Photoshoots and Interviews - 2014

[wanderingstar78]

Photo shoots and interviews with Alexander Skarsgard from 2014

[wanderingstar78]

Alexander Skarsgård likes to disconnect
12 July 2014 09:15 BST



Alexander Skarsgard loves to ''disconnect'' from society.

The 'True Blood' actor jumped at the chance to join a charity trek to the South Pole last year - alongside Britain's Prince Harry and a number of injured service men and women - because he finds isolating trips ''liberating''.

He explained: ''I've been fascinated by Antarctica since I was a kid, and when this opportunity came up, I desperately wanted it to work out.

''I was shooting a movie called 'The Giver' in South Africa and fortunately I was able to rap in time.

''I went straight to Antarctica for a month. I love just being disconnected like that.

''The year before, I sailed across the Atlantic. It took three weeks and was kind of a similar experience in the sense of being completely present in the moment. You don't have your cell phone, no email. It's very liberating in a way, and a good excuse to not be reachable for a month.''

The trek was originally meant to be a race between three teams, but they merged because the punishing conditions meant just getting to the finish became the ultimate goal and Alexander thinks it was the ''right call''.

He told Britain's Glamour magazine: ''If you pass out and it's -40 degrees, you can get frostbite in seconds.

''It was definitely the right call because some people did get frostbite and had issues with the elevation.

''The race aspect of it wasn't important, it was more for motivation and to make it more fun, but the whole point was to make a documentary about these amazing men and women and for them to tell their stories and to inspire other people.

''The most important thing was to get all 12 soldiers to the South Pole and we did that.''

Copyright © bangshowbiz.com 2012.

entertainment.stv.tv/showbiz/282438-alexander-skarsgard-likes-to-disconnect/

[wanderingstar78]

Alex Talks with Time.com About The Giver and True Blood

Alexander Skarsgård Jammed With Taylor Swift on the Set of The Giver. The actor also explains why he “couldn’t stop laughing” during True Blood’s recent gay sex scene.

When he’s not sucking blood and casting smoldering glares as vampire Eric Northman on HBO’s True Blood, now wrapping up its final season, Alexander Skarsgård is happily enjoying utopia in The Giver, in theaters Friday.

Or maybe it just seems that way: the film, based on Lois Lowry’s young-adult classic, is set in a community seemingly free of suffering, but full of painful secrets. Skarsgård plays the father of Jonas (Brenton Thwaites); when Jonas learns what his dad is really up to at work, he tries to save the community from its own rules with the help of Jeff Bridges’ titular wise elder.

Here, the Swedish actor talks with TIME about the young-adult classic, hanging out with Taylor Swift (who has a small but vital role in the film) and what True Blood has in store for Eric Northman.

TIME: Is The Giver big in Sweden? I feel like everyone I know in America read it as a kid.

Alexander Skarsgård: Not really — it’s not part of the canon like it is in the States. I heard about it when I came to the States, but I only read it a year and a half ago.

What drew you to the project, then?

I’ve always been interested in those Orwellian dystopian novels, like Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World and obviously Orwell’s 1984. I thought, this — even though this caters to a younger audience — was really interesting and scary. It was a character I was fascinated by, someone who could do these horrible, horrible things but still be innocent in a weird way. What is morality? If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t understand the concept of death, is what he’s doing wrong or not?

How do you play a character that, by nature, has no highs and lows without being flat?

To me, it was about potential. I wanted the audience to feel that there’s more potential. So when he’s interacting with other members of the family, you want to feel that he could have been a fantastic dad, a fantastic husband. Because of the circumstances, there’s no opportunity for that. That made it really sad. I found that interesting because if he’s just a robot, then there’s no life, there’s nothing interesting there. I wanted to feel that this was a human being, a real man who was obviously shaped by this society and the drugs he takes with his morning injections. He’s numb.

The Giver, like much of the YA fiction that eventually followed it — The Hunger Games, Divergent — is about making choices and deciding, as a reader, what kind of person you’d be in these situations. Would your 12-year-old self have been a Jonas or someone who follows the rules?

I think we’d all like to say we would have been like Jonas because we’re more comfortable saying that, but I’m afraid almost all of us wouldn’t be like Jonas. We’re all the heroes of our own lives, and when we put ourselves in those situations, we always think we’re going to be extremely heroic, but obviously most of us wouldn’t. How would that even be possible to do when you don’t understand what pain, suffering and love are?

The story is timeless — was there anything that needed to change as it came to the big screen decades later?

Not really. It was more about small things, like using holograms instead of screens. A lot has changed in the past 20 years when you envision the future. I know that Lois Lowry spent a lot of time growing up on military bases, so it was that idea in her head. I like that in the beginning of the film it looks inviting — that makes it more interesting when you’re drawn in. “This looks nice, I could live here!” But once you get inside, then you start to see what it’s really like to live in a society like that.

Jeff Bridges has been wanting to make this movie for nearly two decades. Did he share his vision with you?

Jeff was absolutely incredible. He wanted to direct it at first, but finally he was old enough to play the Giver, so Phillip Noyce came aboard instead. Jeff and I only had one or two scenes together, but he was always on set with the most amazing energy, and that spread to everyone. It was really inspiring to see an actor with his body of work — he’s a legend — so curious. Watching him take direction from Phillip was unbelievable. To see Jeff Bridges, working on a project that he knows so well, still in that creative space of wanting to collaborate, wanting to learn, wanting to grow and wanting to surprise himself, was really fantastic to see.

Many of the characters don’t cross paths in the film. Was it isolating to shoot?

Jeff created at an atmosphere where we really bonded and we hung out. We were on location in Cape Town, very far from our loved ones back home, so we all hung out on weekends. Jeff is a very social guy. We would throw these big dinner parties and he would always bring his guitar. The only thing was I had to wrap early, because I was going on an expedition to the South Pole right after The Giver. I only had one scene with Meryl, but I was dying to work with her. It’s a scene where she shows up in our home in a hologram, and I had to be done with the film before she could get there, so unfortunately we were never on set [together].

Wait, if Jeff is bringing his guitar, did you have jam sessions with Taylor Swift when she was shooting her scenes?

Yeah, absolutely. We had a piano in the hotel lobby. People would take turns and play the piano and sing. I was better on the couch with my beer, howling along. It was really lovely, actually.

Let’s talk about True Blood. That dream sequence between Eric and Jason got people very excited. Can you tease anything about their romantic-sexual futures as the final episodes approach? The people need to know.

I can’t say much about the plot, but that was a very memorable scene. Ryan [Kwanten] is so funny. It was a very tough night for me — I couldn’t stop laughing. He’s a hilarious guy. But we knew that scene was coming. We shot that scene where he drinks my blood in season six. There wasn’t a real plan to follow through, but then when we shot it, it was strangely sensual, and Ryan and I just looked at each other after shooting that scene last year like, “We’re definitely going to see that dream sequence.” Sure enough, a couple months later we got the script, and there it was.

What was your reaction when you saw how the series ends?

I’ve been really happy with this whole season. To me, that’s Eric at his best, when he’s got one clear objective: revenge. When he’s that focused and determined, it’s so much fun to play that and hopefully watch as well. The fact that I’ve gotten to work with Kristin Bauer [van Straten] so much this season — I always miss her when we shoot seasons and we don’t get to work that much. It’s been great finishing this series side by side with Kristin. I really liked how we leave Eric at the end of this show. I’m very happy with it. Hopefully fans will be as well.

(Source: Nolan Feeney @ TIME.com, Photo credit: IMDb.com)

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by Blue Butterfly
Aug 18 14 2:35 PM



It is, as they say, the end of an era. Six years ago, in the summer of '08, Alexander Skarsgård joined Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer to reinvigorate summer TV with the shocking, sexy campfest of HBO's True Blood. It helped put Skarsgård on the map, not just as crowd favorite Eric Northman, but as an actor who took fearless roles that might intimidate a lesser talent.

Since then, the actor has continued to take the more difficult road, choosing smaller indie ventures with complex, troubled characters, like Melancholia and The East. He finally has a giant YA blockbuster under his belt (which is, like, a rite of passage in Hollywood these days) with The Giver. He’s not the lead — that honor that went to newcomer Brenton Thwaites — but he plays his father instead, a character who is tasked with an unthinkable duty. Yet, the world of The Giver erases morality and sentiment, which allows Skarsgård to still be likable and sympathetic. Though, those icy blue eyes don't hurt, either.

What drew you to playing the father in the movie?
“I thought it was a pretty interesting challenge to play someone who is, in many ways, a robot — someone who doesn’t understand the concept of love or death or suffering. The things Father does in the film are horrific, but he’s not a monster.”

Can you talk about the vibe on set?
“The vibe on and off set was unbelievable. It was all because of Jeff [Bridges]. This project was his baby. He’s tried to make this movie for so long. I only had a few scenes with him, but he was always around the set. He’s the coolest guy. It was very inspiring to see someone like Jeff Bridges, an icon, be so humble and curious. He really wanted that collaborative process.”

Would you rather live in ignorant bliss the way the characters do in the movie, or would you rather suffer with knowledge?
“I think that pain and suffering helps us. It’s only through that that we can experience real joy, and real happiness, and real love, you know? To me, it’s a nightmare if you end up feeling nothing, if everything is just a flat line. You need those high and those lows to really appreciate life.”

Do you think it’s possible to create a utopia without sacrificing our freedoms?
“I would say so, yeah. I think it’s a question we need to ask ourselves considering we live in a big brother, surveillance society. How much freedom are we willing to sacrifice in order to feel safe? It’s important to constantly revisit and think about what kind of society we want to live in — especially what kind of society we want our children to grow up in.”

And, about the end of True Blood…
“Well, I can’t give anything away. There’s only a few episodes left, so I don’t want to say anything about the plot, but I can talk about how difficult it was to leave the show. I had to leave two months before the other guys because of Tarzan, which I’m shooting in London now. It was incredibly emotional, sad, and weird saying goodbye to, not only a character that I played for seven years, but to the show’s dynamic — the cast and the crew.”

How did you stay connected to your True Blood character, Eric? You’ve certainly managed to not define yourself by him.
“First of all, I was very fortunate that the two first jobs I booked in Hollywood were Generation Kill and True Blood. After a season of True Blood, I creatively searched for something different, something challenging, something I was interested in. All the characters I’ve played — between Melancholia, Disconnect, What Maisie Knew, The East or even The Giver — are very different from Eric Northman. I kept searching because I wanted to come back to the show after a five-month break excited to playing Eric again.”

Tell us a bit about what you’re doing in Tarzan.
“I’m playing Lord Greystoke. He lives in England with his wife, Jane. The story is obviously based on the novels, so he was born and raised in the Congo. He starts in England as a very well-adjusted British lord, but goes back to the Congo. It’s there that the adventure begins down. The suit definitely comes off pretty early on in the story. [Laughs]”

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by Blue Butterfly
Sep 16 14 6:57 PM

myloveskarsgard:

Alexander Skarsgård in Shape Magazine Germany Champion of the Month

Translation : The “Sweden Happen” is Scandinavia’s hottest Hollywood exports - not only because he has strong shoulders to lean on, but also a big heart

S: In the series “True Blood” playing a 1000 year old vampire - at this age you do but still a pretty good figure ….

A: It already has its advantage that the body of a vampire does not age (laughs). This is in real life, unfortunately not so. You have to make sure that you stay in shape.

S: And how do you do that?

A: I’m not a big fan of fitness clubs, but I go three times a week to
"Equinox" studio in West Hollywood, because it’s my job to be fit. I train a lot at home or during breaks in filming with dumbbells that are perfektfür building muscle on the upper arms and shoulders.

S: Before the camera, you had to have often off - you can see you in your new movie The Giver also topless?

A: No, as opposed to “True Blood” where the action takes place in a very sex-oriented vampire world, I mime in The Giver a family man in a world without pain, wars and sadness. But also without feelings, dance or music. Even though our world is not perfect - on love and music I would not want to miss.

S: What you can do without for fine food?

A. On meat! I am a vegetarian. As an amateur cook, I try new recipes on a regular basis with a lot of vegetables. My adopted home California is a paradise for vegetarians, there’s magic in the blank on fresh organic fruit and vegetables are delicious dishes all year round. Vegetable lasagne and ratatouille are specialties.

S: Last winter you have participated in a charity race to the South Pole - how was it?

A: cold! (laughs) But memorable. This was a charity event named “Walking With The Wounded” with the aim to raise money for injured soldiers and to pay more attention to the disabled veterans who have been injured in service to their country.

About women …..

S: Swedish or American blondes brunettes?

A: The nationality of my hair color does not matter either. Important After a beautiful smile and sense of humor.

S: Shy or self conscious?

A: I like women who take the initiative.

S: makeup or natural look?

A: I prefer indigenous women who make do with little makeup.

[wanderingstar78]

Not an interview, per say, but a really great honor for Alex

Posted by davischristinem
Mar 20 14 9:51 PM

MEET THE 12 NEW MEMBERS OF THE SUNDANCE INSTITUTE ALUMNI ADVISORY BOARD


Alexander Skarsgård © 2013 Jason Merritt / WireImage

SUNDANCE INSTITUTE
THURSDAY, MARCH 20TH, 2014

We’re introducing the 12 new members of our Sundance Institute Alumni Advisory Board, a group of Institute-supported artists who volunteer their time and voices to share their experiences and to help tell the Sundance Institute story. The group represents the range of artists we support each year, including directors, screenwriters, actors, theatre artists and musicians. These artists have been a vital part of the independent film and theatre community and Sundance Institute family for years, and now take on an even bigger role with the Alumni Advisory Board. Meet the team:

Chad Burris is a producer and actor, known for Splinter (2008), The Killer Inside Me (2010), Four Sheets to the Wind (2007), and Ass Backwards (2013). He has been a long Sundance Institute supporter having participated in the Creative Producing Lab, Native Producers Workshop, and as a NativeLab Fellowship Advisor in 2013.

R. J. Cutler is an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning director and producer best known for such films as The War Room (1993), A Perfect Candidate (1996), The September Issue (2009) and The World According to Dick Cheney (2013), and such television series as American High (2000), Freshman Diaries (2003), 30 Days (2005) and Nashville (2012). His first narrative feature, If I Stay, stars Chloe Grace Moretz and will be released by MGM and Warner Brothers this coming August.

Cherry Jones is an American actress and recipient of the 2009 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Drama Series and the 1995 and 2005 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. She was featured as an actor in Swimmers and at the 2012 Sundance Institute Theatre Lab.

Diane Kruger (born Diane Heidkrüger; July 15, 1976) is a German actress and former fashion model. She is known for roles such as ‘Helen’ in Troy, ‘Dr. Abigail Chase’ in National Treasure and its sequel, ‘Bridget von Hammersmark’ in Inglourious Basterds, ‘Anna’ in Mr. Nobody, ‘The Seeker/Lacey’ in The Host,and ‘Gina’ in Unknown. As of July 2013, she stars as ‘Detective Sonya Cross’ in the FX television series The Bridge. She has appeared in both Mon Idole and Better Angels which have played at the Sundance Film Festival.

Chris Milk is an artist, director, and photographer who has created music videos for Kanye West, Arcade Fire, Johnny Cash, Norah Jones, Jack White, U2, Gnarls Barkley, Green Day, and many more. Known for his artistically and technologically innovative approach to cross-media storytelling, Milk’s acclaimed interactive projects include The Johnny Cash Project and Wilderness Downtown (with Arcade Fire). His interactive installation artworks have been shown around the world including New York City's MoMA and London's Tate Modern.

Jason Reitman (born October 19, 1977) is a Canadian/American film director, screenwriter, and producer, best known for directing the films Thank You for Smoking (2005), Juno (2007), Up in the Air (2009), and Young Adult (2011). As of February 2, 2010, he has received four Academy Award nominations, two of which are for Best Director. Reitman is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. He is the son of director Ivan Reitman. He has directed several projects that have been shown or developed by Sundance Institute including Operation, Gulp, In God We Turst, Whiplash, and Thank You for Smoking.

Walter Moreira Salles, Jr. (born 12 April 1956) is a Brazilian filmmaker and film producer of international prominence. Salles' first notable film was Terra Estrangeira (Foreign Land), released in Brazil in 1995. In 2003, Salles was voted one of the 40 Best Directors in the World by The Guardian. His biggest international success has been Diarios de Motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries), a 2004 film about the life of young Ernesto Guevara, who later became known as Che Guevara. It was Salles's first foray as director of a film in a language other than his native Portuguese (Spanish, in this case) and quickly became a box office hit in Latin America and Europe. In 2012 Salles released José Rivera's screenplay adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, with Francis Ford Coppola producing. The film was nominated for the Palme d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival.

Lynn Shelton is an American director known for writing, directing, and producing such films as Humpday, Your Sister's Sister, and Touchy Feely. Shelton grew up in Seattle. She describes herself as having been audacious as a young girl, but having lost confidence in her creativity in adolescence. This experience contributed to a theme she explored in her 2005 film We Go Way Back.

Alexander Skarsgård is a Swedish actor. He has been featured on HBO’s Generation Kill and True Blood. Alexander has appeared in a number of film projects including the remake of Straw Dogs (2011), Melancholia (2011), written and directed by Lars von Trier, the action Sci-Fi film Battleship (2012), The East (2013), directed by Zal Batmanglij, and most recently The Diary of a Teenage Girl, written and directed by Sundance Institute Fellow, Marielle Heller.

Jenny Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, stand-up comedian, and author best known as the creator of the Marcel the Shell With Shoes On short films, which was also spun-off into a children's book. She is also known for her season as a cast member on Saturday Night Live from 2009–2010, as well as for her recurring roles on House of Lies, Parks and Recreation and Kroll Show. Slate premiered Obvious Child at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Adam Smalley is a film music composer and entrepreneur. Alongside his long time partner, Hans Zimmer, Smalley has been a music editor and or supervisor on Divergent, Now You See Me, Gangster Squad, The Twilight Saga, Kung Fu Panda, The Lion King, and Wayne’s World to name a few. Smalley has also served as a creative advisor on the Sundance Institute Composers + Documentary Lab and presented at the Composers Lab.

Roger Ross Williams (born April 13, 1973) is an American television news, documentary and entertainment director, producer, and writer. He directed most notably Music by Prudence that won the Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Roger Ross Williams is the first African American director to win an Academy Award in the category of Documentary Shorts, and the first ever African American director to win an Academy Award for directing and producing a film, short or feature. His most recent film, God Loves Uganda, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013.

www.sundance.org/blogs/Meet-the-12-New-Members-of-the-Sundance-Institute-Alumni-Advisory-Board

[wanderingstar78]

source:manoftheworldmagazine.tumblr.com

Alexander Skarsgård photographed by Randall Mesdon

i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/thedomeforums/Alexander%20Skarsgard/Photoshoots%20and%20Interviews/RandallMeeson_1_zpsamhg9yau.jpg

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by Misscat
Jun 22 14 11:46 AM

Alex on the June 2014 cover of the Canadian Version of EW:

i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/thedomeforums/Alexander%20Skarsgard/Photoshoots%20and%20Interviews/EW%20Canada_2014_zpsl9dtdc8x.jpg

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by sunshineau
Jul 5 14 8:22 AM

www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/news/celebrity/2014/07/17/alexander-skarsgard-interview

Alexander Skarsgard on naked photo opps and trekking with Prince Harry
by HELEN WHITAKER Wednesday, 17 July 2013

RIP True Blood. As the camp vamp romp slides into its final season, Alexander Skarsgård talks to Helen Whitaker about trekking with Prince Harry, boozing in Leeds and never passing up a naked photo opportunity (three cheers for that)

From sitting atop a throne in his 'fangbanger' bar, to beating an entrail-splattering path of destruction, Alexander Skarsgård has had as much fun playing True Blood's 1,000- year-old vampire Eric Northman as viewers have had watching him. "I've had a blast since day one," he says of his, shall we say,morally flexible character. "I love the way Eric started out as the bad guy on the show, but in Season Two you saw a different side, and the fact that there's love somewhere deep inside of him. People were like, 'But wait a minute, I'm supposed to hate this guy!'"


Rex Features

Alex (FYI, as to whether it's Alex or Alexander? "Oh, either one - doesn't matter") is speaking from his LA home at around noon, after snatching a few precious hours of sleep. Due to the whole vampires-not-being-able-to-go-out-in-daylight thing, True Blood has meant seven years of night shifts, but three weeks after we speak, and after multiple awards and nominations, the show will wrap for good. "It's a very weird feeling," he says. "We're not going on hiatus this time, we're actually finishing the show."

As soon as it launched in 2008, True Blood made its imprint on pop culture. Its stars (including Anna Paquin, who at the time was best known for winning an Oscar as a child, for The Piano) were hurled into primetime TV notoriety. Not least because of the show's proclivity for, ahem, imaginative sex scenes. Human/vampire sex, human/werewolf sex, fairy/vampire sex, vampire/vampire sex… you get the idea. Yes, it was steamy, but it was also progressive (stay with me). So often on screen, a fully clothed man is paired with a naked woman but True Blood has always had an equal opportunities attitude towards nudity. "It's almost the other way around," laughs Alex, "all those naked guys walking around all the time." He's not wrong. Our PO final image of Eric in Season Six was a full frontal as he fled, naked, from the top of a mountain. Co-star Stephen Moyer (who plays Bill Compton) has claimed that it was Alex's idea to eschew the 'sack of destiny' (a modesty pouch). I take it body confidence is not a problem? "To me, not only on True Blood but whatever I do, if it feels gratuitous and stupid, I wouldn't be comfortable doing it, because it's like, 'Why am I running round with no shirt on?'" he explains. "But if it makes sense, story-wise, of course. If a character is taking a shower, they should be naked. Most people are naked when they're in the shower, you know! So I have no issues with that now."

Playing a super-buff, practically indestructible vampire has meant the 6ft 4in actor has had to stay in top-off shape. It also meant he had a head start on his upcoming lead role in a live-action reboot of Tarzan, although he has been pumping iron to add the requisite bulk. So far, how many times has he done the Tarzan yell? "Zero, actually!" Not even in the audition? "No, I've never had to do that." Does he want to demonstrate it now? He laughs. "I'll save it for a very special moment."


Rex Features

Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård, 37, "grew up backstage, running around the dramatic theatre in Stockholm" and watching his actor father, Stellan (most famous here for film roles including Mamma Mia! and Thor), perform. It was a bohemian upbringing. "We had an apartment, in which my mum still lives, in south Stockholm [his parents divorced in 2007], and my cousins lived in the same apartment building," he says. "My grandma and grandpa lived across the street, and my other cousins - everyone lived in the same neighbourhood, the whole extended family. It would just be these huge dinner parties every night with tons of people, alcohol and food and a lot of wild hippies and artists and anarchists. It was a very eclectic group of people."

After a stint of national service at 19, Alex decided to study in England. London was
the obvious choice, but with a dozen of his Swedish friends already living there, he decided on Leeds Met and threw himself into university life: living in a dodgy student flat ("it was in a basement with no heating and no windows") and binge-drinking at dubious nightclubs ("There was a place called Majestic that had, like, £1 pints on Tuesdays"). "I loved it," he enthuses of his time there. "The people there are so nice and friendly and hospitable. And I didn't meet a single Swede in six months, so I definitely got what I wanted."

It was after this that he landed his breakout role in Zoolander, but it was his portrayal of a tightly wound marine in the critically acclaimed 2008 HBO drama Generation Kill that made audiences sit up and take notice. In the True Blood off-season, he's been doing predominantly supporting, but varied roles in films such as Lars von Trier's Melancholia and What Maisie Knew, alongside Julianne Moore and Steve Coogan. Last summer he starred in The East with Ellen Page, to whom he became very close. At one point they were rumoured to be dating (actually, as far as we know, he's single), before Ellen's brave coming out speech this February. "I'm extremely proud of her for being so strong and coming out and helping other young girls and guys out there," says Alex of his good friend today. "She's a great inspiration for other people. And the way she did it was so eloquent, so well spoken and she's so intelligent."


Rex Features

Just in case you ever doubted his alpha-male credentials (anyone?), last year Alexander took on a charity trek to the South Pole to raise money for the charity Walking With The Wounded, alongside Prince Harry and 12 injured service men and women from the US, UK and Commonwealth. "I've been fascinated by Antarctica since I was a kid, and when this opportunity came up, I desperately wanted it to work out," he says. "I was shooting a movie called The Giver in South Africa and fortunately I was able to wrap in time. I went straight to Antarctica for a month. I love just being disconnected like that. The year before, I sailed across the Atlantic. It took three weeks and was kind of a similar experience in the sense of being completely present in the moment. You don't have your cell phone, no email. It's very liberating in a way, and a good excuse to not be reachable for a month."

Originally the three teams were going to race to the Pole, but the punishing conditions meant that the competitive element was quickly abandoned in favour of the teams helping each other finish. "If you pass out and it's -40ºC, you can get frostbite in seconds," says Alex. "It was definitely the right call because some people did get frostbite and had issues with the elevation. The race aspect of it wasn't important, it was more for motivation and to make it more fun, but the whole point was to make a documentary about these amazing men and women, and for them to tell their stories and to inspire other people. The most important thing was to get all 12 soldiers to the South Pole and we did that."

Did you ever worry you'd get frostbite when you posed for a teammate's Instagram photo, naked on a toilet at the South Pole, I ask innocently. He laughs. "Yeah, but it was such a great photo op, I had to do it. I weighed the risk and I felt like it was definitely worth it." We couldn't agree more.

This feature appears in the August 2014 issue of GLAMOUR Magazine.

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by davischristinem
Aug 15 14 1:36 PM

New Interview with Alex for TIME.com

Alexander Skarsgård Jammed With Taylor Swift on the Set of The Giver. The actor also explains why he “couldn’t stop laughing” during True Blood’s recent gay sex scene.

When he’s not sucking blood and casting smoldering glares as vampire Eric Northman on HBO’s True Blood, now wrapping up its final season, Alexander Skarsgård is happily enjoying utopia in The Giver, in theaters Friday.

Or maybe it just seems that way: the film, based on Lois Lowry’s young-adult classic, is set in a community seemingly free of suffering, but full of painful secrets. Skarsgård plays the father of Jonas (Brenton Thwaites); when Jonas learns what his dad is really up to at work, he tries to save the community from its own rules with the help of Jeff Bridges’ titular wise elder.

Here, the Swedish actor talks with TIME about the young-adult classic, hanging out with Taylor Swift (who has a small but vital role in the film) and what True Blood has in store for Eric Northman.

TIME: Is The Giver big in Sweden? I feel like everyone I know in America read it as a kid.

Alexander Skarsgård: Not really — it’s not part of the canon like it is in the States. I heard about it when I came to the States, but I only read it a year and a half ago.

What drew you to the project, then?

I’ve always been interested in those Orwellian dystopian novels, like Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World and obviously Orwell’s 1984. I thought, this — even though this caters to a younger audience — was really interesting and scary. It was a character I was fascinated by, someone who could do these horrible, horrible things but still be innocent in a weird way. What is morality? If you don’t know what you’re doing, don’t understand the concept of death, is what he’s doing wrong or not?

How do you play a character that, by nature, has no highs and lows without being flat?

To me, it was about potential. I wanted the audience to feel that there’s more potential. So when he’s interacting with other members of the family, you want to feel that he could have been a fantastic dad, a fantastic husband. Because of the circumstances, there’s no opportunity for that. That made it really sad. I found that interesting because if he’s just a robot, then there’s no life, there’s nothing interesting there. I wanted to feel that this was a human being, a real man who was obviously shaped by this society and the drugs he takes with his morning injections. He’s numb.

The Giver, like much of the YA fiction that eventually followed it — The Hunger Games, Divergent — is about making choices and deciding, as a reader, what kind of person you’d be in these situations. Would your 12-year-old self have been a Jonas or someone who follows the rules?

I think we’d all like to say we would have been like Jonas because we’re more comfortable saying that, but I’m afraid almost all of us wouldn’t be like Jonas. We’re all the heroes of our own lives, and when we put ourselves in those situations, we always think we’re going to be extremely heroic, but obviously most of us wouldn’t. How would that even be possible to do when you don’t understand what pain, suffering and love are?

The story is timeless — was there anything that needed to change as it came to the big screen decades later?

Not really. It was more about small things, like using holograms instead of screens. A lot has changed in the past 20 years when you envision the future. I know that Lois Lowry spent a lot of time growing up on military bases, so it was that idea in her head. I like that in the beginning of the film it looks inviting — that makes it more interesting when you’re drawn in. “This looks nice, I could live here!” But once you get inside, then you start to see what it’s really like to live in a society like that.

Jeff Bridges has been wanting to make this movie for nearly two decades. Did he share his vision with you?

Jeff was absolutely incredible. He wanted to direct it at first, but finally he was old enough to play the Giver, so Phillip Noyce came aboard instead. Jeff and I only had one or two scenes together, but he was always on set with the most amazing energy, and that spread to everyone. It was really inspiring to see an actor with his body of work — he’s a legend — so curious. Watching him take direction from Phillip was unbelievable. To see Jeff Bridges, working on a project that he knows so well, still in that creative space of wanting to collaborate, wanting to learn, wanting to grow and wanting to surprise himself, was really fantastic to see.

Many of the characters don’t cross paths in the film. Was it isolating to shoot?

Jeff created at an atmosphere where we really bonded and we hung out. We were on location in Cape Town, very far from our loved ones back home, so we all hung out on weekends. Jeff is a very social guy. We would throw these big dinner parties and he would always bring his guitar. The only thing was I had to wrap early, because I was going on an expedition to the South Pole right after The Giver. I only had one scene with Meryl, but I was dying to work with her. It’s a scene where she shows up in our home in a hologram, and I had to be done with the film before she could get there, so unfortunately we were never on set [together].

Wait, if Jeff is bringing his guitar, did you have jam sessions with Taylor Swift when she was shooting her scenes?

Yeah, absolutely. We had a piano in the hotel lobby. People would take turns and play the piano and sing. I was better on the couch with my beer, howling along. It was really lovely, actually.

Let’s talk about True Blood. That dream sequence between Eric and Jason got people very excited. Can you tease anything about their romantic-sexual futures as the final episodes approach? The people need to know.

I can’t say much about the plot, but that was a very memorable scene. Ryan [Kwanten] is so funny. It was a very tough night for me — I couldn’t stop laughing. He’s a hilarious guy. But we knew that scene was coming. We shot that scene where he drinks my blood in season six. There wasn’t a real plan to follow through, but then when we shot it, it was strangely sensual, and Ryan and I just looked at each other after shooting that scene last year like, “We’re definitely going to see that dream sequence.” Sure enough, a couple months later we got the script, and there it was.

What was your reaction when you saw how the series ends?

I’ve been really happy with this whole season. To me, that’s Eric at his best, when he’s got one clear objective: revenge. When he’s that focused and determined, it’s so much fun to play that and hopefully watch as well. The fact that I’ve gotten to work with Kristin Bauer [van Straten] so much this season — I always miss her when we shoot seasons and we don’t get to work that much. It’s been great finishing this series side by side with Kristin. I really liked how we leave Eric at the end of this show. I’m very happy with it. Hopefully fans will be as well.

(Source: Nolan Feeney @ TIME.com, Photo credit: IMDb.com)

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by Blue Butterfly
Aug 15 14 4:18 PM

Alexander Skarsgard Interview
August 15, 2014 10:15 AM


credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)

Alexander was on the show this morning talking about his new movie THE GIVER and the series finale of TRUE BLOOD. The Giver is a social science fiction film directed by Phillip Noyce, based on the 1993 novel of same name by Lois Lowry. The film is in theaters today.
Scroll down for the interview….
Did Alex pass on the role of Christian Grey in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’? What does the blood he drinks on TRUE BLOOD taste like? Why is he infatuated with the movie TOOTSIE? And Alex plays the greatest prank on one of our co-workers who is one of his biggest fans.

Link to radio interview: mix941fm.cbslocal.com/2014/08/15/alexander-skarsgard-interview/

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by ohva
Aug 17 14 11:16 PM

www.vulture.com/2014/08/alexander-skarsgard-true-blood-giver-chat.html

Alexander Skarsgård on The Giver, True Blood and the Sack of Destiny
Vulture
8/17/14


NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 12: Actor Alexander Skarsgard attends the Calvin Klein Collection post fashion show event during Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Spring 2014 at Spring Studios on September 12, 2013 in New York City. (Photo by Andrew H. Walker/Getty Images)

As the oldest of eight siblings, Alexander Skarsgård has always had a way with kids, which may have helped him on the set of The Giver, an adaptation of Lois Lowry’s dystopian novel that arrived in theaters this weekend. Playing a character known as Father, he’s responsible for taking care of genetically engineered babies before they are placed into their assigned family units. Of course, if any of these infants fail to thrive right away, Father gives them “release” — something that Eric Northman, the vampire he has portrayed on True Blood for seven seasons who refers to children as “teacup humans,” would refer to as the True Death. While Father doesn’t recognize the concept of death, Eric has confronted it many times over — but it’s not the prospect of his own death that troubles him anymore now that he has been cured of Hep-V. With Bill (Stephen Moyer) refusing to take the cure himself, effectively deciding to commit suicide, Sookie has grown increasingly distraught, and Eric does not like his love interest to be distraught. Skarsgård, who has spent the last two months shooting Tarzan, called Vulture up from London to chat about dispensing death, his racy scenes on True Blood, and what he’s going to do next.

So, you're shooting Tarzan, True Blood is ending, and The Giver hits theaters, all at once.
Yeah. [Laughs] That's why, unfortunately, I couldn't make it to the premiere in New York a couple of days ago. I really tried to make it over there. It would have been so much fun, but we're shooting nonstop here, so the schedule is pretty hectic. I'm stuck in the jungle.

At least you're not stuck wearing a loincloth, at least at first, because your version is already at the point where he'd gone back to civilization, and then he goes back to the jungle?
Exactly! Yeah. The movie begins in London in the late 1800s, and he's already there, he's been there for about eight years with Jane, and then he goes back to the Congo where he was born and raised with Jane, so at least in the beginning, he's dressed as a British lord. And then a lot of things happen in Africa, obviously. But no loincloth, no. [Laughs]

For True Blood, did you not like to wear your equivalent of a loincloth? Your modesty pouch, your cock sock, your sack of destiny, or whatever you liked to call it.
Sack of destiny! [Chuckles]

Stephen Moyer was saying for that iconic full-frontal shot at the end of the last season, where Eric starts burning in the snow, you actually chose not to wear your sack of destiny. That it wasn't scripted that way.
Ah... I wear it sometimes. Obviously, if it's a love scene with an actress, I'll wear it, absolutely. But that scene was just me on a rooftop in Hollywood -- that's where we shot it, with a green screen. And it was a very hot day, so I didn't need the sock. It was supposed to be, when the scene was written, Bucky, [Brian Buckner,] the showrunner and I talked about potentially trying to go back to Sweden, to shoot it there. We were very excited about it, and then we realized that it might, you know, be a little bit expensive [laughs] to fly the crew over to Sweden just for that one short scene. Then we were going to shoot it in the Rocky Mountains instead, and then that didn't happen, for many different reasons, so then we ended up shooting it on the parking structure on the lot where we shoot the show in downtown Hollywood. And it was in June, so it was like 100 degrees. Yeah. Not quite like the mountains of northern Sweden!

What was it like being the baby whisperer on the set of The Giver?
In a way, it was difficult, but not because of the babies, who were adorable. Emotionally getting to that place, knowing what I had to do, it was difficult but it was also kind of what I found fascinating about the character, what drew me to the project. Obviously working with Jeff Bridges and Meryl Streep was pretty exciting as well, but in terms of the character, I thought it was really interesting to play someone who does what he does in the film — horrible things, but without being a bad guy. If you don't know what you're doing, what is the morality? Where does that come from? If you don't understand the concept of death, is what he is doing wrong? Of course it is, in a way, but at the same time, he doesn't know — he thinks they're going to a better place. He doesn't know what "Elsewhere" is, what that means. It was also a challenge to play someone who embodies "Sameness," as Father does in the movie. He's a perfect citizen, in a way. But you also have to, as an actor, find something to not make him a robot. You just want to find a little spark, somewhere in the story beneath that, where there is a connection, where you kind of understand him. So when I first read the script, I thought, "Wow, to play someone who does what he does, but to try to find some sort of empathy from the audience..."

Because he seems like a caring, loving guy, but he doesn't even know what love is.
Exactly! And how, under different circumstances, he would have been a fantastic dad. I think his instinct is to kind of take care of baby Gabriel and all the other babies at the Nurturing Center, but he doesn't understand the concepts of love or what real feelings are. Being so sedated just takes the edge off, of everything. But I do feel like towards the end of it, you do see a little something, at least.

Do you think he's a little like Eric, during his amnesia? Since he's deprived of the memories of humanity that the Giver has...
In a way, when Eric went through that, it was almost the opposite. Living the way he did for a thousand years, having seen and gone through all that pain and suffering, he had almost shut down, emotionally. That's why I thought it was an interesting love story between him and Sookie, because she was one of the few he ever let in. So when Marnie cast that spell on him, he suddenly opened up in a way. It's the opposite of what Father does in The Giver, because Eric let his guard down and he was very open and very curious — he wanted to feel, he wanted to experience things in a way that I think, deep down, Father wants, but he's medicated, and he's not in touch with his emotions, at all. In the beginning of the film, it's almost utopian, because it's so clean, there's no crime, and it seems perfect on the surface, but then once you get inside that home, with them, you realize, "I would never want a family like that." There's no love. There's no spontaneity. And there are no surprises. Everything they do, they're assigned. They're assigned spouses. They're assigned children — those aren't even their own kids. They're assigned a job. They're assigned play-times.

But what's so great about being alive is that you can make plans, and then just change them! And they're in a society where you can't. All your plans are made for you, by someone else. And he doesn't know. He doesn't know the concept of history. He doesn't know what happened before "Sameness." That's why that comes as such a revelation for Jonas, when he feels what war is, and pain and suffering, but also love and beauty and the sunset and music. And for him to realize that, as painful as life is, it's worth living. And because Eric kind of enjoys life and tries to milk everything out of every single second, so I think he would just feel sorry for Father, and he'd probably do his best to help him come out of his shell and teach him a thing or two. Eric's been around for a thousand years, so he's seen a lot. If that didn't work, he'd probably just drain him. [Laughs]

You told me before that you wanted to move to New York afterTrue Blood was done. Is that still the plan?
Yeah! I'm actually looking at apartments in New York now. I'm in London for another three months for Tarzan, and then my plan is definitely to move to New York. I'm really excited about it. I don't really have any plans in terms of what I want to do — movies, television, theater — but I'd love to do a play in New York. Anything that would be a break from what I've been doing, something different. I mean, my dad did Mamma Mia!, just after he had done a couple of dark indie films, and he had a really good time doing that. He loved it. He was like, "Fuck it! This is fun. This is different. There's nothing wrong with fun. I'll do it!" You know? It's all about trying to find those projects where you get to enjoy yourself, because I think that's when you create as well, when you're genuinely excited about something. Then you're not just doing it because it's your job. After seven years on the show, where every break before was a hiatus from the show, there's something quite exciting about not knowing what I'm going to do next. It's a feeling I haven't had in seven years, and I'm pretty excited about it.

I think people were rooting for one last Eric and Sookie love scene, but they got one with Eric and Jason instead.
[Laughs.] We just aim to please! We thought that's what people wanted, so we gave it to them. That was incredibly difficult to shoot, because Ryan [Kwanten] is so funny. He's hilarious. So trying to do that scene and trying to keep a straight face was really tough for me that day. But I love working with him.

Director Howard Deutch said his only direction was for you to take it as far as you wanted to.
Yeah, and we took it pretty far. [Chuckles] That scene obviously wasn't written when we shot the scene last season where I give him my blood, and they didn't really have a plan to go anywhere with that. But when we shot it, and the way Ryan reacted to it, it was suddenly, when we shot it, it became more sensual than we thought it would be. And when they yelled, "Cut!" everyone was like, "Oh, we've got to see more of this." [Laughs]

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by Blue Butterfly
Sep 12 14 4:02 PM


12 September 2014

Alexander Skarsgård believes it's his "job" to stay in shape.

The actor plays bloodsucking Eric Northman in popular TV drama True Blood. He might be blessed with never-ending youthfulness on screen, but in real life the 38-year-old knows he needs to take some steps if he wants to delay ageing.

"It definitely has its advantages that vampires don't age," he admitted to the German edition of Shape magazine.

"Sadly, that's not the case in real life. You do have to make sure you stay in shape."

The disciplined Swedish star therefore hits the gym three times a week, acknowledging it's his "job" to stay fit. And when it comes to diet, he likes to keep things veggie.

"As a hobby chef, I'm constantly trying out new recipes with vegetables," he shared.

"[In California] there's fresh, organic fruit and vegetables all year round, which you can use to make delicious meals."

When asked about his go-to dishes, the hunk revealed he favors vegetable lasagne and ratatouille.

Fans might fantasies about Alexander shirtless, but the star does have a keen eye for clothing. While he's into dapper suits on the red carpet now, the actor didn't always make the right style choices.

“I spent two months in Fredericksburg, Texas, when I was eight, while my father shot a movie,” he previously told Interview magazine. “I got myself a pair of awesome boots and a cowboy hat. Then I got back to Sweden in September to go back to school, and I was so proud of my cowboy boots.

"I told my mom and my dad, ‘I’m going to wear these bad boys to school today, and all the kids are going to love me. I’m going to be the coolest kid in school.’ Then I showed up and everyone was like, ‘Dude, why are you wearing ladies’ boots?’ They didn’t really work in Sweden.”

© Cover Media

www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/life/fashion-beauty/skarsgrd-works-hard-to-stay-in-shape-30582560.html

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by davischristinem
Dec 12 14 12:05 AM

From: pbt1.tumblr.com/

The most controversial magazine covers

[wanderingstar78]

Posted by davischristinem
Dec 27 14 2:16 AM

From: alexanderssskarsbrow.tumblr.com/




alexskarsgardnet:

The January 5, 2015 issue of US Weekly contains their choices for photos of the year. The photo of Alexander Skarsgård snapped by polar consultant/adventure guide Inge Solheim was included. They said: ‘US Weekly’s editors sorted through 15 million images this year, Here are the ones that made us stop and stare.’

Inge took the photo of Alex on December 13, 2013, at the South Pole after their trek for Walking With the Wounded. Inge tweeted the pic on January 7, 2014.