Five Takeaways from Alexander Skarsgård’s Mastermind Cover Story

Why was Alexander Skarsgård, who was born into Swedish acting royalty, so eager to avoid the family business in his youth? What compelled Skarsgård to join the Swedish Navy, and how did it change him? What toll did years of failed auditions and rejections take on his psyche? And why did he uproot his life in Los Angeles and return home to Stockholm three years ago?

Skarsgård answers these questions, and many more, in the new issue of Mastermind, available for pre-order now. Readers will need to purchase the magazine to read the full interview, but as a preview, here are five takeaways from his conversation with journalist Seb Emina.

1. Due to Pillion’s  “shoestring” budget, first-time director Harry Lighton adopted some unorthodox filming tactics, says Skarsgård. “He wanted to be able to shoot on Bromley High Street on a Friday afternoon and for there to be pedestrians around, but, without the budget to close off the street and hire 300 extras, we had to do it guerrilla-style – they hid cameras in trashcans and vending machines as Harry Melling and I ran around. It added some nerves to it.”

2. Before pursuing a career in film, Skarsgård served in the Swedish Navy. Signing up, he says, was “an opportunity to do something quite extreme and quite different as well as a little bit of a ‘fuck you’ to my dad. However, when I told him that I was going to join the unit, he was like, “Oh, cool, enjoy,” so that rebellious act didn’t play out the way I thought it would.”

3. While Skarsgård’s young child prevented him from fully participating in Brat Summer, he was more than happy to satirize it in Charli XCX’s new mockumentary The Moment. “It was such a fun take on Charli’s moment. She doesn’t shy away from her own insecurities or the darkness of her own soul. That comes across in her lyrics and definitely in this movie as well, where it’s about the anxiety of coming off a moment like Brat Summer.

4. Among his favorite places on Earth is the old family summer home, 90 minutes from Stockholm, where his mother now lives full-time. “When you’re there, it feels like you’ve reached the end of the Earth because it’s just complete stillness, complete quiet,” he says. “The contrast between the intensity of my job and then going out there, having the stillness and the solitude, is extraordinary.”

5. There are signs that his three-year-old son may soon join the family business: “He was a very convincing Elsa from Frozen yesterday for six hours. He was pretty good.”

Read the full interview in Mastermind 19, available for pre-order at this link. 

Alexander Skarsgård wears clothing by BOTTEGA VENETA.

Fashion by Dara. Hair by Tomo Jidai. Makeup by Mark Carrasquillo. Manicure by Lolly Koon. Production by Tann Services.