Stellan Skarsgård
- Actor
- Producer
- Writer
Stellan Skarsgård was born in Gothenburg, Västra Götalands län, Sweden,
to Gudrun (Larsson) and Jan Skarsgård. He became a star in his teens
through the title role in the TV-series
Bombi Bitt och jag (1968).
Between the years 1972-88 he was employed at The Royal Dramatic Theatre
in Stockholm, where he participated in "Vita rum" (1988),
August Strindberg's "Ett drömspel"
(1986) and "Mäster Olof" (1988). Simultaneously Skarsgård did
outstanding film roles, notably in
The Simple-Minded Murderer (1982)
by Hans Alfredson and with
Fred Ward in
Noon Wine (1985).
The fantastic performance gave him both a well-earned Guldbagge and
Silver Berlin Bear. He portrayed the Skagen-painter Sören Kröyer in
Hip hip hurra! (1987) and the
Swedish ambassador Raoul Wallenberg in
God afton, herr Wallenberg (1990),
both directed by Kjell Grede.
Codename Coq Rouge (1989) and
The Democratic Terrorist (1992)
he played Jan Guillou's Swedish superagent
Carl Hamilton. He also had the leading part in the Oscar nominated
The Ox (1991) directed by the world-famous
cinematographer Sven Nykvist. Skarsgård did his first (but small) role
in an big American film with
The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1988).
The role of Captain Tupolev in
The Hunt for Red October (1990)
was at supposed to be biggest part in a Hollywood-film, but
unfortunately it was cut down. His breakthrough instead came with
Lars von Trier's
Breaking the Waves (1996)
opposite newcomer Emily Watson.
After that Skarsgård got several supporting roles in American films,
such as in
My Son the Fanatic (1997),
Gus Van Sant's
Good Will Hunting (1997) and
Steven Spielberg's
Amistad (1997).
