Gustaf Caspar Orm Skarsgård (born 12 November 1980) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his roles in ''

Evil Evil, as a concept, is usually defined as profoundly immoral behavior, and it is related to acts that cause unnecessary pain and suffering to others. Evil is commonly seen as the opposite, or sometimes absence, of good. It can be an extreme ...

'' (2003), '' The Way Back'' (2010), ''

Kon-Tiki The ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named ''Kon-Tiki'' after the Inca god Viracocha, f ...

'' (2012), and '' Oppenheimer'' (2023). He also appeared in the HBO TV series ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction dystopia media franchise that began with the Westworld (film), 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild West, Wild-West-th ...

'' (2018), as

Merlin The Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network (MERLIN) is an interferometer array of radio telescopes spread across England. The array is run from Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire by the University of Manchester on behalf of UK Re ...

in the

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

TV series '' Cursed'' (2020), and as Floki in the

History Channel History (formerly and commonly known as the History Channel) is an American pay television television broadcaster, network and the flagship channel of A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney General Entertainme ...

series ''

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

'' (2013–2020).

Early life

Skarsgård was born on 12 November 1980 in

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, to Swedish actor

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan John Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier, appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2003), ''Melancholia' ...

and his first wife, My, a physician. He has 5 siblings:

Alexander Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here ar ...

, Sam, Bill, Eija and Valter, and two half-brothers Ossian and Kolbjörn by his father's second marriage, to Megan Everett. Alexander, Bill, and Valter are also actors. His godfather is Swedish actor

Peter Stormare Rolf Peter Ingvar Stormare (; Birth name, né Storm, 27 August 1953) is a Swedish actor. He played Prince Hamlet, Hamlet for Ingmar Bergman, Gaear Grimsrud in the film ''Fargo (1996 film), Fargo'' (1996) and List of Prison Break characters#John ...

. Gustaf decided to follow in his father's footsteps as an actor at the age of six and attended drama school.

Career

Skarsgård’s film debut was in 1989 in the short film ''Prima Ballerina'', where he played a ballet pupil. The same year, Skarsgård starred in the Swedish Film '' Codename Coq Rouge''. Gustaf Skarsgård continued with several children's and youth roles, for example, ''Min vän Percys magiska gymnastikskor'' (1994) and ''Skuggornas hus'' (1996). He attended the

Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting The National Academy of Mime and Acting (NAMA) (), was a school in Stockholm for acting and mime. This institution was also known under additional different names in English, including Stockholm University College of Acting and Stockholm Academy of ...

(Teaterhögskolan) from 1998 to 2003, before joining the

Royal Dramatic Theatre The Royal Dramatic Theatre (, colloquially ''Dramaten'') is Sweden's national stage for "spoken drama", founded in 1788. Around one thousand shows are put on annually on the theatre's five running stages. The theatre has been at its present lo ...

, Stockholm. He played in several of Shakespeare’s, Chekhov's and Söderberg’s works both on the

and on

Stockholm City Theatre Stockholm City Theatre () is a live performance theatre located in Stockholm, Sweden. The theatre is situated near the Sergel fountain and the Stockholm City roundabout. Location It is located in one of Stockholm's most popular public buildi ...

. In 2003 he performed in ''

'' and 2008 in '' Patrik 1,5''. For both roles he was nominated for the

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards (, ) is an official and annual Sweden, Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a Cetonia aurata, rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbagg ...

as Best Supporting Actor and as Best Leading Actor. The same year he was awarded the

Shooting Star A meteor, known colloquially as a shooting star, is a glowing streak of a small body (usually meteoroid) going through Earth's atmosphere, after being heated to incandescence by collisions with air molecules in the upper atmosphere, creating a ...

at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (), usually called the Berlinale (), is an annual film festival held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the festival has been held every February since 1978 and is one of Europ ...

. He finally won the Guldbagge as Best Leading Actor for his performance in ''Förortsungar''. In 2012, Skarsgård joined the History Channel's series ''

'' in the main role of Floki, the shipbuilder. In 2018, he joined the cast of ''

'' as Karl Strand for five episodes. In March 2020, Skarsgård starred in a main role as

, in '' Cursed'', a

original television series based on a re-imaging of the

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain (; ; ; ) is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. The 12th-century writer Geoffr ...

. In 2022, Skarsgård starred in Swedish film ''What Remains,'' a psychological thriller which follows the disquieting relationship between a possible serial killer, played by Skarsgård (based on real-life killer Sture Bergwall, AKA Thomas Quick), his troubled psychiatrist, and the detective assigned to the case, played by Gustaf Skarsgård's own father, actor

Personal life

Gustaf Skarsgård was in a relationship with actress Hanna Alström from 1999 to 2005. He is in a relationship with Caroline Sjöström. Their daughter was born in November 2020.

Awards

Skarsgård won a

Guldbagge Awards The Guldbagge Awards (, ) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the name Guldbaggen. The awards, first ...

for ''Kidz In da Hood''. He won the European Film Academy's

Shooting Stars Award The Shooting Stars Awards are presented annually by the pan-European network organization European Film Promotion (EFP) to emerging actors from Europe. "Shooting Stars" is an initiative of the EFP for the international promotion and networking of ...

in 2007.

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

External links

* * * Gustaf Skarsgård i
The Big Leap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skarsgard, Gustaf 1980 births Living people 20th-century Swedish male actors 21st-century Swedish male actors Best Actor Guldbagge Award winners Male actors from Stockholm Gustaf Swedish male film actors Swedish male television actors Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting alumni