To me, Alexander Skarsgard is part of a dying breed of actor: the interesting, talented art-house weirdo stuck in the body of a conventionally attractive man. What separates Alex from so many of his peers is his complete willingness to consistently do television work, and to really dedicate himself to offbeat independent films. Currently, he’s riding high across the board – Murderbot’s first season was a success for AppleTV and the second season has been greenlit. He’s appearing at the Sundance Film Festival to promote two offbeat films. And he’s doing exactly the kind of work he wants to do. Incidentally, he’s also enjoying being on the promotional/awards-season trail alongside his father Stellan Skarsgard. Alex covers the Sundance issue of Variety, and he addressed that “controversy” about whether he came out as a bisexual a few months ago. Some highlights from Variety:

His fashion choices: “Um, I never buy clothes. If you saw my closet, my wardrobe is very limited. I’m not a big consumer of fashion. I don’t spend money on expensive brands. I really enjoy the creativity of it, but it’s not like I’m out shopping for these outfits.” (Of course not! He works with the stylist Harry Lambert.) “I guess it’s something I’ve leaned into a bit more of late.”

His comments about Pillion & sexuality last October: “I found that in this case, it’s not really relevant what my background is. I mean, I do have a kid, but what I’ve done in the past, who I’ve been with, men, women …”

Whether he really came out as bisexual last year: “Oh,” Skarsgård says after being asked to elaborate, taken aback. “That it resonated with my past? It was definitely not an intended statement. I don’t know what I was talking about. Maybe it has to do with — there’s a lot of focus sometimes on me as an actor. Maybe it was trying to shift the focus more to the story and these characters. And the importance of telling the story like this.”

Whether Pillion is a love story: “I don’t want to answer that,” Skarsgård says, more assertive than he’s been to this point. “I have thoughts on it. But I think it’s a very relatable relationship story, with different beats of a relationship, except in a very specific subculture that’s foreign to most people.”

Fatherhood, his partner Tuva Novotny and living in Sweden: Before parenthood, “I lived on the road. I love that aspect of the industry — you’re a traveling circus. But now, I need to balance that with family life and making sure I can be present for my kid. I can’t be as selfish and narcissistic as I was before.”

Being able to see his dad at film festivals in the past year: “I’ve never had that before with my dad, nor any of my brothers. When we’re home, we spend time together, but it’s usually a household filled with chaos. So it’s been nice to go out for a pint somewhere and have a conversation that lasts more than a few minutes.”

Watching his dad in Sentimental Value: “It was a very emotional experience, knowing how much the movie means to my father, and how nervous he was going into it.” Stellan suffered a stroke in 2022, and Alex describes his father’s feelings as “Am I never going to be able to act again? Am I now being put out to pasture? Knowing where he came from a few years ago — Will I ever work again? to F–k, yeah, I like to work… It’s the most heartfelt, beautiful thing he’s ever done.”

He wants to make movies that people watch: “In more intimate projects, it’s tricky. I want the movies I make to be seen by people. I’m not making them only for myself.” He sounds uncertain, but hopeful too. “You imagine that people will connect to it in some way.”

Working with CharliXCX on The Moment: “Secretly, quietly, on my little island in Sweden, I had a ‘brat summer.’ People always say, Oh, I’m genuinely a fan,” he continues, casting his near-monotone up an octave sarcastically. But he’d been listening to “Brat” even before Aidan Zamiri and Bertie Brandes wrote the screenplay for “The Moment.” “I told Charli after we shot the movie that when they sum up the year on Spotify, she was my No. 2 most-played artist of the year.”

[From Variety]

The stuff about his dad is so nice. It must be so lovely for both of them to have this time together during these festivals and the awards season. As for the alleged bisexuality stuff… Alex is basically like, I have no idea what I was even saying at that point. Which, fair. I think a lot of actors get like that after so many festivals and pressers and junkets. They just start saying sh-t and they have no idea what they’re even talking about anymore. My guess is that Alex probably lives a pretty conventional heterosexual life but he’s also a huge ally, and it just came out wrong.

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.