Hello everyone, I was reading an old (2008-06-17) Alexander interview in the Swedish magazine Café (http://www.cafe.se/?id=658876) and I thought that maybe you'd enjoy it too. So I did my best to try and translate it and with a little cheering on from Shelly I'm finally done with it.
I hope you enjoy it and that you forgive what spelling errors I may have made, as well as translation errors, some things had to be translated a little loosely since I couldn't find the correct translation.
Original interview made by: Markus Wilhelmson
Good to know while reading:
Pork knuckle with mashed turnips - typical swedish dish
Bajen - nickname for the Swedish football team Hammarby
Hammarby - Swedish football team (and by football, I mean soccer)
Division one - the division below the top division in Swedish football
Kronor - the Swedish currency
Sobering cell - police custody room for sobering up (can't find a proper translation)
Gnagare - people that root for the AIK football team
Pressbyrån - shop that sells magazines
Silvia - the Swedish queen
It is hell trying to find pork knuckle with mashed turnips at restaurants in Los Angeles, that’s why Alexander Skarsgård has been circulating in his not so eco-friendly city jeep (for sale) around the restaurant Pelikan in the south of Stockholm around 40 minutes.
He can’t find a parking spot, so we keep going round along Blekingegatan, Götgatan, Östgötagatan like a greaser round (Sara comment: loosely translated). I suggest other places - cafés, pubs, restaurants, park benches – but Skarsgård only wants to go to Pelikan.
He has a Bajen scarf in a perfect Stockholm knot and red sneakers. He’s 194 centimeters tall and he’s well trained, like a marine soldier. You feel like a fat dwarf next to him. It would be easy to hate it, if only he wasn’t so nice. He’s on time. He offers bubblegum. He tells about when his life took a whole new turn.
In may last year Skarsgård was on his way from Los Angeles to Stockholm. He was to spend the summer in Sweden, with his family, at their country side place at Ljusterö in the archipelago of Stockholm and at the bleachers at Söderstadion. He was looking forward to following Hammarby's triumphal procession against yet another gold. (Skarsgård is always convinced Bajen will take gold at this point in the season. He was even convinced when the club played in division one)
His agent Alex Irwing called and told him about a production that was about to start in two weeks in Namibia. A prestigious project: HBO’s Generation kill – produced by Ed Burns and David Simon, the men behind the successful tv-show The wire. The cost for the reality based story, about a group of American soldiers during the first weeks of the 2003 Iraq invasion, was calculated to 500 million kronor. When HBO, with shows like Sopranos and Six feet in the past, decides to venture, they mean business.
”They want to meet you in New York next week. Read the book. This is worth fighting for. You would fit the part so well”, Alex Irwing explained.
It turned out Skarsgård would audiction for the leading part, Sgt. Brad Colbert, called The Iceman for his ability to keep calm while under fire. Skarsgård went through quite a metamorphosis. In one week he was transformed from a Swedish pacifist to an American killer machine.
He auditioned for three scenes. Afterwards the cast director Alexa Fogel asked him about his plans for the summer. That felt good. Many times Skarsgård had only gotten a “Thank you! Next!”, and then he knew that it was no use.
Now he was ordered to wait in New York. Two days later they called again. They wanted him to go to London for the day and audition for Susanna White, one of the directors. The same three scenes.
Back to New York. Wait for another phone call. After three days they called and asked him to perform for David Simon and Ed Burns in Baltimore, where the Wire was being filmed.
After a few days they called again. Fourth audition, in New York with Simon, Burns, Susanna White and Alexa Fogel.
Later they got in touch again: ”In two days you’ll be on an airplane to Namibia. You’ll be home again in seven months:”
How did you react?
- I was terrified. It was such a weird feeling. It felt like I had somehow conned them during the casting process. Now that they believed in me, it was like the emperor’s new clothes, like they caught me nude. I thought: “Shit, can I really do this?” This was it: showtime!
Why where you so nervous?
- I had been trying to convince myself that I was the only one that could play this part. I had to approach it with that level of confidence, that I was awesome. I couldn’t afford to doubt myself, ‘cause then they would never believe I was the right choice.
What happened when you got to Namibia?
- We went to boot camp for ten days with American marine soldiers. It was combat training, man to man, wrestling, running, shooting, weapon technique. We learned to march, radio communication, maps. There were a lot of sprains and vomiting. It’s pretty hot in the Namibian desert.
Did you ever feel like the other actors questioned you not being an American?
- I felt it was a disadvantage that I had a great deal of dialogue and that it wasn’t my native language. But a few days before we started shooting I was out jogging on the Namibian beach, at eight a clock on a Sunday morning, when I met Ed Burns. He looked at me and said: “You are Brad Colbert”. Then I thought now I don’t have any more reason to doubt myself. It was immensely important to me to feel that security, because I was so damn insecure.
Why did they have such a hard time finding someone for the part?
- Because they hadn’t met me yet.
* * *
Alexander Skarsgård had been waiting for a challenge.
For months he went to auditions in Los Angeles for parts that he actually didn’t even want.
- I had begun to despair. For a long time my agent only sent me bad projects. Teenage horror movies with storylines that my twelve year old brother could have thought of. Things like: “Five teenagers in a house in the woods. 200 years ago a man lived in the house and now he’s killing the teenagers because they are wearing blue clothes and he doesn’t like blue, because he was a sailor and hated the ocean. I was supposed to read these kinds of scripts and I just came to a point where I had to make up my mind. Either tell my agent that I didn’t want to make these kinds of movies or start to prostitute myself and go to shoot and yell “Oh my God!”
Skarsgård howls this with a high pitched horror movie voice that makes the conversations at the surrounding tables go quiet.
He’s gotten his pork knuckles (bodybuilder portion).
He’s satisfied.
* * *
Why didn’t you just tell them no?
- It’s a tough position when you’re signed to a big agency and not working. You’re not making any money for them and if you start turning parts down when you go to auditions then it soon becomes unsustainable. You can hear when the agent calls that it’s pretty ice cold, but he says it might be good to go because the producer is there and even if I don’t like the script it might be good because they have good stuff coming up later in the summer. Sometimes it’s like that.
So what have you done?
- I have gone ill prepared, because I wasn’t very motivated when I read the script.
And you didn’t get the part?
- No and I didn’t deserve it. At times the parts have been crap and I haven’t cared, but there has been some smaller indie movies that I’ve really liked. Out of the larger movies I was close to the part as Angel, the guy with wings in X-men. It’s a pretty silly movie, but it would have been fun to do. If I’d been a crybaby about all the times I’ve gotten a no in Hollywood I wouldn’t have lasted for long.
Have you ever been close to giving up?
- For several months I kept wondering what the hell to do if better stuff didn’t start turning up. I couldn’t give up everything at home and rent a house and car in Los Angeles and audition for crap parts. The thing that gave me back my motivation was when I joined Actors Studio. There are many phony, half phony and real actor schools in LA. But Actors Studio is a society that you get choose into. They have classes four times a week, where the actor gets to set up scenes like Othello and then you discuss the scene afterwards. Nothing prestigious, just intelligent, creative people that wants to evolve. One day Martin Landau would be the moderator. Cool old veterans. It was inspiring to come there, when everything else was feeling down.
Have you ever felt pressured from not getting good parts?
- Yes of course. Every time that I’ve been to Los Angeles and gone back to Sweden without having got any part I’ve been pissed.
What made you stay in LA?
- That I never got the parts that I wanted in Sweden. I was about to turn 30 and all the scripts I got were about teenage boy with love trouble. Romantic comedies in high school settings. Definitely not what I wanted to do as an actor.
Can you call that revenge? Or an international breakthrough?
You can call it whatever you like. One thing is for sure:
After Generation Kill Alexander Skarsgård will never again be offered the parts like the highschool hunk.
* * *
He was born in Råcksta, a suburb between Blackeberg and Vällingby, on the 25th of august 1976. When he was six months old his family moved to an apartment on Blekingegatan.
There is no doubt that Skarsgård has been characterized by the neighborhood in which he grew up. Not only because kids in school would threatened to beat him up in if he cheered for any other football team than Bajen, but mostly because his friends came from households with modest conditions.
-No one had successful parents. There were a lot of single mothers. A lot of kids had parents that were alcoholics. We rarely had any money. My mother didn’t work and my father had a low income from the teather. We had tin cans with tea that I used as drums. It was my favorite toy for many years. I thought they were hilarious. As long as your neighbours don’t have radio controlled cars you enjoy the little things you have. It’s when envy comes in that you despair.
But he remembers that one friend had a dad that was a white collar worker and drove a Saab.
- He went to work at eight in the morning and came home at 17:30. I used to envy my friend, I thought it seemed so nice to have a dad that spent the evenings at home and had a suit. My dad was like always nude and drank red wine with weird art people. He’d rehearse during the days and perform in the evenings. When he got back home he was exhausted. It was not the optimal family situation.
Alexander Skarsgårds mobile phone rings.
- Sorry. Hello! Hey! I’m being interviewed. Did you land in New York or? Damn that’s cool. Talk to you later. Bye!
It turns out it was his dad Stellan, that’s in New York to do PR for Mamma Mia the movie.
Did you revolt against your parents?
- Gurra and I (his brother Gustav) revolted in different ways. He was more of a rebel, he would scream and fight and confront them. I just shut them out. My room was close the one of the entrances to the apartment. My parent’s room was in the other end. I sat in my room with my friends, drank homemade beer, listened to punk, went to town, came home at night and went to bed. In the morning I would take a sandwich in the kitchen and leave again. We didn’t have a close relationship at all when I was a teenager.
How long did it last?
- Four, five years, until I moved away from home when I was 19 years old. I wanted to live my life, I found them a burden.
How did they handle that?
- They were probably a bit worried. I was out a lot and could be quite rowdy. They couldn’t get close to me. They tried, but it’s damn hard as a parent if your teenager decides to shut you out. The more they tried, the more I turned my back and walked away. Every time they would start with “do you have a girlfriend”, I would just “see you”. It was none of their business. I lived my own life, I just happened to be in the same apartment.
Did they have reason to worry?
- (Silence) No, I don’t think so. I was pretty rowdy, but it turned out ok.
Rowdy like thrown into a sobering cell?
- Yes, a little like that. My dad had to come get me at Solna custody one morning. I was 17 years old. At first he didn’t say a thing. He just looked at me. Then he said: ”You’re an intelligent person. You know what you did tonight and how damn stupid it is, so I don’t have to yell at you.” And he was right. I had such aguish. He knew how bad I felt over that.
Do you get aggressiv when you drink?
- I have good alcohol awareness, but I often found myself in places where it became rowdy. I get kind of defensive if a friend gets in trouble. My mood could change fast. I was never aggressive, but if there already was testosterone in the air, I would often get involved. But that was a long time ago. I don’t put myself in those situations anymore, no weird parties with Solna gangs that are Gnagare.
Did you ever try drugs?
- Yes.
What did you try?
- I don’t want to talk about it, but I have tried.
How is your relationship with Gustaf?
- Today I have a good relationship with all of my siblings. I’m four years older than Gurra. When he was 14, 15 years old he was the world’s most annoying individual. Obstinate. We had nothing in common. He was a hip hopper and I was a rock dude. Then the family bought an aparatment in Mosebacke and Gurra and I moved there. Then it got even worse. We had totally different lives and social life. It became much to intimate, we came too close to each other. But as soon as he moved out it was ok. It wasn’t until we got a little distance from each other that we could start to see the things that we have in common.
Skarsgård has to run. He’s going to the Southern Teather to see his friend Fares Fares onÖzz Nûjens talkshow.
- I’m going to stand in the back and yell foul words, he says and laughs before he jumps into his jeep monster.
* * *
A month later I see him at Gondolen. A first class restaurant eleven floors above Slussen in Stockholm. “A place to be seen, meet and be seen” according to its website.
Alexander Skarsgård gets seen immediatly.
- Oh you’re here to get in the mood for the derby?, our waitor asks.
- Exactly, this is where Bajens fans get ready. The other 3000 will be here soon, Alexander answers.
He’s probably one of few that can stroll in wearing a t-shirt among all the suits at Gondolen and order “A beer” without it feeling weird.
He looks back at his career and doesn’t regret any of his parts. Not Marcus in Vita Lögner, not Micke in Hundtricket, not Ingmar in Dykaren, not Anders in Järngänget, not Johan in Vingar av glas, not Kalle in Om Sara, not Geert in Kill your darlings or Meekus in Zoolander, even though Ben Stiller blew him up after only a few minutes. It’s how he’s handled his fame that he’s thinking about.
- I told too many people yes, I could see myself on ten covers at Pressbyrån. No one was curious to see that guy on the big screen. I was all over the place with the same puppy eyes. I’m so damn tired of the hunk thing. I’m much more selective now.
The actors that Skarsgård admires – Sean Penn, Daniel Day-Lewis, Philip Seymour Hoffman – all keep their distance to the media.
Personal? To some extent. Private? Never.
- You don’t know jack about them. It’s easy to let the fame overtake the acting. To not be seen everywhere can create an interest and a air of mystery. I’m terrified of being overexposed again.
Your father has had a good relationship with the media
- He’s always tried to be a good guy, straight forward, honest and give as much as he could.
But one year ago Stellen Skarsgård reacted strongly to an article in Aftonbladet, with the headline: ”The Skarsgårds recipe for a long marriage: we wait out the crisis.”
The trouble was that My and Stellan Skarsgård has already separated. According to Stellan several co-workers at Aftonbladet knew this. He wrote an open letter where he questioned the newspapers intent with painting a picture of him as the “ideal husband and dream father”. He ended his letter with:
I’m writing this so that I don’t have to speak out in the tabloids and I will continue to keep my private life private. Have a nice summer, Stellan.
- I wasn’t in Sweden then and had to hear everything over the phone, but he handled it well.
(...)
When Alexander is in Stockholm inbetween shoots he’s currently staying in the computer room at his mother My. He’s single since a year and a half back.
- I have a hard time falling in love, he says.
Why is that?
- Because I’m scared
Because you’ve been hurt?
- Partly, but also because I’m running from everything that ties me down. But I’m running slower and slower.
What would it take for you to fall in love?
- An attractive girl with self-distance, there’s nothing sexier. I don’t get turned on by wasted girls that come up to you at four in the morning.
He looks out the window.
- Fuck! It’s starting to rain.
Dark clouds are gathering over Riddarfjärden. It might get wet at Råsunda (football stadium) tonight.
* * *
Alexander Skarsgård was only 8 years old when he made his debut as Kalle Nubb in Åke och hans värld, but when he was on his way to becoming a teenager he decided that the public was not for him. He hated media’s attention. Didn’t like it when people stared at him on the streets. Wanted them to like him because he was a nice guy, not because they had read about him in a magazine. He wanted to become an architect.
As the oldest child out of six siblings he rarely followed his father’s shoots on set and had already moved out before that morning that Robert De Niro ate breakfast at the Skarsgårds.
(...)
In the military service (marines, 15 months) Skarsgård had a lot of time to ponder. 280 days in a tent gives perspective on life and he made up his mind. He missed being an actor. He was 20 years old and better prepared to handle the attention. He moved to Leeds with a friend after he was done with his military service. They lived in a basement store without windows or heat.
- We were pretty much broke and what little money we had went to buying beers. It was a damn weird place. We shared a toilet with the others in the house. A guy with long grey hair looked like the killer in Twin Peaks. He would sit in his room and have loud arguments with himself. One floor up lived a guy named David, who had built a prayer corner with a Swedish flag and a framed picture of Silvia. He had been smuggling drugs to Sweden for 20 years and was nuts about Silvia.
From Leeds he applied to the teather school Marymount in New York. He lived with a 55 year old Filipino designer named René.
- He rented out several rooms and I noticed that only 20 year old guys moved in. When I came home to study he thought I looked tense and wanted to give me a massage. I just laughed. He knew I was straight, but refused to give up his hopes. Every day he would come crawling on all fours, trying to get something to happen. I told him: ”René, cut it out. I’m not going to suck your dick, you know that”.
After half a year Alexander Skarsgård moved back to Sweden. He had met a girl in Stockholm. He was passionately in love and decided to give love a go. Two days after he landed at the airport, she broke up with him.
- Damn ironic. I had quit school and couldn’t move back. New York is a tricky town to be in when you're a poor student and while being unhappily in love. You get eaten up. I was so damn miserable. That spring was so tough.
At least one loved survived.
He was now convinced he wanted to be an actor.
* * *
A decennium later he’s about to finish his most important part so far. He’s flying back and forth to New York to do something they call adr.
- Automated Dialogue Replacement, basically you sit in a studio and read lines to scenes that’s already been shot but where the sound wasn’t good enough.
- You sit on a chair, read lines and drink sparkly water. I feel a little divided about it. It’s hard to recreate a scene that you did six months ago.
During Generation kill Alexander didn’t take one day off out of seven months. When the others in the team went out to have a beer, he stayed in his hotel to prepare the next day’s scenes or to fit in an hour with his dialect coach. He was so focused on his part that he even talked English with the Swedish movie photographer Ulf Brantås that also worked on the shoot.
- I scarcely called home, even if I missed people there. I had to live in this bubble. For me it was not a hard decision. I couldn’t allow myself to be bad in one single scene. It would create such self loathing.
What did Generation kill mean economically?
- Hardly any money at all. All the actors had minimal pay. Why? Becayse it’s HBO, they don’t have to pay more. And because they wanted unknown actors. I didn’t get rich, but I would have payed to get to play that part.
During the shooting he was informed about another part, in a new Alan Ball series called True Blood. It’s based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries books. The plot centers around a waitress that falls in love with one of the vampires.
- It draws parallels to the race conflicts in the USA in the 1960’s. I think that’s what got Alan Ball going, Skarsgård says.
Skarsgård plays Eric, a Viking that became a vampire thousand years ago and accordingly has experienced quite a lot.
What makes him different from Brad Colbert?
- Other than the fact that Brad doesn’t have fangs? Eric is flamboyant, has a flashy suit, runs a club, drives sports cars. Brad Colbert is the guy that can sit in a corner for five hours just fiddling with something. Eric sits on a throne and enjoys attention.
The part in True Blood pays a little better
- Before Generation kill it was a little hard for my agent to say: ”He should have a shitload of money, because he was in Hundtricket.” Now she can ask for a little more.
What do you think this means to your career?
I don’t want to make assumptions. Even if it is HBO and two big series, you never know. It might not happen in the way I’m hoping for. But on the other hand I don’t want to be a pessimist either. This is the utmost important work of my life; I got that in two seconds.
He orders: “Another beer!”
Three hours to kick off and it’s stopped raining.
I especially liked the 3rd and 5th ones...
