Alexander Skarsgard

**Alexander Skarsgård** is a Swedish actor, He portrays Lukas Matsson, CEO of Swedish tech company GoJo, on *Succession*.

## Biography

### Early life

Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård was born on August 25, 1976, in Stockholm, Sweden, as the eldest son of actor Stellan Skarsgård and his then-wife, My. He has five younger siblings: Gustaf, Sam, Bill, Eija, and Valter; he also has two-half brothers from his father's second marriage. Gustaf, Bill, and Valter are also actors. Skarsgård regards his childhood-home life as "chaotic" and "liberal."

At age 7, he made his acting debut in the film *Åke and His World*, a role which he was given by a friend of his father's who was a director. He was given the lead role in *Hunden som log*, a Swedish television series, at age 13, but stopped acting that same year as he was uncomfortable with his budding fame.

### Education and service

At age 19, he applied to perform his national service in the Swedish Armed Forces. He served in the anti-sabotage and anti-terrorism unit for 18 months, an experience which he has said he doesn't regret despite the environment being a bit too "testosterone-fueled" for his tastes. After completing his service, he left Sweden and attended Leeds Metropolitan University in England for six months, majoring in English. He later admitted that he most often partied rather than studied. He decided to revisit acting, and in 1997, he enrolled in a theatre course at Marymount Manhattan College. After six months, certain that he wanted to pursue acting full-time, he returned to Stockholm.

### Career

In the following years, Skarsgård appeared in several Swedish films and television shows, being named the hottest man in Sweden five times. While vacationing in the United States, he auditioned for and obtained a role in *Zoolander*, his first in an American film. In 2004, while continuing to work in Sweden, he moved to Los Angeles. He quickly garnered fame after appearing the HBO miniseries *Generation Kill*, as Brad "Iceman" Colbert, and as the 1000-year-old Nordic vampire Eric Northman in *True Blood*, which aired on HBO from 2008 to 2014. In 2011, he starred alongside Kirsten Dunst in Melancholia. He has since starred in films such as *The Diary of a Teenage Girl* (2015), *The Legend of Tarzan* (2016), *Passing* (2021), *The Northman* (2022), and *Infinity Pool* (2023). He also appeared in the HBO series *Big Little Lies* (2017-2019).

For his role as Lukas Matsson he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.

## Personal life

Skarsgård has been outspoken in support of feminism and gender equality, specifically in regards to the double standards in the film industry.

In 2022, he welcomed his first child with Swedish actress Tuva Novotny.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pym, Olivia‎ (October 23, 2019). "Alexander Skarsgård Isn't Afraid Of The Dark". *Esquire*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Harvey, Chris‎ (August 12, 2010). "Alexander Skarsgård interview: True Blood lust". *The Telegraph*. Archived from the original on January 11, 2018. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
3. ↑ McIntyre, Gina‎ (June 22, 2011). "Alexander Skarsgard gets some added bite from 'True Blood'". *Los Angeles Times*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
4. ↑ Martin, Brett‎ (May 17, 2011). "Here Comes the Viking". *GQ*. Archived from the original on April 6, 2015. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
5. ↑ Ntim, Zac‎ (April 5, 2022). "Alexander Skarsgård Says People Didn't Take Him Seriously Due to Looks". *Insider*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
6. ↑ Schepp, Calie‎ (May 6, 2022). "Alexander Skarsgård looks back on first U.S. acting role in Zoolander". *Entertainment Weekly*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
7. ↑ Stern, Marlow‎ (July 13, 2017). "Alexander Skarsgard on ‘Melancholia,’ ‘True Blood,’ and More". *The Daily Beast*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
8. ↑ Lewis, et al., Hilary‎ (July 12, 2023). "Emmys 2023: List of Nominees". *The Hollywood Reporter*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
9. ↑ Team Elle‎ (February 7, 2018). "Alexander Skarsgård On 'Disgusting' Double Standards In Hollywood". *Elle UK*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.
10. ↑ Vasquez, Ingrid‎ (March 21, 2023). "Alexander Skarsgård Confirms He Welcomed First Baby with Girlfriend Tuva Novotny". *People*. Retrieved on October 2, 2023.