Stellan Skarsgård biography, age, sons, family, young, wife 2025

Biography of Stellan Skarsgård

Stellan Skarsgård is a Swedish actor who's become a major star in his homeland. He's known for films like "Nymphomaniac," "Good Will Hunting," "A Somewhat Gentle Man," "Dogville," "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," "Pirates of the Caribbean," "Thor," "Angels & Demons," and many others.

He found cinema fame relatively late, after turning 30. Hollywood discovered Stellan when he was 37. Despite typically being unwelcoming to foreign and older actors, Hollywood embraced Skarsgård as one of its own. And rightly so: as a father of eight, he's created an entire Skarsgård acting dynasty—half his children followed in his footsteps, while the others are connected to the arts in various ways.

Childhood and Youth

The founder of the Skarsgård acting dynasty was born on June 13, 1951, in Gothenburg, Sweden's second largest city. Stellan's family moved frequently, so he lived in different parts of the country, including the tiny village of Totebo with just 200 residents.

Stellan's grandfather and parents were atheists, while his grandmother was deeply religious (as were many in Sweden). But this never caused family disagreements. Skarsgård himself respects all religious beliefs—or lack thereof—but criticizes religious schools in Sweden's education system.

Young Stellan Skarsgård chose the profession of an actor

Stellan grew up in a large family as the eldest of five children. As the actor recalled, their father always emphasized that he didn't rank any of the children above or below the others—he respected and loved them all equally. Skarsgård tried to follow this principle when he started his own family.

Stellan wanted to become an actor in his teenage years. His father, who'd acted in amateur theater in his youth, didn't mind but insisted that his son finish school first—in case acting didn't work out. But Stellan never considered the possibility of failure and left school at 16 to join the Royal Dramatic Theatre in Stockholm.

Early Roles

Stellan began his acting career early—by 21, he already had considerable experience in film, Swedish television, and theater. In 1968, he became a star in the youth series "Bombi Bitt och jag" (a remake of the 1936 film of the same name), and in 1972, he made his feature film debut with "Strandhugg i somras."

He landed his first leading role in 1973 in the erotic drama "Anita: Swedish Nymphet," where he played the role of a supportive friend to a girl suffering from nymphomania (Christina Lindberg).

In 1981, he finally gained professional recognition, winning the Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival for his role as Sven in the classic drama about good and evil, "Simple-Minded Murderer." He skillfully portrayed a simple-minded young man who escaped the slavery of a brutal Nazi farmer.

Stellan Skarsgård in the drama 'Simple-Minded Murderer'

Career Rise

By 1985, the actor had become a major star in his native Sweden, but he remained virtually unknown outside Scandinavia. That all changed in the late '80s. At 34, the actor worked with a foreign director for the first time, appearing in the show "American Playhouse," episode "Noon Wine." Audiences took notice of his standout performances: the Engineer in the French drama "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and the Soviet submarine commander in "The Hunt for Red October" alongside Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin.

A shot from the movie 'The Hunt for Red October'

From the 1990s onward, Stellan split his time between American productions and his continued work in Sweden. Of all Skarsgård's Swedish film roles, his most acclaimed performance came as diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust, in the 1990 film "Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg."

On the set of the movie 'Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg'

Around this time, Stellan forged a creative partnership with director Lars von Trier, appearing in his miniseries "The Kingdom" (1994), the drama "Breaking the Waves" (1996), the acclaimed musical-drama "Dancer in the Dark" (2000) starring Björk, and the thriller "Dogville" (2003) with Nicole Kidman.

Stellan Skarsgård and Nicole Kidman in the movie 'Dogville'

His role in the critically acclaimed drama "Breaking the Waves" (1996) particularly stood out. He played Jan, an oil rig worker. After an accident leaves him paralyzed, he asks his wife to have sex with other men and describe the encounters to him in vivid detail.

A shot from the movie 'Breaking the Waves'

Skarsgård also built a strong creative bond with Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland, who cast Stellan in "Zero Kelvin" (1995), "Aberdeen" (2000), and later the dramas "A Somewhat Gentle Man" (2010) and "In Order of Disappearance" (2014). Skarsgård calls Moland a close friend. "We're like an old married couple – I get worried when we're apart for too long," the actor jokes.

Stellan Skarsgård in the movie 'A Somewhat Gentle Man'

In 1997, the actor collaborated extensively with Steven Spielberg on "Amistad" and "Good Will Hunting" with Matt Damon, playing a mathematics professor in the latter. From then on, he started appearing in mainstream blockbusters: "Ronin" (1998), "The Glass House" (2001), "No Good Deed" (2002), and "King Arthur" with Clive Owen.

Stellan Skarsgård in the movie 'Good Will Hunting'

Meanwhile, he kept working in arthouse cinema with projects like the psychological thriller "Passion of Mind" starring Demi Moore (1999) and the experimental melodrama "Timecode" (2000).

Stellan Skarsgård Breaks Down His Career, from 'Mamma Mia!' to 'Dune: Part Two'

Skarsgård was actually considered for the role of Oskar Schindler in "Schindler's List," but Liam Neeson ultimately landed the part. Notably, many people long believed Skarsgård was in the film due to some similarity in appearance between the actors.

In 2004, Stellan scored one of the lead roles in "Exorcist: The Beginning," which catapulted him to major popularity. The next year brought the release of the film's prequel, in which Skarsgård reprised his role as Father Merrin.

A shot from the movie 'Exorcist: The Beginning'

In 2006, the second film in the adventure series "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" hit theaters, where Skarsgård played Bill Turner, the father of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), a former Irish sailor who became a pirate before joining the undead. He later reprised this role in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." When asked about working with Johnny Depp, Skarsgård always replied: "Just as you'd expect: great!"

Stellan Skarsgård starred in two parts of 'Pirates of the Caribbean'

In 2008, Skarsgård appeared in a leading role in the musical "Mamma Mia!," winning over thousands of viewers. The actor, portraying Swedish sailor Bill Anderson, one of the potential fathers of the main character, sang several ABBA songs for the film: "Our Last Summer," "The Name of the Game" (not included in the DVD version of the musical), and "Take a Chance on Me."

Stellan Skarsgård with his son Alexander in the film 'Melancholia'

2011 proved incredibly productive for Stellan, with several major films featuring him hitting the big screen: "Thor" (as scientist and astrophysicist Erik Selvig, familiar with the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization), another Lars von Trier film "Melancholia" (as the ruthless, greedy boss of Justine, played by Kirsten Dunst), the action film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (as the owner of Vanger Corporation), and "The Avengers" (also as Erik Selvig).

Stellan Skarsgård in ' Thor'

In 2013, Skarsgård appeared in Lars von Trier's controversial new film "Nymphomaniac." In it, he played the intellectual Seligman, who found the beaten Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in an alleyway, who then recounts her entire life story to him.

In recent years, Stellan has mainly appeared in international films—you can see him in well-known films such as "The Physician" (2013), "Cinderella" (2015), "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015), and "Our Kind of Traitor" (2016).

On November 23, 2017, the biographical sports drama "Borg McEnroe" was released, depicting the legendary 1980 Wimbledon final and the intense rivalry between Swede Björn Borg (actor Sverrir Gudnason) and American John McEnroe (Shia LaBeouf). Stellan portrayed Lennart Bergelin, the famous Swedish tennis player and Borg's coach.

Stellan Skarsgård in the movie 'Borg vs. McEnroe'

Skarsgård also appeared in the war drama "The Painted Bird" based on the novel by Polish writer Jerzy Kosiński, the American drama "Music, War and Love" by Martha Coolidge, the sequel to the musical "Mamma Mia!," and starred alongside Olga Kurylenko in Terry Gilliam's drama "The Man Who Killed Don Quixote."

Personal Life of Stellan Skarsgård

In 1975, Stellan married Dr. My Agnes. The couple had six children: Alexander (born 1976), Gustaf (born 1980), Sam (born 1982), Bill (born 1990), Eija (born 1992), and Valter (born 1995). The couple divorced in May 2007.

Stellan Skarsgård and his first wife My Agnes

Two years later, Stellan married film producer Megan Everett. The couple had two sons: Ossian (born 2010) and Kolbjörn (born 2012). After his youngest son was born, Stellan had a vasectomy, saying eight children were enough for him. His eldest and youngest child are 36 years apart.

Alexander, Gustaf, Bill, and Valter became actors, while Eija worked as a model. Alexander Skarsgård appeared in the series "Generation Kill," and gained fame from the vampire series "True Blood." In 2016, he starred alongside Margot Robbie in the movie "The Legend of Tarzan."

Children of Stellan Skarsgård from his first marriage

Actors Paul Bettany (with whom Stellan appeared in four films) and Jennifer Connelly named their son after Skarsgård.

Stellan Skarsgård with his sons and wife

Stellan Skarsgård Now

In September 2021, Stellan appeared in the blockbuster "Dune." He returned to playing charismatic villains, portraying main antagonist Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who seeks control of planet Arrakis—the sole source of melange, the universe's most valuable substance.

In Frank Herbert's original science fiction novel, Baron Harkonnen's appearance is radically different from Skarsgård's. The actor had to spend hours in the makeup chair.

Stellan Skarsgård on Transforming into Harkonnen

Before the release of the second "Dune," the patriarch of the Skarsgård clan appeared in the blockbuster "Thor: Love and Thunder" as astrophysicist Erik Selvig, mentor to Jane Foster. Additionally, he, along with his son Gustaf, starred in the series "What Remains," and then landed a major role in the "Star Wars" universe series "Andor," where he played the Rebel Alliance leader Luthen Rael.

An elderly man in a uniform resembling military attire stands in a cave, being addressed by a man holding a telescope — Scene from 'Andor'

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