Stellan Skarsgård: filmography and biography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Stellan Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his roles in films directed by Danish director Lars von Trier, as well as his participation in the successful Hollywood franchises Pirates of the Caribbean and Mamma Mia!. Appeared in several films in the Marvel Expanded Universe. In total, he played in one hundred and forty full-length and television projects during his career.

Childhood and youth

Stellan Skarsgard was born on June 13, 1951 in the Swedish city of Gothenburg. Moved several times with his family, lived in almost all major cities of the country.

In his teenage years, he began to get involved in theater and quickly began to get the main roles in television productions.

Career start

At the age of sixteen, Stellan Skarsgård rose to fame with his starring role in the television series Bombie Beatt and Me. At the same time, he released the only single, trying to launch a musical career, but the attempt was extremely unsuccessful. Actor from 1977 to 1988was a member of the Royal Theater Company in Stockholm, starring in many successful productions.

In 1982, Skarsgård played the title role in the crime drama "Ingenuous Murder", which competed in the main competition of the prestigious film festival in Berlin. The young actor won the Best Actor award.

In 1985, Stellan got his first role in an American film, playing a mentally ill immigrant in the drama "Midday Wine" directed by Michael Fields.

Breakthrough Roles

In 1990, the most famous film of the Swedish stage of Stellan Skarsgard's filmography "Good evening, Mr. Wallenberg" was released. The actor played the real-life Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who used his influence to save Hungarian Jews during World War II.

In the same year, Skarsgård appeared in one of the supporting roles in the spy thriller The Hunt for Red October. A few years later, Steven Spielberg considered Stellan Skarsgård for the role of Oskar Schindler in Schindler's List, but ended up choosing Irish actor Liam Neeson.

In 1994, the actor first worked with the young Danish director Lars von Trier, appearing in the mini-series Kingdom. Two years later, the actor played one of the main roles in the psychological drama Breaking the Waves, which won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1997, Stellan performedthe title role in the Norwegian thriller "Insomnia", which became an international hit and later received an American remake, where the role played by Skarsgård was played by Al Pacino.

International recognition

In 1997, Stellan Skarsgard appeared in two major Hollywood projects at once, playing minor roles in the dramas "Good Will Hunting" directed by Gus Van Sant and "Amistad" directed by Steven Spielberg. At the end of the year, the actor received the European Film Academy Award for achievements in world cinema.

In later years, Skarsgård appeared in Lars von Trier's "Dancer in the Dark" and "Dogville", both of which became festival hits and won numerous prestigious awards. The actor also continued to work in the United States, playing in the spy thriller "Ronin", the sci-fi horror film "The Deep Blue Sea" and the historical epic "King Arthur".

Hollywood blockbusters

In 2006, Stellan Skarsgård got the role of Bill Turner, the father of the hero Orlando Bloom, in the second part of the Pirates of the Caribbean series. He later appeared in the third part of the franchise.

In 2008, the actor played one of the main roles in the musical romantic comedy Mamma Mia!, where Meryl Streep, Colin Firth and Pierce Brosnan became his screen partners. The picture became a real hit at the box office, with a small budget, collecting more than six hundred million dollars.

In 2009, Skarsgård appeared in onefrom the central roles in the film "Angels and Demons", the sequel to the film "The Da Vinci Code". In 2011, he appeared in the superhero blockbuster Thor as Dr. Eric Selvig, after which he appeared in three more films in the Marvel Extended Cinematic Universe. In 2015, he worked again with Thor director Kenneth Branagh in the big-budget adaptation of Cinderella.

Skarsgård has also appeared in less commercial films in the US, such as David Fincher's detective thriller The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

All this time the actor continued to work in Scandinavia, appeared in Lars von Trier's films "Melancholia" and "Nymphomaniac", also played in the crime comedies "A Pretty Good Man" and "Stupid Business Simple", which became popular for outside the actor's homeland.

Recent roles

In 2015, Stellan Skarsgård played the role of a Russian gangster in the spy thriller A Traitor Like Us. In 2017, he appeared in the sports drama Borg / McEnroe, which tells about the real-life confrontation between tennis players Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe. Skarsgård played Coach Borg.

In 2018, two projects with the participation of the actor were released. Sequel to Mamma Mia! again became a hit at the box office, collecting almost four hundred million dollars, but received negative reviews from critics. The adventure comedy by British director Terry Gilliam, which the director has been trying to make for almost thirty years, is alsowas lukewarmly received by critics and, as a result of unforeseen problems, lost a distributor in the United States, having been released in only a few European countries.

Television work

In 2008, Stellan Skarsgård appeared as a guest star in the hit HBO series Handsome. In 2014, he played one of the main roles in the pilot of the TV series Quarry the Mercenary, but in the two years that have passed since the filming of the pilot episode and the launch of a full-fledged production of the season, he left the project and was replaced by British actor Peter Mullan.

In 2015, Skarsgård starred in the British detective series "River", which received excellent reviews from critics and was included in the lists of the best series of the year.

Views and beliefs

Stellan Skarsgard is known for his atheistic views, he repeatedly spoke out against existing religions, in particular, he said in an interview that after the September 11, 2001 attacks, he sat down and carefully read the Koran and the Bible, after which he expressed the opinion that both books promote violence and intolerance.

The actor actively opposes religious education in Sweden, as well as laws to protect the feelings of believers. In 2009, he, along with several artists and businessmen, wrote an article about the need to separate church and state.

Private life

The actor's first wife is a woman named Mu. Met his wife Stellan Skarsgård at a young age, while still a rising star. Pairlegalized their relationship in 1975. The marriage produced six children. The couple divorced in 2007.

The second time Skarsgård married a girl named Megan-Everett in 2009. In his second marriage, the actor had two sons. Later it became known that after talking with his wife, Stellan Skarsgård went through the medical procedure of a vasectomy, which he announced publicly. According to him, he decided that eight children was more than enough.

Four children of Stellan Skarsgård from his first marriage are famous actors. Alexander is known for the TV series True Blood and the blockbusters The Legend of Tarzan and Battleship. Gustaf played notable roles in the historical series Vikings and the adventure drama Kon-Tiki. Bill gained international recognition after playing the main villain in the horror film It. W alter is only known within Sweden so far.

Stellan Skarsgård's daughter Eja worked as a model for several years, but recently left this profession.

Despite international recognition and frequent work abroad, Skarsgård still lives in his native Sweden. Friends with actor Paul Bettany, with whom he worked together several times, Bettany and his wife, famous actress Jennifer Connelly, even named their son Stellan after him. Also since the seventies, Stellan has been friends with actor Peter Stormare, who is best known for the films of the Coen brothers "Fargo" and "The Big Lebowski".

The actor is fluent in addition to his nativeSwedish, English, German, Danish and Norwegian.