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A WEB SITE FOR THE DISCERNING
SKARSGÅRD
FAN SINCE JUNE 2004
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10.03.22
  WHAT
REMAINS will make its premiere this month at the Warsaw Film
Festival. The 132-minute film will be shown in the International
Competition section with four screenings from October 14-17. Directed by
Ran Huang and starring Gustaf Skarsgård,
Andrea Riseborough and Stellan, the film's synopsis reads -
During the 1990s, at a Scandinavian psychiatric hospital, a man known as
Mads Lake confessed to multiple murders and was convicted. However, the
uneasy triumvirate of Mads, therapist Anna Rudebeck and policeman Soren
Rank, all have a vested interest in unearthing the truth, and a
deepening co-dependency threatens to consume them all. The mysterious
man was Scandinavia’s most infamous serial killer who never was…
The director says, "I was
immediately drawn to the story of Mads Lake when I first read about his
long, mysterious and isolated life at the psychiatric hospital, Sahlin.
The odd absurdity of his life made me question what had gone wrong with
the system, society and the individual. However, it seemed that
everything about the Mads Lake phenomenon had already been said, and it
had become a pedantic tale of the miscarriage of justice. But did I
really understand it? Had I oversimplified the story with my own
preconceptions of right or wrong? I discovered my own inadequacy in my
judgement of Mads Lake. My uncertainty became amplified, and I am
attracted to that uncertainty."
The following photo was found at
the festival web site. Though Stellan was reportedly given a minor role,
publicity for the film is certainly more interesting with his presence.
By the way, I have lightened both of the film's posters because they
were too dark to decipher the images.
09.24.22
On
September 19th, some of the Skarsgård
family attended the Stockholm premiere of "Brann alla mina brev",
which stars #4 son.
Bill is shown with girlfriend
Alida Morberg, who is now pregnant with their second child. Daughter
Oona was born in 2018. Gustaf posed with his girlfriend, Caroline
Sjöström, mother of his daughter, born in 2020. Siblings Sam, who
has a son, and Eija
Skarsgård are both married.
That makes an upcoming four grandchildren for Stellan.
Below are photos of Stellan
and Megan with their family. The youngest, Kolbjörn, can be seen in
Netflix's "Clark" series with older brother Bill.
09.16.22
Stellan
is no stranger to major franchise work, having held a recurring role in
the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Professor Erik Selvig and recently portraying Baron Vladimir
Harkonnen in sci-fi epic DUNE. This is what he has said about his
television role
in the ANDOR series:
"I love 'Rogue One' because it's
interested in the human conditions and the human conflicts. So, when I
talked to Tony Gilroy, the things he talked about when he talked about
the character were very interesting for me. Tony showed me what he had
written, which was complicated and mysterious in a way because he
doesn't reveal everything about this character, and still after twelve
episodes you don't know everything. But the way he thought about the
character and what was the inner conflict of the character was
interesting to me."
"He's complex and there's a lot of
contradiction in him, which attracts me because I really don't like the
idea of good and evil people. That sort of binary way of looking at
humanity, I think, is an incredibly dangerous way to look at humans. So,
I'm very grateful for the ambiguity of the character. He lives a kind of
double life or maybe triple life, we don’t know. He actually is two
characters in a way in this story, which makes him a lot of fun to play,
going between those two, rather different, characters."
"Andor" creator Tony Gilroy
describes Stellan's character Luthen Rael as a spy and master puppeteer
of the action-packed story. Gilroy says, "He is the character that links
many characters, and he comes at the revolution with an incredible
intensity. When you meet him, he’s got a secret identity. He has a very
upscale gallery where he sells galactic antiquities. But the hunt for
antiquities gives him permission to go off and fly around and do
different things. Luthen has been out in the galaxy for the past
thirteen years talent scouting, building relationships, buying stolen
military equipment from one place, selling it someplace else, making
sure that people talk to each other, building this huge network. He
deals with Mon Mothma on one end, and he finds Cassian on the other end.
The timing of their meeting is very providential for both of them."
Speaking
of Stellan's Marvel character, Eric Selvig, he does have a cameo in
THOR: LOVE AND THUNDER. Here's what Slash Film wrote;
"It's always great to see
Skarsgård in the MCU, but not
every Marvel film uses him to the best of his ability. After the
first installment of 'Thor' and an interesting turn in 'The
Avengers,' Selvig's characterization has been spotty. He's similarly
underutilized in 'Love and Thunder,' relegated to a video message
that lasts all of three seconds. Still, it's a nice nod to the early
days of Marvel's Cinematic Universe — and an even nicer confirmation
that Selvig is still alive and kicking somewhere."
And from Time magazine:
"Stellan Skarsgård played
Jane’s friend and mentor Professor Erik Selvig in the first two
Thor films. Unfortunately for Erik, he gets brainwashed by Loki
and spends most of the Avengers mind-controlled. He has a
mental breakdown, recovers, and helps the Avengers during Ultron.
He pops up in one scene in Love and Thunder to consult with
Jane about her cancer diagnosis."
08.01.22
The
ANDOR series was originally set to premiere on August 31, but has
been ultimately pushed back nearly a month to September 21, when the
first three episodes will hit Disney's streaming service. Then one
episode will be released each Wednesday until November 23.
05.27.22
  Finally
a premiere date has been announced for Disney's ANDOR series. As
is tradition for the studio, LucasFilm has kept virtually every aspect
of the project quietly under wraps during production. Stellan plays a
Rebel leader, a brand new character to the Star Wars universe during a
period of time that will explore the rise of the Rebellion. Mexican
actor Diego Luna has the role of protagonist Cassian Andor and the rest
of the cast names are quite unfamiliar. I don't expect Skarsgård
fans, who are an older group, will have much interest in a Disney
subscription. The first season, which will make its debut on August 31, will
consist of 12 episodes. A second season with another 12 episodes will
begin shooting in November.
05.12.22
Critic
Cassie Hager describes Netflix's CLARK series starring Bill and Kolbjörn
Skarsgård as raunchy, rude, and surprisingly heartfelt. Clark Olofsson’s
life was made for the small screen. A handsome, charming Swedish
gangster; his flurry of flirtatious mischief spanned decades — not to
mention miles. Netflix’s 6-part Catch Me If You Can-esque
Swedish-language miniseries is touted as a fictional take on the
controversial personality. It is stylistically slick and chock full of
gritty, flashy, and over-the-top sequences that are sure to make you
blush. Shot on location over a span of several months, the show is a
veritable love letter to the good, the bad, and the grime of 1970s
Eastern Europe. For his part, star Bill Skarsgård manages to portray a
criminal so charismatic, that it’s not hard to believe he could get away
with decades of crime with a simple wink and a smile.
05.08.22
Netflix
launched its CLARK TV series on Friday and Stockholm hosted the
premiere celebration on Tuesday. On the yellow carpet there were several
Skarsgård family members in
attendance. Of course the actor in the title role was Bill and his
little half-brother Kolbjörn
played the younger Clark. Besides these two were Stellan and wife Megan,
Valter, Gustaf and girlfriend Caroline Sjöström,
Bill's girlfriend Alida Morberg, and Kolbjörn's
older brother Ossian.
So, do we have another budding
actor in the Skarsgård family!
04.29.22:
"The
Northman" had its L.A. premiere at the TCL Chinese Theatre in
Hollywood on April 18. Reviews have been universally positive. Film
critic Robert Daniels writes, "'The Northman' is the kind of movie where
even the mud has rage; it is a visceral film filled with codas to the
inescapable darker regions of nature: animal, elemental and the harshest
of all, human."
03.31.22:
The
highly anticipated Viking epic "The Northman" starring Alexander
had its world premiere in Stockholm on Monday. He told the press, "That
was my first time watching it on a big screen, completely finished, with
an audience." And that audience was extra special. He adds, "It was an
audience of my mom and my dad, my siblings, my best friends from
childhood." Director/writer Robert Eggers and Alex also attended the
film's German premiere in Hamburg yesterday. This film is a dream come
true for Stellan's firstborn. He admitted, "I had this this dream of one
day making a big, epic Viking movie, but based on an old Icelandic
saga." He shared his vision with Eggers, who appeared to be the perfect
director with his attention to detail and history. Eggers liked the idea
and co-wrote a script with Icelandic poet Sjón and with Alex on board as
the producer and star, assembled an amazing cast - Ethan Hawke, Nicole
Kidman, Anya Taylor-Joy and Willem Dafoe. The film will be released in
US theaters on April 22.
02.28.22:
 For
his directorial debut, son Bill
has made a 20-minute short film called "The Soul
of a Man". Co-written and directed with fellow actor Landon Liboiron,
the film is adapted from the Edgar Allan Poe short story "Bon-Bon," in
which a self-important lush conducts wine-soaked philosophical arguments
with the devil. Bill's father plays the stubborn Bon-Bon while his
brother Gustaf plays the devil. Yes, it's a family affair! The story is
set in Paris but its gothic style and dark humor give it a Swedish feel.
You can view it at
this youtube link.
12.02.21
In
an interview with Stellan this month in Total Film magazine, the
reader is again treated to same old, same old that I won't bother
repeating. Don't film journalists have more interesting questions to
ask? Here are a couple new quotes:
On receiving invaluable advice: "I
got a very good one from Ingmar Bergman, who said to me, 'Don't forget
to breathe.'"(laughs)
On working on mini-series: "I've moved onto my first continuous series,
for ANDOR, but they've promised to kill me whenever I want so I
can get out of it. It's an interesting role with many faces. I was
challenged and I got to play with Diego Luna, who I love. But I hope
that the art of cinematic-telling doesn't die."
11.14.21
News from Turku, Finland where
WHAT REMAINS is being filmed:
He looks familiar when he
walks briskly to the shopping center in the center of Turku. So half
familiar, so that for a second you think about whether it is someone
you should recognize and visit, or if it is someone you have often
met, until you realize that it's the actor Stellan Skarsgård.
Swedish Yle's film editor
Silja Sahlgren-Fodstad calls him an actor who blends in everywhere.
He can be sympathetic, unsympathetic, macho, sensitive, insecure,
smart, clumsy or agile, take up a lot of space or just support
another character.
But who would have thought that he would show up in Turku?
Right now, the psychological crime drama "What Remains" is being
filmed in Turku and the Turku area. The film is supposed to be about
the dependence between doctor and patient, but most of the film has
been kept secret. The main role as a patient is played by Gustaf
Skarsgård, while Andrea Riseborough plays the female main role, the
doctor. Stellan plays a minor role as a police officer.
The film team has lived in the Turku area for three weeks already,
but due to the corona pandemic, no one is allowed to meet them. They
are divided into four bubbles. Only the director and the film
photographer are allowed to move between the bubbles, says Teija
Raninen, who is the film commissioner in Western Finland and one of
those who worked most intensively to attract the film team to Turku.
It all started more than two years ago, when Chinese director Ran
Huang had googled pictures of Pemar sanatorium. He called Raninen
and asked how quickly you could get permission to visit the place.
The next day he flew to Finland, and immediately decided that the
sanatorium would be the main location in the film.
Everything was ready for recording, but in February 2020, all plans
were canceled just a week before the start. The corona pandemic
struck in China, and although the situation at the time was not
critical in Europe, the Chinese producers chose to suspend it.
But now it has succeeded. Filming has taken place in Pemar, Turku
and Salo, among other places. On Friday, they filmed in Brobacka in
Pargas, and next week they will also record in the capital region.
Director Huang is impressed by
the professionalism and efficiency of the Finnish team - "In China,
a film like this would have about 300 team members. Although our
team is smaller than usual in a Chinese production, the
professionalism and efficiency of the Finnish team guarantee that
we’ll succeed."
Stellan and the other actors
live in apartments in the center of Turku, but they follow the
Screen Actors Guild's strict corona rules not to meet outsiders.
They are not allowed to meet anyone, and no interviews are given.
It's an expensive movie, and
if someone were to get Covid-19, the movie would be delayed and be
even more expensive. In addition, it would affect the timetable for
the next film project for both actors, filmmakers and director.
Fortunately, you can walk in the center of Turku without being
recognized by everyone, so you do not have to stop for autographs or
selfies with movie fans.
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