Breaking the Waves

Background:

Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard became a star in his home country before gaining attention in America while starring opposite Emily Watson in Lars von Trier's Oscar-nominated romantic drama film "Breaking the Waves" (1996). He has since starred in such films as "Insomnia" (1997), "Good Will Hunting" (1997), "Amistad" (1997), "Ronin" (1998), "Deep Blue Sea" (1999), "Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang)" (2000), "Passion of Mind" (2000), "Timecode" (2000), "Dancer in the Dark" (2000), "The Glass House" (2001), "King Arthur" (2004), "Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004), "Beowulf & Grendel" (2005), "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006) and "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007; as Bootstrap Bill), as well as "Mamma Mia!" (2008).

He will next be seen in the upcoming films "Boogie Woogie," "Arn - Riket vid vägens slut" ("Arn: The Kingdom at Road's End"), "Angels & Demons," and "Metropia."

On a more personal note, the 6' 4" actor has six children with his wife, who is a doctor.

"It takes a long time to make me beautiful, but it goes fast to make me ugly." Stellan Skarsgard

Skarzie

Childhood and Family:

In Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden, John Stellan Skarsgård, nicknamed “Skarzie,” was born on June 13, 1951, to parents Gudrun and J. Skarsgård. As a child, he moved a lot with his family and lived in such places as Totebo, Kalmar, Marielund and Uppsala.

On April 27, 1975, Skarsgård married My Skarsgård, a doctor. They have six children together: Alexander (born 1976), Gustaf (born 1980), Sam (born 1982), Bill (born 1990), Eija (born 1992) and Valter (born 1995). Skarsgård and his wife are now separated.

"I'm not religious or anything, but to me its great fun and it's nice to have a lot of kids. They take care of each other." Stellan Skarsgard

Pirates of the Caribbean

Career:

"I played a heap of snow in a school play. I was under a sheet and crawled out when spring came. I often say I'll never reach the same artistic level again." Stellan Skarsgard

Beginning his career as a child actor, Stellan Skarsgard spent 16 years with the Royal Dramatic Theatre Company. In 1968, he starred in the Swedish TV series "Bombi Bitt och jag" (aka "Bombi Bitt and Me"). Around this time, he also released the single "Bombi Bitt/Ler Mot Dej."

In the early '70s, Skarsgard began appearing in a number of Swedish films, including "Strandhugg i somras" (1972; aka "Raid in the Summer"), "Firmafesten" (1972; aka "The Office Party"), "Åttonde budet" (1973), "Fem døgn i august" (1973) and "Bröllopet" (1973). He also co-starred in "Anita - ur en tonårsflickas dagbok" (1973; aka "Anita: Swedish Nymphet"), a drama by writer/director Torgny Wickman.

Stellan continued to add to his resume roles in such films as "The Intruders" (1974), "Tabu" (1977; aka "Taboo"), "Hemåt i natten" (1977; aka "Homeward in the Night"), and "Kyssen" (1981). He also appeared in the miniseries "Skärp dig, älskling" (1981) and the TV series "Babels hus" (1981) as well as in the made-for-television movie "Olsson per sekund eller Det finns ingen anledning till oro" (1981).

In 1982, Skarsgard had an international breakthrough after narrating and starring (as the mentally challenged Sven Olsson) in Hans Alfredsson’s Swedish drama film "Enfaldige mördaren, Den" (1982; aka "The Simple-Minded Murder"). He went on to star in the films "P & B" (1983), "Åke och hans värld" (1984; aka "Åke and His World"), "Falsk som vatten" (1985; aka "False as Water"), "Pelle Svanslös i Amerikatt" (1985; aka "Peter-No-Tail in Americat"), and "Ormens väg på hälleberget" (1986; aka "The Serpent's Way"). He also appeared in the miniseries "Farmor och vår herre" (1983) and the TV series "August Strindberg: Ett liv" (1985), as well as in the TV movies "Hustruskolan" (1983), "Noon Wine" (1985), and "Tragiska historien om Hamlet - Prins av Danmark, Den" (1985).

In 1986, Skarsgard wrote the screenplay of Hans Alfredson's "Jim & piraterna Blom" (1987; aka "Jim and the Pirates"), in which he also acted. That same year, he appeared in August Strindberg's "A Dreamplay" at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, in Stockholm, Sweden, and two years later, in 1988, he played a featured role in Philip Kaufman's Oscar-nominated film adaptation of Milan Kundera's 1982 novel, "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," starring Daniel Day-Lewis, Juliette Binoche, and Lena Olin.

Entering the '90s, Skarsgard co-starred as Captain Tupolev, the captain of a Soviet Alfa class attack submarine and a former student of Ramius (played by Sean Connery), in John McTiernan's film adaptation of Tom Clancy's best-selling novel, "The Hunt for Red October" (1990), and made an American TV pilot for NBC's crime/drama starring Jeff Fahey, "Parker Kane" (1990). He also appeared in the music video "Vem tänder stjärnorna" (1991) by Eva Dahlgren and was considered for the part of Oskar Schindler in “Schindler's List” (1993), which eventually went to Liam Neeson. Skarsgård, who claims people often mistake him for Neeson, would in fact replace Neeson in “Exorcist: The Beginning” (2004).

Skarsgard landed his breakout role in 1996 when he co-starred opposite Emily Watson in Lars von Trier's Oscar-nominated romantic drama film set in the Scottish Highlands in the 1970s, "Breaking the Waves." In the following years, he played a math professor who takes Matt Damon under his wing in "Good Will Hunting" (1997) and co-starred in the international thriller "Ronin" (1998). He also earned praise for his leading role of a detective investigating a murder in "Insomnia" (1998).

Hitting the new millennium, Skarsgard appeared opposite Demi Moore in "Passion of Mind" and garnered praise for his performance opposite Charlotte Rampling in "Aberdeen," in which he also served as associate producer. He had a small role in Lars von Trier's Cannes-premiered "Dancer in the Dark," and played a movie producer in Mike Figgis' experimental "Time Code," with Holly Hunter as one of his assistants. He was also reunited with Rampling in "Signs & Wonders" and teamed up again with Holly Hunter in the Showtime movie "Harlan County War."

Skarsgard subsequently starred with Leelee Sobieski and Diane Lane in "The Glass House" (2001) and appeared in a TV commercial for Ramlösa bottled water in 2002. He also starred in his third movie with director Lars von Trier, "Dogville" (2003; alongside Nicole Kidman), and was cast in "King Arthur" (2004).

After portraying Father Lankester Merrin in Renny Harlin's "Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004), Skarsgard was cast as "Bootstrap" Bill Turner in Gore Verbinski's "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" (2006), a role he would reprise in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" (2007).

Meanwhile, Skarsgard portrayed Francisco de Goya in Milos Forman's "Goya's Ghosts" (2006) and Birger Brosa in Peter Flinth's epic film based on Jan Guillou's "Arn – The Knight Templar" (2007). He also appeared as a guest on the talk show "Stina" and the popular radio show “Rix Morgon Zoo.”

Stellan recently played Bill Anderson, one of the potential fathers to Donna's (played by Meryl Streep) daughter Sophie (played by Amanda Seyfried), in Phyllida Lloyd's film adaptation of the West End stage musical based on the songs of the successful pop group ABBA, "Mamma Mia!" (2008).

Skarsgard will soon wrap up Duncan Ward's film adaptation of Danny Moynihan's novel, "Boogie Woogie," in which he will co-star with Amanda Seyfried and Gillian Anderson, and Peter Flinth's film version of Jan Guillou's novels, "Arn - Riket vid vägens slut" (aka "Arn: The Kingdom at Road's End"), alongside Joakim Nätterqvist. He is also working on the upcoming films "Angels & Demons," Ron Howard's take on Dan Brown's novel in which he will act opposite Tom Hanks and Ewan McGregor, and "Metropia," an animated sci-fi movie in which he will provide his voice alongside Alexander Skarsgård, Juliette Lewis, Udo Kier, and Vincent Gallo.

"There is no overacting, only untrue acting." Stellan Skarsgard

Awards:

• Mar del Plata Film Festival: Best Actor, "Taking Sides," 2002

• European Film: Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema, "Amistad," 1998

• European Film: Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema, "Good Will Hunting," 1998

• Guldbagge: Best Actor (Bästa manliga huvudroll), "Täcknamn Coq Rouge," 1990

• Guldbagge: Best Actor (Bästa manliga huvudroll), "Kvinnorna på taket," 1990

• Guldbagge: Best Actor (Bästa manliga huvudroll), "Enfaldige mördaren, Den," 1982

• Berlin International Film Festival: Silver Berlin Bear -- Best Actor, "Enfaldige mördaren, Den," 1982