5:54PM, Oct 20, 2009
Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård is currently has starring roles in vampire hit True Blood, and gritty war drama Generation Kill.
Here, the actor talks about what we can expect from both shows, and the perks of having a famous father.
Tell us about your True Blood (Channel 4: Wednesdays, 10pm) character, Eric Northman.
He’s the sheriff of the vampires in Louisiana. He’s one of the oldest and most powerful vampires around. Curious humans will come into his nightclub and buy souvenirs and see real vampires, and he makes money from it.
How do you play someone who has a thousand-year back story?
I think he’s got huge confidence and he doesn’t waste time. He’s been around for that long, so he cuts to the chase and gets down to business. It’s hard to impress a guy like that, because he’s seen it all. That’s why he’s intrigued by Sookie (Anna Paquin) because there’s something interesting and different about her that he can’t put his finger on.
The show isn’t exactly aimed at kids, is it?
No! Definitely not! It’s pretty dark. It’s basically about prejudice, and how these vampires try to fit into society and find a role. It’s pretty full-on, and very graphic and gory. Season two is even more graphic, so we’ll see what the response is.
Vampire stories are very popular at the moment, why do you think we're so fascinated with them?
I think it has to do with immortality and eternal youth - that is so alluring and intriguing. The fact that vampires are also lethal predators creates great platforms for drama, I think. You have that duality.
You're also starring in Generation Kill (Channel 4: Wednesdays, 11.15pm) as Sergeant Brad Colbert. What’s he like?
He’s one of the senior guys in First Reconnaissance, but he’s a bit of a loner. He believes that they’re out there to help, to liberate people, but throughout the series things will change. It’s hard for him to do his job, because he needs to motivate the guys, and make sure they’re sharp and aggressive. But at the same time, he’s beginning to think “What the hell are we doing out here?”
Are the events portrayed accurate?
It’s based on a book written by Evan Wright, a journalist who was embedded with First Reconnaissance Battalion of the US Marines for the first five weeks of the Iraq invasion in 2003. Everything that is on the show happened in real life. One of the actors is a real Marine, and plays himself and we had two other guys from First Reconnaissance with us for the duration of the shoot. They were behind the camera making sure that everything was legit.
Did you meet the real Sergeant Colbert while you were filming?
No. He was in the UK, embedded with the special forces. But I did get a chance to see him as soon as I got back to the States. It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life to finally meet him.
It must have been strange, meeting someone whose character you’ve spent so long immersing yourself in.
I was with that character for a year. All the things I say on the show are his life. I have a tremendous amount of respect and love for the man, so it was very important for me that he would be proud of what we did and how I portrayed him. And he didn’t kill me, so I guess I did okay.
Generation Kill doesn’t necessarily tie in with the patriotic, apple-pie image of troops that exists in the US. Did the depiction of the troops upset people?
No, I think the Marine community really embraced the show, because it felt real and it made the audience realise that it’s more complicated than they might have thought. I know that some of the officers weren’t happy about it, because they wanted it to be a pro-Marine Corps series where everything is amazing and they’re all patriots and all fighting for the right cause. But we can live with that.
Your dad Stellan Skarsgård is hugely successful. What was it like to grow up in that environment?
He wasn’t that big a star when I grew up. He was mostly a stage actor. For me, it was running around backstage at the theatre, and I didn’t really think much about it.
How old were you when you started acting?
I did my first movie when I was seven, and then I worked for about six years, doing movies and television in Sweden. But then I quit when I was 13, and didn’t work at all for seven years until I was 20.
What drew you back into acting?
Leaving acting had never had anything to do with the craft, the work, at all. It was only because I wasn’t comfortable being recognised. So I decided to give it a go again and went to New York to study theatre for a while and got hooked pretty instantly.
Looking at the two series, which you did back to back, the roles are very different. Was that a conscious decision?
Yeah, it keeps me on my toes and it keeps me motivated and creative. If I do something for seven months, and then I jump into a character that’s very similar to that, I think I’m going to get bored, and I’m not going to do a good job. I need to be challenged.
Find out when True Blood and Generation Kill are on TV.
