Full Interview & Scans:Â Alexander SkarsgĂĽrd for LâUomo Vogue! (October 2020) (Photographed by Johan Sandberg, Interviewed by Timothy Small)
BY TIMOTHY SMALL, PHOTOS:Â JOHAN SANDBERG
Alexander SkarsgĂĽrd is a really, really nice man. A Swede through and through, Alexander, or Alex, is a very down-to-earth gentleman who could definitely act as more of a big shot, considering he is also one of the most interesting actors in Hollywood right now, a town that, in true Swedish style, he once defined as âkind of sillyâ. After getting his first big break as the lead in David Simonâs excellent Iraq War mini-series for HBO, Generation Kill, SkarsgĂĽrd exploded in our collective imaginations as Eric Northman in True Blood, while also acting for Lars von Trier in the wonderful Melancholia.Â
Since then, he has been a very buff Tarzan in The Legend of Tarzan, a mute bartender in future Berlin in Mute, a very dark killer in Hold the Dark, and a hilarious Canadian Prime Minister in Long Shot, as well as giving an Emmy- and Golden Globe-winning turn in HBOâs Big Little Lies. The self-defined ârestlessâ 43-year-old is set to star in The Northman, Robert Eggersâs highly anticipated third film, a âViking revenge storyâ that SkarsgĂĽrd himself was crucial in bringing to production â and, by all accounts, it seems like it could have all the right pieces to become a future cult classic. It certainly has that kind of hype.
L'Uomo Vogue:Â The Northman is such an interesting project. I know itâs important to you. Itâs also part of a growing resurgence of interest in the Viking era and Norse mythology and that sort of epic Scandinavian adventure. How did it all begin?
Alex:Â It all started seven or eight years ago. As a Swede living in America, I realised there was a certain level of fascination with the Viking era and Viking culture â and this was before any of the Viking shows that have since happened. It made me realise that there basically had never been a real great epic Viking movie made, and I thought that thatâs what I wanted to do.
LV:Â So how did the project kick off?
Alex:Â I started having conversations with a studio back then, trying to crack the best story. All I knew at the time is that I wanted to make a big Viking movie. We had a couple of potential different starting points: we had a story about two brothers, and then one about the Viking travels down to Constantinople with the Viking siege of the city. We were looking for the right story, but I never really felt we were there. I knew the scope I wanted it to exist in. But what was the story?
LV:Â And thatâs when you met Robert Eggers.
Alex:Â Yes, like three or four years ago. We met about something else. I canât remember how, but we started talking about Vikings. And he was, like me, a huge fan of Viking culture and of that historical era, and I immediately felt he would be the perfect guy to direct this movie. And then we found an author and poet in Iceland, SjĂłn, who came onboard to write the screenplay â and they did a fantastic job, just cracking the story and the essence of it.
LV:Â Sounds great.
Alex:Â Itâs a real adventure movie, but itâs much more. It taps into the culture, and the mysticism of the Vikings, it becomes more intimate and more personal. I didnât want it to be a generic âswords-and-sandalsâ movie. Robert is one of the best filmmakers out there. And the whole process is so much more gratifying than when youâre quote-unquote âjust an actorâ. Itâs been truly extraordinary.
LV:Â But then you had to halt production.
Alex:Â Yeah. I was in Belfast, Northern Ireland, three months into prep on The Northman about seven days away from principal photography. Just gearing up, you know, getting ready to start a very long, very intense shoot â a shoot that we were scheduled to wrap in July â and thatâs when the virus hit.
LV:Â What did you do then?
Alex:Â I normally live in New York, while my family lives in Stockholm. When the first wave came, I was on the fence: nobody really knew how long it would be, or what precisely was going on. So we shut down production for six weeks. The idea was to then see what would happen. I basically moved to Stockholm for four months.
LV:Â How do you feel about this forced break from work?
Alex: I had not been home for this long in⌠more than 20 years. It was strange. We were in a bubble; we were all healthy and safe. In a lot of ways, I had moments when I felt being surrounded by my loving family, feeling safe and loved, and taking a break from work, but then also feeling very guilty because I was, for the lack of a better term, being spared.
LV:Â In the past, youâve described yourself as being a nomad. Did you miss Sweden and the North?
Alex:Â I realised how much I have been missing it. I go to Sweden regularly, but usually only for three or four days, maybe a week, tops. My father and two of my brothers are actors, so weâre used to never being in the same city. We all travel all over the world. Maybe weâd get back together for Christmas. And I can really say that I had missed spring in Sweden.
LV:Â Do you think we will change the way movies are produced?
Alex:Â Weâre going to have to figure out how to shoot movies with dozens of crew members and hundreds of extras while still respecting social distancing rules. Itâs an unprecedented situation and everyone is scrambling to figure out the best approach. My brother was one of the first people who worked in our industry during the pandemic. He shot a movie in Iceland in the middle of the lockdown. The way they solved it is they split the crew into colour sections. So, hair and make-up had yellow armbands and the camera department had blue, and they had a âCorona appointeeâ on set who would call out, âNow blue go in!â and then âBlue, out! And yellow, in!â And then they would all do their job in turns. It was very military-like. Productions are already complicated, so weâll just have to add another layer.
LV:Â How did you become an ambassador to the Clarks brand?
Alex:Â To me, authenticity is very important. I donât want to endorse products I donât genuinely like. Thatâs why I was excited when Clarks reached out. Iâve been wearing Desert Boots for 25 years. Also, I like to travel a lot. I like to explore new cities by foot. I want to be able to walk around comfortably in a classic, iconic shoe. I travel from movie set to movie set, and I often live out of a suitcase. And this teaches you to be frugal. Whatever fits in that suitcase, thatâs all I can bring.
LV:Â Is that the Swede in you?
Alex:Â Maybe. But we consume way too many things in this society. Also, you give things more meaning when you live with them, and when you go on adventures with them. Like, these are my boots. Iâve been places with them. And when they fall apart, Iâll buy a new pair. If you have the right stuff to begin with, you donât need more.
LV:Â Going back to The Northman, that really sounds like a dream project.
Alex:Â It is. It will be a rollercoaster ride. I canât wait to get back to Northern Ireland and get back to the production. Itâs also a very physically demanding project, so I have been training for, well, since a few months before production stopped.
LV: In a way, getting into a role, getting on a movie set, acting through it, the whole process of making a movie is a bit like a little adventure. You have to prep, you have to travel, often with people you donât know, and you have to push boundaries.
Alex:Â Absolutely! A huge part of the appeal of this profession is you get to travel, and you meet amazing, interesting people from all over. And the uncertainty, you know? What was it, 12 years ago, I was in New York, and Iâd never heard of Generation Kill. And then two days later I was on a plane to the Kalahari Desert to be out there for seven months to shoot the series. And Iâll never forget the feeling, sitting on that plane, thinking, âTwo days ago I didnât even know about this project, and here I am on my way to Southern Africa to spend seven months in the desert with 200 strangers.â Itâs very exciting.
LV:Â What a feeling that must be!
Alex:Â And every single job is like that. Every movie is different. Your part, the tone, the energy, the people â itâs always different. And for someone like myself, who has that kind of wanderlust, whoâs always looking on the horizon, itâs very attractive to never know just what the next adventure might be.
Sources: Interview: Timothy Small for LâUomo Vogue (October 2020), Text: Our transcription and scans from LâUomo Vogue (October 2020), Photos: Johan Sandberg/Studio Johan Sandberg for LâUomo Vogue (our scans of the October 2020 issue), Digital HQs of these photos can also found at artlistparis.com (x) and atomomanagement.com (x)
Thank you for the full interview/scans!
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