Gustaf Caspar Orm Skarsgård (born 12 November 1980) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his roles in ''

Evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

'' (2003), '' The Way Back'' (2010) and ''

Kon-Tiki The ''Kon-Tiki'' expedition was a 1947 journey by raft across the Pacific Ocean from South America to the Polynesian islands, led by Norwegian explorer and writer Thor Heyerdahl. The raft was named ''Kon-Tiki'' after the Inca god Viracocha, fo ...

'' (2012). He also appeared in the HBO TV series ''

Westworld ''Westworld'' is an American science fiction-thriller media franchise that began with the 1973 film ''Westworld'', written and directed by Michael Crichton. The film depicts a technologically advanced Wild-West-themed amusement park populate ...

'' (2018), as Merlin in the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

TV series '' Cursed'' (2020), and as Floki in the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

series ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

'' (2013–2020).

Early life

Skarsgård was born on 12 November 1980 in Stockholm, Sweden, to Swedish actor

Stellan Skarsgård Stellan Skarsgård (, ; born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is known for his collaborations with director Lars von Trier appearing in ''Breaking the Waves'' (1996), ''Dancer in the Dark'' (2000), '' Dogville'' (2007), ''Melancholia'' (201 ...

and his first wife, My, a physician. He has five siblings:

Alexander Alexander is a male given name. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are Aleksandar, Al ...

, Sam, Bill, Eija and Valter, and two half-brothers Ossian and Kolbjörn by his father's second marriage, to Megan Everett. Alexander, Bill, and Valter are also actors. His godfather is Swedish actor Peter Stormare. Gustaf decided to follow in his father's footsteps as an actor at the age of six and attended drama school.

Career

Skarsgård’s film debut was in 1989 in the short film ''Prima Ballerina'', where he played a ballet pupil. The same year, Skarsgård starred in the Swedish Film '' Codename Coq Rouge''. Gustaf Skarsgård continued with several children's and youth roles, for example, ''Min vän Percys magiska gymnastikskor'' (1994) and ''Skuggornas hus'' (1996). He attended the Swedish National Academy of Mime and Acting in Stockholm (Teaterhögskolan) from 1998 to 2003, before joining the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm. He played in several of Shakespeare’s, Chekhov's and Söderberg’s works both on the Royal Dramatic Theatre and on Stockholm City Theatre. In 2003 he performed in ''

'' and 2008 in ''

Patrik 1,5 ''Patrik, Age 1.5'' ( sv, Patrik 1,5) is a 2008 Swedish comedy–drama film in which a gay Swedish couple adopt what they at first believe to be a baby, Patrik, only to have him turn out to be a homophobic teenager. Plot The film chronicles the e ...

''. For both roles he was nominated for the

Guldbagge Award The Guldbagge Awards ( sv, Guldbaggen, en, Gold scarab) is an official and annual Swedish film awards ceremony honoring achievements in the Swedish film industry. Winners are awarded a statuette depicting a rose chafer, better known by the nam ...

as Best Supporting Actor and as Best Leading Actor. The same year he was awarded the Shooting Star at the

Berlin International Film Festival The Berlin International Film Festival (german: Internationale Filmfestspiele Berlin), usually called the Berlinale (), is a major international film festival held annually in Berlin, Germany. Founded in 1951 and originally run in June, the fest ...

. He finally won the Guldbagge as Best Leading Actor for his performance in ''Förortsungar''. In 2012, Skarsgård joined the History Channel's series ''

'' in the main role of Floki, the shipbuilder. In 2018, he joined the cast of ''

'' as Karl Strand for five episodes. In March 2020, Skarsgård starred in a main role as Merlin, in '' Cursed'', a

original television series based on a re-imaging of the

Arthurian legend The Matter of Britain is the body of medieval literature and legendary material associated with Great Britain and Brittany and the legendary kings and heroes associated with it, particularly King Arthur. It was one of the three great Wester ...

Personal life

Gustaf Skarsgård was in a relationship with actress

Hanna Alström Hanna Carolina Alström (born 5 March 1981) is a Swedish actress best known for starring in '' Kingsman: The Secret Service'' and its sequel '' Kingsman: The Golden Circle'' as Crown Princess Tilde of Sweden. Biography Alström was born in Sto ...

from 1999 to 2005.

Awards and distinctions

Skarsgård won a Guldbagge Awards for ''Kidz In da Hood''. He won the European Film Academy's

Shooting Stars Award The Shooting Stars Awards are presented annually by the pan-European network organization European Film Promotion (EFP) to emerging actors from Europe. "Shooting Stars" is an initiative of the EFP for the international promotion and networking of p ...

in 2007.

Filmography

Film

Television

Notes

References

External links

* * * Gustaf Skarsgård i
The Big Leap
{{DEFAULTSORT:Skarsgard, Gustaf 1980 births Living people 20th-century Swedish male actors 21st-century Swedish male actors Best Actor Guldbagge Award winners Male actors from Stockholm Gustaf Swedish male film actors Swedish male television actors