The New Carnivore: Alexander Skarsgård

Have you noticed a difference between True Blood fans and Twilight fans? You’re not being chased around in hotel rooms like Robert Pattinson, are you?
The fans of True Blood, they’re very devoted, they take this very seriously so, it can get a little intense but I try to see it as a positive thing. I shot a movie down in Shreveport and there were these fans who drove down from Chicago and drove up from Miami just to come to the hotel where we stayed for an autograph.  I would never do that, but on the other hand I really have to appreciate how much they love the show. I haven’t had any bad experiences.  Knock on wood.

One of the consequences of the recent uptick in your fame lately is that your personal life is being scrutinized, with people connecting you with Evan Rachel Wood and Kate Bosworth. How do you deal with that ?
I’ve been dealing with this in Scandinavia for the last ten years now, plus those years when I was a child actor, so this is like that only a thousand times bigger. Even though I’ve just become famous here in the states, I’ve dealt with the fact that people recognize me or look at me wherever I go and start rumors about me and my private life before. I’m already used to all that stuff. I’ve learned not to worry about it. It’s pretty much the same phenomenon only it’s a lot bigger here.

I had forgotten until recently that you had a cameo in Zoolander as the Meekus character. How in the world did you end up in that movie?
I was here in the states on vacation. My father’s an actor and he was working in LA and his manager knew that I was working in Sweden at the time. So she was like, “Well do you want to go out and take a meeting and audition for something.” And I thought, “Oh that’s fun, you know, I’m in Hollywood I’ll try that.” And I think Zoolander was my first and only audition when I was out there was and I got the part. I was like, “That was easy--is that how easy it is in Hollywood?” And then of course I came back two years later and realized that I was very lucky and it took me a couple years until I landed my next gig. So it was just a fluke. It was an amazing experience for me, coming from the tiny film industry in Sweden with no expectations. It’s not like I was in LA trying to get work. I was on vacation hanging out with my family and two weeks later I found myself in Tribecca in Manhattan working with Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson and Will Ferrell. I flew back to Stockholm right after that and spent another three years in Sweden and then I came back to the states. I was a little naïve when I came back because I was like, “Piece of cake you go in, you read, you get the job, you go do the job.” But then I faced reality and realized it’s not that easy.

So that movie you were talking about in Shreveport was Straw Dogs. Tell me about that.
It’s a remake and it’s not. Rod Lurie wrote it and directed it, and you can’t just copy a Sam Peckinpah movie because there’s really no point in doing that. You have to add something and I think Rod did. What attracted me to it is that there’s also a love triangle drama there. My character had a history with Kate Bosworth’s character. They dated for many years, she leaves and she comes back ten years later with James Marsden’s character who’s a screenwriter from Hollywood. It’s a culture clash.

It’s definitely another change from what you were doing before.
Yeah, I mean this is a local guy from down in Southern Mississippi so it was quite different.

If I heard correctly, your dad was just cast in Thor and you were in the running for that title character, what did you think about that prospect?
I was very flattered. I know that they considered me for the part and I got, from what I understand, very close to getting it and that’s amazing because I know how many guys they look at for a part like that. I was very humbled by that. It was a great experience and you know you win some you lose some, of course I wanted to do that but…

Did you actually audition for it?
Oh yeah, many, many times.

So just to wrap up, do you care to tell us about any of your favorite places to go out in LA or New York.
I usually go to house parties. I’m from Sweden and we don’t go out to clubs until 1 am in Sweden, so it’s hard for me to adjust to L.A. where you have to go out at 10 and then the bars close at 1:30 and you have to drive. I prefer to stay in when you don’t have to drive and you can hang out as late as you want. 

Photo by Chris Mauszynski