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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