alexander Skarsgard, and welcome to Eric Northman dot net.

DEEDEE: Ok. Alex, thank you so much for being so generous.

ALEX: My pleasure.

DEEDEE: It's been a lot of fun talking to you.

ALEX: Absolutely my pleasure. Alright, have a very good day.

DEEDEE: You, too. Thank you.

ALEX: Thanks, bye.

DEEDEE: Bye-bye.