Stellan Skarsgard

John Stellan Skarsgård was born on June 13, 1951 in Gothenburg, Sweden. And his career as an actor has been built step by step, from an adolescence marked by his television presence in the series Bombi Bitt och jag (1968), where he was precisely the star character -he honored his name Stellan, without a doubt- , Bombi Bitt, created by writer Fritiof Nilsson Piraten. He did not neglect his theatrical training, and in fact he was on the payroll of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm for more than fifteen years, between 1972 and 1988. There was no lack of representation there, of course, of works by his compatriot August Strindberg . Which was compatible with his work in the cinema, which gave him joy such as the best actor award at the Berlin Festival for his work inDen enfaldige mördaren (1982), where he was a mentally weak man who must cope with the death of his mother, who took care of him. He was the Skagen-born painter Sören Kröyer in Hip hip hurray! (1987), which surely made him the perfect candidate to play a certain Aragonese painter for Milos Forman in Los fantasmas de Goya (2006). Cinematographer Sven Nykvist directed him in Oxen (1991), where he co-starred with Max von Sydow .

In 1985 he made his first film in English, Noon Wine , conceived for television. The international market appealed to Stellan, although he knew that being Swedish he would have to go slowly to get roles in Hollywood. And indeed, they were slow but sure steps in prestigious titles such as The Unbearable Lightness of Being ( Philip Kaufman , 1988), based on Milan Kundera ‘s novel , The Hunt for Red October ( John McTiernan , 1990), based on the best-seller Tom Clancy ‘s The Force of the Wind ( Carroll Ballard, 1992)… In the United States, his would always be small roles, but they served to earn a little money and be with the greats, such as Steven Spielberg and their Friendship (1997), Gus Van Sant and Good Will Hunting (1997) . , John Frankenhemier and his Ronin (1998). One of Stellan’s strengths is her ability to bring a fragile air to her characters, which combined with her imposing physique makes for an explosive and inimitable mix.

It is curious to see how an actor who gave his best under the orders of Lars von Trier in Breaking the Waves (1996), with his harrowing role in a paralyzed man, and who repeated with the Dane in Dance in the Dark (2000) and Dogville (2003), signing up for clearly commercial films such as Deep Blue Sea (1998), King Arthur , the Pirates of the Caribbean saga , or the Danbrownian Angels and Demons (2009). He gave cante in the best of ways with Mamma mia! (2007), but yes, with the leading roles he has had no luck in the United States, all you have to do is watch a damn movie likeThe Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), which was released with two productions by different directors.

Stellan married early, in 1975, to a doctor, My, who bore him six children. Of course, in her case, work did not seem to interfere with her parenting, and as she confessed to me, laughing, in an interview in November 2006, “I have really enjoyed having them. Before, I brought the whole ‘troop’ to many of the shoots.” In fact, four of them have followed in her footsteps as actors. The surprise came with her divorce in 2007, after 32 years of marriage, and her subsequent wedding to Megan Everett, with whom she had her seventh child.