Intervju / Interview
Growing up with Stellan wasn’t fun Alexander Skarsgård, actor
work of an actor is difficult, and that it’s rare for someone to suc- ceed in making a living from this calling. He advised me that, because of this, it was important that I only do what I felt was right. And only to devote myself to acting if I be- lieve that I will be able to be one of those privileged actors. It was then that I decided that I would never be an actor like my father. Nonetheless, all these years later, here you are in acting? - It was only many years later, when I was 20 and halfway through my first year of studies, that I real- ised that I missed acting. I didn’t want to reject that interest only to regret it at the age of 50. That’s why I enrolled in drama school in New York, and then came that role in Zoolander. I spent the next three years flying over the Atlantic be- tween Sweden and America, head- ing from one audition to another. Next followed a role in an HBO series, and then that video with Lady Gaga. And then, finally, that famous True Blood. The character of Eric from True Blood is very dif- ferent from my Michael in Melan- cholia, for example, but I feel like I have both of them within me, and that’s what I think is interesting among human beings – that we’re capable of so much, both good and bad, and that we struggle with that constantly. What was the biggest challenge that this series brought you? - This is about two challenges. The first is the fact that this was the first time in my career that I had such a major role, and that I spent seven years in it. That was a priceless experience for me. And the second is perhaps even more de- manding physically. During the sev- en years that I acted in the series, I had to maintain a light complex- ion. Vampires aren’t really known for their tanned skin [laughs]. That was one of the more serious condi- tions for all of us who played vam- pires. And we shot the series in Southern California.
I recall my childhood for the pressure and the question of whether I would manage to succeed my father. I remember giving my maximum energy at the age of 13 just to comprehend who I am and what was then happening to me. It scared me that I was being talked about in the media; that made me insecure
A lexander Skarsgård has portrayed Vi- kings and vampires, robbers and soldiers in the trenches. We can currently see him as sociopath- ic tycoon Lucas Madsen in the se- ries Succession, while he officially took on the crown of the king of the jungle as the most recent in- carnation of Tarzan. However, we can’t summarise his career without mentioning the legendary fact that he tried to kill pop icon Lady Gaga. Of course, he did so in the music video for her song Paparazzi. You almost certain- ly remember the attractive blonde guy who throws Gaga from a balco- ny. Yes, that was a then-not-so-fa- mous Skarsgård. It’s true that the singer later fixed this Scandinavi- an Apollo with a few drops of poi- son, but that hasn’t been the case with his career. For Alexander, that music video was a springboard for
a role in True Blood, one of the most popular Emmy-award-win- ning teen series. It was ten years ago, on the Fox channel, that we in Serbia watched this romanticised vampire drama in which Skarsgård portrays the char- acter of Eric Northman, a guy eter- nally on the edge of good and evil. And as of 3 rd April this year, its sister series, The Vampire Diaries, arrives on the same channel. And recollections of that period, when small screens were dominated by bloodthirsty heroes who oozed sex appeal, provided a topic with which to start our interview with Skars- gård, whose career has to date last- ed for more than two decades. Do you recall the first role that propelled you to star- dom? - That was the movie Zoolander with Ben Stiller, and that was hard- ly a film that inscribed me among the big names of Hollywood. But it
godine studija, shvatio sam da mi nedostaje gluma. Nisam želeo da odbacim to interesovanje, pa da se sa 50 godina kajem. Zato sam upi- sao dramsku školu u Njujorku, a onda je usledila i uloga u „Zulan- deru“. Sledece tri godine proveo sam leteći nad Atlantikom od Šved- ske do Amerike, išao sam sa audi- cije na audiciju. Usledila je uloga u seriji na HBO, a zatim i spot sa Ledi Gagom. Konačno, ta čuvena „Prava krv“. Erik iz „Prave krvi“ se mnogo razlikuje od mog Maj- kla u „Melanholiji“, ali mi se čini da obojicu imam u sebi i mislim da je to ono što je interesantno kod ljudskih bica da smo sposobni za toliko toga, dobrog i lošeg, i da se stalno borimo sa tim. Koji je bio najveći izazov koji vam je donela ova se- rija? – Reč je o dva izazova. Prvi je to što sam prvi put u karijeri imao tako veliku ulogu i što sam u njoj bio sedam godina. Bilo je to ne- procenjivo iskustvo za mene. Dru- gi je, možda, fizički čak i zahtev- niji. Tokom sedam godina, koliko sam igrao u seriji, morao sam da sačuvam svetao ten. Vampiri ni- su baš poznati po preplanuloj ko- ži. (smeh) To je bio jedan od oz- biljnijih uslova za sve nas koji smo glumili vampire. A seriju smo sni- mali u južnoj Kaliforniji.
was a good springboard. I remem- ber it as a crazy and glamorous ex- perience. The very fact that I was shooting a movie with Ben Stiller already appeared surreal to me. I was barely an actor at that time. I was on the streets of New York two weeks later, in a jeep cruising its avenues to the music of the group Wham. I then truly believed that miracles are possible in Hollywood. However, not everything is a result of ordinary mira- cles. You hail from an act- ing family. Your father is Stellan Skarsgård. How much did this fact influ- ence your decision to pur- sue a career in acting? - He is also partly to blame for me applying for the audition for Zo- olander. We are more like brothers than father and son. We hang out together. He often joins my crowd for nights out when we’re in Los An- geles or Stockholm. We never found that weird. However, growing up
with Stellan Skarsgård wasn’t that much fun. At the time when I was little and forming my interests, he was at the peak of his career. I re- member my childhood according to his theatre performances. I didn’t miss a single show. It was with them that I fell in love with acting. But there was also the pressure of be- ing Stellan’s son. How did you handle that pressure? - Poorly. It’s impossible for a child to handle that. I remember giving my maximum energy at the age of 13 just to comprehend who I am and what was then happening to me. It scared me that I was be- ing talked about in magazines or on television; that what Stellan Skars- gård's son looks like, what I'm like as a person and what I like, was a topic for everyone. That made me feel insecure and anxious. I turned for help to the only person who was qualified to give me advice: my fa- ther. He explained to me that the
Erik iz „Prave krvi“ se mnogo razlikuje od mog Majkla u „Melanholiji“, ali mi se čini da obojicu imam u sebi The character of Eric from True Blood is very different from my Michael in Melancholia, but I feel like I have both of them within me
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