Gustaf Skarsgård is a Swedish actor, working in American and Swedish film and television.
He is best known for his performance within the Canadian tv series Vikings (2013) and therefore the Yankee television series Westworld (2018) and Cursed (2020).
Gustaf Skarsgård was born on Wednesday 12 November 1980 (at the age of 39, as in 2019), in Stockholm, Sweden, under the name ‘Gustaf Caspar Orm Skarsgår.’
He pursued his studies at the Tearhögskolan in Stockholm from 1993 to 2003, before changing into a member of the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm.
Family
Gustaf grew up in a Bohemian family. His father, Stellan Skarsgård, is a well-known Swedish actor and who has worked in Yankee films.
His mother, My, is a physician and Stellan’s first wife. He has five brothers: Sam (doctor), Alexander (actor), Bill (actor), Eija (model), Sam (doctor), and Valter (actor), and two half-brothers: Kolbjörn (from his father’s marriage to Megan Everett) and Ossian.
Work And Achievements
He made his film debut as “Erik Hamilton” in the 1989 Swedish film “Täcknamn Red Rooster” at the age of nine.
She starred in Swedish films: Prima Ballerina (1989), Sommaren (1995), Euroboy (1996) and Kontrakt (2006) and Gavan (2002) in supporting roles, until obtaining the main role of ‘Niklas ‘in the Swedish film “The Invisible” (2002).
Has worked in theaters and performed in numerous works by Shakespeare, Chekhov and Söderberg at the Royal Dramatic Theater and the Stockholm City Theater. He has appeared in the comedies Platonov (2005), Tit for Tat (2005), Be Man (2004), The businessperson of the city (2004), looker (2006), and Hamlet (2009).
He was also the executive producer of the film VI (2013). He voiced the characters: “Stan Shunpike” in the Swedish version of “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban” (2004) and “Valiant” in the Swedish version of the Anglo-American animated film “Valiant” (2005).
He has been merited with awards such as:
- The Guldbagge Award for Best Actor for the film ‘Förortsungar’ in 2007
- EFP Shooting Star in 2007
- The Screamfest Award for Best Actor for the film ‘The Invisible’ in 2002
Trivia
Gustaf’s middle name “Orm” means snake in Swedish.
Swedish actor Matias Varela and Gustaf have been best friends since childhood.
Gustaf and Canadian musician and actor Ryan Gostling were born on the same day.
He has often spoken out in favor of wildlife and environmental issues and supported the NGO Greenpeace International.
Gustaf Skarsgård had a semipermanent relationship with swedish actress Hanna Alström from 1999 to 2005.
Swedish actor Peter Stormare is his godfather.
He auditioned to play Ragnar before being chosen as Floki.
Skarsgård helped some of the other actors in the pronunciation of some Scandinavian words. As per him, the word that English-speaking actors found the foremost troublesome was the name “Knut”, which is usually anglicized as “Canute” in history books and fiction.
He is the only actor to have traveled to Iceland. The rest of the cast shot the scenes in a quarry and against green screens.
When questioned, linguists determined that Skarsgård and Donal Logue (Horik) spoke dialogue better in Old Norse.