.
Last updated: 12/27/2018 Alexander Skarsgård stands on the roof of a Manhattan skyscraper, surveys the urban jungle below and coughs into his chest. For a moment, it seems as if this is Tarzan, the most famous man to brave the wild. It turns out that it's actually just a chest cough. “Unfortunately, the cold can negatively affect even me,” he wheezes.
From this height, the 39-year-old Swede, Bill Skarsgård's older brother, can easily see his home in Manhattan. After today's interview, he will accompany his girlfriend Alexa Chung, a British model, to one of the most famous events in the fashion world - the CFDA Awards in New York. Then in the morning he goes to Tokyo for the premiere of Tarzan, and then, if he can maintain such a rhythm, Alexander flies to France to see the Swedish football team play in the European Championship.
The childhood of modern Tarzan
Such is the life of a famous person. In The Legend of Tarzan, Skarsgård leads a very star-studded cast including Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Christoph Waltz. The story begins with John Clayton (Skarsgård) living a monotonous aristocratic life in England with his wife Jane. Events change dramatically when they find themselves in the jungles of Africa, where Clayton was raised by gorillas as a wild child and here his name is already different - Tarzan.
Skarsgård also calls his own childhood wild, but in a completely different way. He was raised on the island of Södermalm, in a free-thinking community of artists and writers in the south of Stockholm, and is the eldest of six children - five boys and one girl. “It was an incredible childhood. Nobody ever locked the doors. We didn’t even carry keys,” he recalls. “My cousins lived in the apartment above us, so all the kids were constantly running up and down. And my grandparents lived across the street."
Alexander's father, Stellan Skarsgård, a 65-year-old man, is Sweden's best-known and most beloved actor, having starred in films such as Thor, Mamma Mia!, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and many others. Apparently, Stellan's liberal approach to life extends to his wardrobe. He often walked around the house naked, despite the presence of guests.
Progressive views
Alexander Skarsgård is partial to issues that are not often addressed due to conservative or puritanical attitudes towards them. For example, the topics of sexism or feminism: the actor believes that certain aspects of women's lives should be given much more attention, and they need to be discussed freely, openly and without false shame. That is why he willingly played a role in the film “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.”
An interesting feature of Alexander is the harmonious balance between a loyal attitude to the aesthetics of the naked body in the frame and the absence of vulgarity and bad taste. Indeed, a certain reticence, unobtrusiveness and avoidance of inappropriate straightforwardness make the films with his participation impressive.
According to the actor, aggression or violence can traumatize the viewer, rather than the manifestation of sensuality on the screen.
Perhaps the liberal views of Father Alexander, with whom he is still friends, also played a role here. According to the artist, he grew up “in a hippie environment.” In the article “Who are hippies” I talked about their lifestyle.
The Skarsgård family are artists and pacifists who are against the military idea and follow the idea of peace, love, freedom.
At a time when Alexander was not yet famous, he decided to join the army - not for the sake of military action, but in obedience to a “personal challenge.”
He says that weapons do not appeal to him. Perhaps the future actor needed new impressions and a change of scenery.
Liberal education
“My dad is a very sociable guy. He also loves to cook. We always ate together as a family every evening,” says Alexander. Even after his parents divorced and his father married a younger woman, with whom he has two more sons, they remained best friends. So good that they still have lunch together sometimes, like a big, loud family, and have even bought holiday homes 200 meters away from each other. "It `s very unusual. I understand very well how lucky we are to live like this,” says Skarsgård.
As a child, young Alexander Skarsgård appeared on Swedish television. At the age of 13, he starred in the program “The dog that smiled,” which made him suddenly famous. Feeling uncomfortable and embarrassed about receiving so much attention at his age, he decided that he would not pursue it any further, a decision supported by his father. "Dad basically said, 'Well, if you don't feel like it's yours, don't do it.' Try to do other things, have fun, enjoy life, “says Alexander. “I am very grateful to my father for this, because if he forced me, I don’t think I would be an actor today. I needed a break from all this as a teenager."
Skarsgård spent his teenage years doing typical teenage things: getting drunk, listening to punk, watching his favorite football team play home and away. Then, at the age of 19, he surprised everyone by announcing that he wanted to join the Swedish military.
Charlize Theron (2012)
Do you think this is all Skarsgård can do? But no! Recently it was rumored that the actor was dating the incredible Charlize Theron. In fact, they were simply spotted together drinking alcohol in one of the gay bars in Los Angeles, which for the paparazzi, of course, already means that there is something between them.
Find out how Charlize Theron's personal life turned out
Ellen Page
In 2012, information appeared that Alexander Skarsgård was dating his co-star in the new film “The East,” Ellen Page. The food for this rumor was a photograph published on Twitter, in which Alexander and Ellen cuddled cutely with each other. True, it’s too early to draw conclusions - it is also known that the actors became good friends during filming and, perhaps, these hugs were nothing more than a manifestation of friendly love and tenderness.
Then he was seen a couple of times with actress Alicia Vikander:
Obviously, they have a warm relationship, but confirmation of the romance could not be obtained (Alicia is now married to Michael Fassbender).
For some time there was no information about the actor’s personal life. Alexander was inspired by his success in cinema and was amazed at the speed with which his career was moving up. Unfortunately, success at work cannot cure endless thoughts about how good life would be if there was a permanent woman in it.
“Alex is incredibly lonely, and has been lonely for a long time - he wants to find the one, his one and only,” sources say.
Also interesting: all the Skarsgård brothers
But, as befits a young and successful actor, Skarskard doesn't spend too much time suffering from loneliness and trying to improve his personal life. He recently announced that he plans to continue working on the final season of True Blood and then plans to take some time for himself.
“I think we’ll get it done in a couple of weeks, and then I’ll go to Iceland for a week-long hike. No phones, iPads, nothing – I love this kind of vacation,” said Skarsgård.
Margot Robbie
Some time after the release of the film “Tarzan. Legend” Alexander was often seen with his co-star Margot Robbie, who played the role of Jane. How harmonious the couple looked in the film, as well as their joint appearances, could not help but lead fans of the actors to think about a romance between Alexander and Margot. At film festivals where they appeared, the actors hugged each other and flirted. Also, after the release of the film, the couple starred in a photo shoot based on “Tarzan” for Vogue magazine, in which they portrayed passionate lovers.
Margot Robbie and Alexander Skasgard at the premiere of the film “Tarzan. Legend"
Photo shoot for Vogue
Most likely, the press attributed this novel to them, and such rumors are always beneficial for promoting the film. But this novel is unlikely, because... Margot Robbie was in a relationship with Tom Ackerley, whom she married.
Alexa Chung
In addition, sources report that even before filming Tarzan, Skarsgård already had a relationship with Alexa Chung, Vogue editor, model and famous presenter.
Alexa also came to the film premiere to support Alexander. Moreover, all relationships took place in secrecy - the couple met secretly, so as not to catch the eye of curious paparazzi, and told everyone that they were just friends. But some of the couple’s acquaintances assured them that everything was serious with Alexander and Alexa and they were even planning a wedding.
But the actors never got married - after two years of their relationship, Alexa and Skarsgård separated. According to their friends, the actors simply had too busy work schedules, and their free time was not enough for relationships. At first, at one of the parties, Skarsgard and Chang were seen separately. And then the news of the breakup was also confirmed by friends - the celebrities themselves chose not to advertise the breakup in the same way as they kept the relationship secret.
Also interesting: the personal life of Bill Skarsgård
From bohemian life to the army
“I grew up in a very bohemian, hippie environment,” he says. His whole family - artists and pacifists - drink, smoke and hate the idea of the military. “Perhaps such a decision at age 19 was a common reaction to such an environment.” Not that he had any intention of going into a war zone. “I had no intention of visiting any military zone. In Sweden, our last war was 200 years ago, so it was more just like a personal challenge."
Alexander is not afraid to step out of his comfort zone. After 15 months of experience in the Swedish Marines, his next exciting educational phase took him to England - where he chanced upon Leeds, a "tough working class city". Why Leeds? “Well, my mate and I wanted to see how the British live. We thought: "If we go to London, we'll just hang out there with all our Swedish friends. So we looked at the map for a while and I saw Leeds.
Roles of Alexander Skarsgard
In 1996, the guy went to Leeds, UK, where he studied English and drama. At this university, Alexander received his doctorate in arts. A year later, the actor moved to New York and took acting courses at Marymount Manhattan College. Already at that time, Skarsgård had a real opportunity to become famous in Hollywood, but family circumstances forced him to return to his homeland in Sweden, where he began filming big films and television series. Alexander returned to Swedish cinema with the melodrama “Happy Ending” (1999). At home, the actor played in such famous films as “The Diver” (2000), “Wings of Glass” (2000) and “Kites from Helsinki” (2001). The most striking film of that period with the actor’s participation was the drama O, for which he was awarded the “Golden St. George” award at the Moscow Film Festival.
The first American movie in Skarsgård's filmography was the comedy Zoolander (2001), where the actor played the role of a male fashion model. Alexander’s recognition increased sharply after the release of the war drama Generation Kill, but he gained real worldwide popularity thanks to his filming in the fantasy television series True Blood. In the series, the actor plays the role of vampire Eric Northman, the owner of the vampire bar “Fangtasia”. The role of Eric brought Alexander nominations for the Screen Actors Guild and Saturn awards. He has twice won the Scream Award for Best Actor in a Horror Film (2010) and Best Villain (2009).
The most significant subsequent films in Alexander Skarsgård’s filmography were: the thriller “Straw Dogs,” the melodrama “Divorce in the City,” “Melancholy,” the horror film “Lurking” and the unusual family film “The Diary of a Teenage Girl.” In 2020, the comedy “War against Everyone” and the adventure film “Tarzan” were released. Legend”, where he played with Margot Robbie. In 2020, the film “Mute” and the television series “Big Little Lies” are planned for release with the actor’s participation.
Actor's blood
Eventually, perhaps even inevitably, Skarsgård returned to acting. Even though their father did not put any pressure on his children to follow his example, Gustav, Bill and Walter Skarsgård became actors along with their brother; it's clearly in the genes.
Although Alexander deliberately tried to avoid being typecast, there is a common theme across most of his roles. This feature is that he feels quite relaxed without clothes. And that is why in many films he breaks up with her.
Train or be forgotten
In The Legend of Tarzan, Skarsgård spends most of the film running, swinging and jumping shirtless. Warner Bros. offered him the services of one of their trainers to get him into the shape he wanted, but he instead chose to work with his friend, Magnus, a nutritional trainer. "When you have to see the same person every morning at 4:30, it's important that you get along well with them," says Skarsgård. So he did 3 months of hard training, and during this period he added more than 11kg, eating an “insane” 7000 calories a day. After hitting green screens at Warner Bros. Studios, near London, he spent four months filming during eight weeks of pre-production.
Even though he hates diets, Skarsgård loves intense physical challenges for his body. In 2014, he traveled to the South Pole with Prince Harry to raise money for charity. "He's an incredible storyteller, so I think he'd be a very good actor," Skarsgård says wryly. He also spent three weeks at sea a couple of years ago, sailing the Atlantic Ocean on a sailboat. “I'm definitely a city guy, but I love the contrast, to go into complete oblivion, without a phone,” he says. "It recharges my batteries."
