Gustaf Skarsgård is a Swedish actor active in Swedish and American film and television. He is known for his roles in the Canadian TV series Vikings (2013) and the American TV series Westworld (2018) and Cursed (2020).
Wiki/Biography
Gustaf Skarsgård was born as “Gustaf Caspar Öm Skarsgård” on Wednesday, November 12, 1980 (39 years old in 2019) in Stockholm, Sweden. His star sign is Scorpio. From 1993 to 2003 he studied at Teaterhögskolan in Stockholm. After graduation he joined the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.
appearance
Height: 6′ 4″
Eye Color: Blue
Hair color: Brown
Family and Race
He grew up in a bohemian family. His father, Stellan Skarsgard, is a Swedish actor. His mother, Mia, is a doctor and Stellan’s first wife.
Gustaf Skarsgard’s parents
He has five siblings – Alexander (actor), Sam (doctor), Bill (actor), Aya (model) and Walter (actor). He has two half-brothers – Ossian and Kolbjorn – from his father’s marriage to Megan Everett.
Gustaf Skarsgård with his siblings and half-siblings
His godfather is actor Peter Stormare.
Peter Stormare
From 1999 to 2005, he was in a relationship with actress Hanna Alström.
Gustaf Skarsgard and Hannah Alstrom
Profession
Movie
He made his screen debut in 1989 at the age of nine, playing the role of “Eric Hamilton” in the Swedish film “Red Rooster”.
Gustaf Skarsgard in Täcknamn Coq Rouge (1989)
He subsequently appeared in the feature and short films Prima Ballerina (1989), Sommaren (1995), Euroboy (1996), Kontrakt (2006) and Gavan (2002). He had his first leading role in the Swedish film The Invisible (2002), playing the role of “Niklas”.
He has appeared in the Swedish films Gåvan (2002), Evil (2003), Detaljer (2003), Babylonsjukan (2004), Kidz in da Hood (2006), Pyramiden (2007), Arn – The Kingdom at Road’s End (2008), Patrik, Age 1.5 (2008), Trust Me (2010), Hapy End (2011), Kon Tiki (2012), VI (2013), 438 Days (2019) and Immigrants (2020). He made his Norwegian film debut as The Stranger in The Color of Milk (2004).
Gustaf Skarsgård, The Color of Milk (2004)
He made his American short film debut as “Jimmy” in the film May Fly (2009) and his American feature film debut as “Vos” in the film The Way Back (2010).
Gustaf Skarsgard in Mayfly (2009)
Gustaf Skarsgård, The Way Back (2010)
He also appeared in the American film Galapagos Incident: Satan Comes to Eden (2013). He played “The Butcher” in the Austrian film Autumn Blood (2013) and made his debut in the Danish film Dear (2017) as “Frans”.
Gustaf Skarsgard in Autumn Blood (2013)
Gustaf Skarsgård in Darling (2017)
television
He made his television debut as “Jan” in the Swedish TV series Min vän Percys Magiskagymnastikskor (1994).
Gustaf Skarsgård Min vän Percys Magiska Gymnastikskor (1994)
He has appeared in the Swedish TV series Skuggornas hus (1996), Cleo (2003), Snapphanar (2006), Mellan 11 och 12 (2008), Arn (2010), Bibliotekstjuven (2011). He made his Canadian TV debut as Floki in Vikings (2013).
Gustaf Skarsgård as Floki in Vikings (2013)
He then appeared in Vikings: The Journal of Athelstan (2015). In 2018, he made his American television debut as Karl Strand in Westworld (2018).
Gustaf Skarsgard, Westworld (2018)
He also played “Merlin” in the 2020 Netflix series Cursed.
Gustaf Skarsgard in Cursed (2020)
Other works
He wrote the screenplay and directed the short film “Människor helt utan betydelse” (2011).
He was also the executive producer of the film VI (2013). He has also worked in the theatre; he has appeared in many productions of Shakespeare, Chekhov and Soderbergh at the Royal Dramatic Theatre and Stockholm City Theatre. He has acted in the plays Being Human (2004), The Merchant of Venice (2004), Platonov (2005), Measure for Measure (2005), Lulu (2006) and Hamlet (2009).
Gustaf Skarsgård in a scene from Hamlet
Awards and Achievements
- 2007 EFP Shooting Star
- 2007 Guldbagge Award for Best Actor for the film “Förortsungar” (Bästa manliga Huvudroll)
- In 2002, he won the Screamfest Best Actor Award for the movie “The Invisible Man”
Favorite things
- Actresses: Juliette Binoche and Isabelle Huppert
- TV show: Game of Thrones series
Facts/Trivia
- He and Swedish actor Matias Varela have been good friends since childhood.
Gustaf Skarsgard and Matias Varela
- His middle name “Orm” means snake in Swedish.
- He was born on the same day as Canadian musician and actor Ryan Gostling.
Ryan Gostling
- He voiced the following characters: “Stan Shunpike” in the Swedish version of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004), and “Valiant” in the Swedish version of the British and American animated film Valiant (2005).
- Although he has ridden horses many times in the film, he has a fear of horses. Speaking about this, he said,
I got thrown a few times when I was a kid. Also, I did a lot of history work in Sweden, and I always had conflicts with horses. When I was on horseback, I got a little paranoid, and the horse could sense it and got a little paranoid too. It ended up being a vicious cycle: I didn’t want to ride on horses, and horses didn’t want me on their backs.
- He often focuses on wildlife and environmental protection and supports the non-governmental organization Greenpeace International.
Gustaf Skarsgård posts about the climate strike on Instagram
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education