Stellan Skarsgard

I had no idea that Stellan Skarsgard had suffered a stroke between Andor S1/Dune and Andor S2/Dune II. Anyway, this is an absolutely fabulous interview:

For the bulk of your 20s and well into your 30s, you were part of the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm. Why did you decide to go there for much of your early career?
Well, it wasn’t a decision. I’ve done amateur theater, and we had a theater group for a while where we did everything together before the TV show. Afterward, I got theater offers, and that made me quit school at the age of 17. I did small roles for years, but I was never unemployed. And then I started doing film. My first film was this sex comedy called Strandhugg i somras [Raid in the Summer] in 1972. They ran out of money during the shoot. I still haven’t got paid for it.

I did a couple of soft-porn films. The first one, Anita: Swedish Nymphet, I thought, Oh, this is about a nymphomaniac, her psychological problems. Okay, interesting. And I did it. And I saw that it misses the point. But it doesn’t miss the point of her being a nymphomaniac.

Then I did another one with open eyes. I saw that they were sexploitation films, so I had no illusions anymore. Then I became afraid of the camera. I got camera fright because I made such bad films. So I didn’t do films for five years or something. It’s like stage fright: It feels like your head is about to explode and you cannot remember what you’re supposed to say. And if you remember something, it comes out with a voice like this [does a thin, constipated voice] because you’re so tense and scared and you want to die. That’s how bad it is.

How did you overcome that?
By doing a student film with some really good friends and actors. I found my way back to relaxation. Right after that, I did The Simple-Minded Murderer.Hans Alfredson based the film off of a chapter in his book An Evil Man. It won top honors at the Guldbagge Awards (the Swedish Oscars) including Best Actor for Skarsgard. I won the prize in Berlin.He won Best Actor at Berlinale. I met an agent called Jeri Scott in New York, and she wanted to be my agent. It took her five years to get me to come to L.A. But she got me for The Hunt for Red October.He played Soviet submarine commander Captain Tupolev. They offered me that role. I worked for a day and a half and got more money than I made before in my life.

How much was that then?
Probably about $50,000. It was a great check and residuals, everything. So suddenly I thought, It’s a good idea. This works for me.

If that’s more naked Stellan Skarsgard than you really want to think about, trust me… the interview has more naked Stellan Skarsgard content.

Photo Credit: By Harald Krichel – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=166950043