[Alexander Skarsgård, right, plays the character Jonas in acclaimed director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén's second feature film "The wolf will tear your immaculate hands". Photo: Adam Ihse/TT, Anders Wiklund/TT]
Some more info on Alex's role and 'The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands'
Alexander Skarsgård back in Swedish film
svt.se, 08 December 2025. (x) Thanks SwedishDelish
For the first time in almost 15 years, Alexander Skarsgård is making a Swedish film again – in English. In the enigmatic "The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands", he plays the family man Jonas.
– He is a broken man, says Skarsgård.
The Hollywood star can barely remember the last time he filmed a movie in Sweden.
– It must have been “Melancholia” with Lars von Trier, 2011. But I haven't worked with a Swedish director in about 15 years, says Alexander Skarsgård and pauses.
– Or am I lying now? No, that's true.
It's true that the majority of the film is shot in Belfast. And it's in English. But with a Swedish director, producer and several Swedish actors, it counts as Swedish, Alexander Skarsgård insists.
– It feels great to be back. This can't be compared to a big studio film in the US, it's more intimate.
Skarsgard: Vulnerable
"The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands" is described as a gothic drama set in the northwest United States in the late 19th century and follows Isabel (Darla Contois), a Native American woman.
– She was taken from her home as a child and raised in a Christian school where she was forcibly assimilated, says director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén.
Alexander Skarsgård plays Jonas, a British widower who hires Isabel as a governess for his two daughters after his wife passes away. The youngest daughter is convinced that her mother is still alive in the form of a wolf out in the woods – while Isabel comes into contact with her own roots and, as Nathalie Álvarez Mesén puts it, discovers a wound within herself.
– Who is the wolf is a bit up to the viewer, she says.
Skarsgård, who will soon also appear in pop star Charli XCX's mockumentary "The Moment" and in "Wicker", was attracted by the fact that the role of Jonas was unlike anything he had done before.
– There is something rudderless in Jonas, he is a broken man. There is something very vulnerable and beautiful in that, he says.
“Much darker”
Nathalie Álvarez Mesén's feature film debut "Clara Sola" (2021) won five Golden Bugs and was widely acclaimed. What now awaits is a more enigmatic story.
– It takes place in a different time, but it's still quite close to our world. A little more like magical realism but much darker, like they're trying to dig deeper into something, she says.
At the same time, she points out, the story has great relevance.
– The schools that forced children to forget their roots, it's a wound that is very much alive. There are people today who went to these schools as children, she says, adding:
– It felt important to tell it.
"Every film is like a time capsule. When you make a film, you are the person you were at the time and do the best with what you have," says director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén, currently working on the film "The wolf will tear your immaculate hands," which is partly filmed in Gothenburg. Photo: Adam Ihse/TT
[There is then a very short vid, which I can't import of Alex, speaking in Swedish, but you can see it via the link to the entire article above.]
From supporting roles in Swedish films to Hollywood films and awards. Hear Skarsgård tell more about his early career and the feelings surrounding his international breakthrough. Photo: Per Nilsson/SVT
Fact: "The wolf will tear your immaculate hands"
“The wolf will tear your immaculate hands” is the second feature film by director Nathalie Álvarez Mesén. She had her international breakthrough with “Clara Sola” (2021), which won five Guldbaggers and was Costa Rica’s Oscar entry.
The script was written by Álvarez Mesén himself together with the Icelandic poet and writer Sjón.
The cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Darla Contois, Lily LaTorre, Bronte Carmichael, Forreste Goodluck and Pernilla August.
The film will be released in Swedish cinemas in the fall of 2026.
