Alexander Skarsgård
Birthdate: August 25, 1976 (49 Years Old)
Birthplace: Stockholm, Stockholms län, Sweden
Tall, blonde, and handsome, Alexander Skarsgård (birthname: Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård) is one of the most striking actors to reach the big screen after making powerful impressions on cable series, particularly HBO’s miniseries Generation Kill (2008) and the cabler’s multi-season hit show, on vampires and humans comingling in the Deep South, True Blood.
After this pair, Skarsgård’s movie stock rose considerably. He appeared alongside father Stellan, Kirsten Dunst, Kiefer Sutherland, and Charlotte Gainsbourg in Lars von Trier’s Melancholia (2011), which landed in the main competition of the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.
He appeared opposite Julianne Moore in Scott McGehee’s and David Siegel’s marital drama, What Maisie Knew (2012); followed by the ensemble drama (with Jason Bateman, Andrea Riseborough, and Hope Davis), Disconnect (2012); the drama, The Giver (2013), with Jeff Bridges, Meryl Streep, and Taylor Swift; Marielle Heller’s acclaimed The Diary of a Teenage Girl (2015) with Bel Powley, Kristen Wiig, and Christopher Meloni; reuniting with Riseborough for Matt and Ross Duffer’s thriller, Hidden (2015).
Alexander Skarsgård resumed his role as Adam from Ben Stiller’s Zoolander (2001)—which marked the actor’s American debut—in Zoolander 2 (2016), but his star profile was raised in The Legend of Tarzan (2016), in which he played the King of the Jungle—and the first to do so without a loincloth. His busy big-screen run went unabated in upcoming years, including Kim Nguyen’s thriller, The Hummingbird Project (2018) with Jesse Eisenberg and Salma Hayek; Jeremy Saulnier’s Netflix adventure-thriller, Hold the Dark (2018) with Jeffrey Wright and Riley Keough; Alexander Skarsgård has stayed true to his American roots in quality cable with AMC’s limited series adaptation of John Le Carre’s The Little Drummer Girl (2018) with Florence Pugh and Michael Shannon and guesting in the 2021 season of HBO’s standout corporate family saga, Succession; as well as playing nefarious heavies in HBO’s Big Little Lies (2017-2019, with Nicole Kidman, and the CBS mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s The Stand (2020-2021).
He was part of the distinguished ensemble in Rebecca Hall’s critical triumph, Passing (2021), with Tessa Thompson, Ruth Negga, and Andre Holland. He played second fiddle to the big monsters in Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), opposite his Passing director, Hall. Possibly Alexander Skarsgård’s biggest role to date happened in 2022, as the Viking prince Amleth, in Robert Eggers’ Norse saga, The Northman, with Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Björk, and Ethan Hawke. Skarsgård’s next project was a starring role in Brandon Cronenberg’s horror-thriller Infinity Pool (2023).
Skarsgård joined the ensemble of debuting director Michael Shannon’s film version of Brett Nevau’s 2022 play, Eric LaRue (2023), starring Judy Greer, Paul Sparks, Alison Pill, Tracy Letts and Annie Parisse, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival and released by Magnolia Pictures. Skarsgård played major support to star-producer Kate Winslet in the title role of the WW2 biopic about journalist Lee Miller, Lee (2023), co-starring Marion Cotillard, Andrea Riseborough, Andy Samberg, Noemie Merlant and Josh O’Connor under Ellen Kuras’s direction, based on Antony Penrose’s biography, The Lives of Lee Miller, launching at the Toronto Film Festival and released by Roadside Attractions/Vertical (U.S.)/Sky UK (U.K.)/StudioCanal (France) for a vivid box office nearing $25 million worldwide.
Alexander Skarsgård co-starred with Henry Melling in director/writer Harry Lighton’s British-Irish Queer comedy-drama, Pillion (2025), based on Adam Mars-Jones’s 2020 novel, Box Hill and produced by BBC Film/BFI/Element Pictures, first premiering at the Cannes Film Festival’s Un Certain Regard section (where it won Best Screenplay) and then released by Picturehouse Entertainment/Warner Bros. Pictures. Skarsgård joined the ensemble as the heavy in director/co-writer Aidan Zamiri’s music mockumentary starring Charli XCX, The Moment (2026), with Rosanna Arquette, Hailey Benson Gates, Kate Berlant, Jamie Demetriou, Kylie Jenner, Isaac Powell, and Rachel Sennott, produced and released by A24 following its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Skarsgård co-starred with Olivia Colman (who also was a producer), Peter Dinklage and Elizabeth Debicki in co-directors/co-writers Alex Huston Fischer’s and Eleanor Wilson’s romantic fantasy, Wicker (2026), based on Ursula Wills-Jones’s short story, “The Wicker Husband,” funded by U.K. and U.S. producers (including Topic Studios and Tango Entertainment) and launched at the Sundance Film Festival. Skarsgård led the cast of director/co-writer/producer Nathalie Alvarez Mesen’s 1860s Pacific Northwest-set horror drama, The Wolf Will Tear Your Immaculate Hands (2026), co-written by Sjón, and co-starring Bronte Carmichael and Pernilla August, which was produced by the BFI/Creative Europe/Eurimages.
Alexander Skarsgård starred in director/co-writer Myroslav Slaboshpytskyi’s adventure-drama, The Tiger (date to be announced), based on John Vaillant’s novel, co-starring Dane DeHaan, with lead producers Darren Aronofsky, Brad Pitt, and Dede Gardner (via Plan B Entertainment) and released by producer Focus Features.
Personal life
Alexander Skarsgård was born in the Swedish capital of Stockholm to actor Stellan Skarsgård and his physician mother, My Skarsgård, who are divorced. He belongs to a prominent Swedish acting family, with three other actor brothers--Bill, Gustaf, and Valter Skarsgård—plus Sam and Eija, and two half-brothers from Stellan’s second marriage.
His stepmother is screenwriter Megan Everett-Skarsgård. After military conscription in the Swedish Armed Forces, he attended Leeds Metropolitan University in the U.K., then transferred to Marymount Manhattan College in New York City to study acting. This confirmed his professional choice of acting, although Skarsgård had considered architecture. Skarsgård is unmarried and has no children; he has been in relationships with Kate Bosworth and Alexa Chung. His height is 6’ 4 ½”.
Awards
SELECT HONORS: Winner, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Television Movie, Emmy Awards (2017); Winner, Best Supporting Actor—Series, Miniseries or Television Film, Golden Globes Awards (2018); Winner, Best Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries, Screen Actors Guild Awards (2018).
Alexander Skarsgård Movies
Actor
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Previous (17)
- 2026 |
The Moment
A rising pop star navigates the complexities of fame and industry pressure while preparing for her arena tour debut.
- 2025 |
Eric LaRue
asRon LaRue
It tells the story of Janice, the mother of a teenager who shot and killed three of his classmates.
- 2024 |
- 2023 |
Infinity Pool
asJames Foster
James and Em Foster are enjoying an all-inclusive beach vacation in the fictional island of La Tolqa, when a fatal accident exposes the resort's perverse subculture of hedonistic tourism, reckless violence and surreal horrors.
- 2022 |
- 2021 |
Godzilla vs. Kong
asNathan Lind
The epic next chapter in the cinematic Monsterverse pits two of the greatest icons in motion picture history against each other--the fearsome Godzilla and the mighty Kong--with humanity caught in the balance.
- 2021 |
- 2021 |
- 2019 |
- 2019 |
The Aftermath
asStephen Lubert
Post World War II, a British colonel and his wife are assigned to live in Hamburg during the post-war reconstruction, but tensions arise with the German who previously owned the house.
- 2019 |
The Hummingbird Project
asAnton Zaleski
A pair of high-frequency traders go up against their old boss in an effort to make millions in a fiber-optic cable deal.
- 2019 |
Exit
asFabian von Klerking
Yong-nam (Jo Jung-suk) was one of the best rock climbers in college but hasn't had much luck elsewhere after graduation. He has failed to get a job for many years and has to rely on his parents just to get by. For his mother's 70th birthday, he insisted on having the party at Dre... Read all
- 2017 |
- 2016 |
The Legend of Tarzan
asJohn Clayton
Tarzan, having acclimated to life in London, is called back to his former home in the jungle to investigate the activities at a mining encampment.
- -- | The Giveras Father
- -- | Battleshipas Commander Stone Hopper
- -- | as Ray
Facts About Alexander Skarsgård
Ex-Kid Star: Alexander Skarsgård was on the verge of being a child star in Sweden at age 13 but quit acting for over seven years since, as he explains it, the growing celebrity attention was becoming uncomfortable for him.
Adventurer: Alexander Skarsgård led the U.S. team in a fundraising trek to the South Pole for the non-profit “Walking with the Wounded,” racing against Prince Harry’s U.K. team and actor Dominic West’s Canadian squad. Each team eventually joined up and reached the Pole.
Video Star: Skarsgård appears with Lady Gaga in her hit video, “Paparazzi.”
He’s Sexy, And He Knows It: Skarsgård has been voted Sweden’s sexiest man five times.
Stephen King Connection: Alexander Skarsgård and his brother Bill have both played arch-nemeses in Stephen King adaptations—Bill as Pennywise in It (2017) and It Chapter Two (2019), Alexander as Randall Flagg in The Stand (2020-2021).
