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

Biography of Stellan Skarsgård

Stellan Skarsgård is an actor who is considered a top star in his native Sweden. People know him from 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 gained fame in cinema relatively late, at over 30 years old. Hollywood discovered Stellan when he was 37. Despite usually being unwelcoming to foreign and older actors, Hollywood embraced Skarsgård as one of its own. And rightly so: as a father of many, he created an entire Skarsgård acting clan—half of his eight 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 clan was born on June 13, 1951, in Gothenburg, the second largest city in Sweden. Stellan's family moved frequently, allowing him to live in different parts of the country, including the tiny village of Totebo with a population of 200 people.

Stellan's grandfather and parents were atheists, while his grandmother was deeply religious (as were many in Sweden). However, this never caused disagreements within the family. Skarsgård himself respects all religious beliefs or the lack thereof but criticizes the presence of religious schools in the Swedish 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 did not 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 had 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. However, 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 the age of 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 and won 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 from 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 outside Scandinavia, he was not well-known. It wasn't until the late '80s that the situation changed. At 34, the actor worked with a foreign director for the first time, appearing in the show "American Playhouse," episode "Noon Wine." Audiences remembered his roles as the Engineer in the French drama "The Unbearable Lightness of Being," the commander of a Soviet submarine in "The Hunt for Red October" with Sean Connery and Alec Baldwin.

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

Starting from the 1990s, Stellan appeared more frequently in American films while actively working in Sweden. Among Skarsgård's many roles in Swedish cinema, his portrayal of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who saved tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust in the 1990 film "Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg," became the most popular.

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

Around the same time, Stellan formed a strong friendship with director Lars von Trier: Skarsgård appeared in his miniseries "The Kingdom" (1994), drama "Breaking the Waves" (1996), the renowned 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'

Notably, his role in the drama "Breaking the Waves" (1996), which received numerous critical accolades, stood out. This time, he appeared as Jan, an oil rig worker. An accident left him paralyzed, after which he asked his wife to have sex with other men and describe the experiences to him in detail.

A shot from the movie 'Breaking the Waves'

Skarsgård also developed a good relationship with Norwegian director Hans Petter Moland, who cast Stellan in his films "Zero Kelvin" (1995), "Aberdeen" (2000), and later in 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 worry when we're apart for too long," the actor jokes.

Stellan Skarsgård in the movie 'A Somewhat Gentle Man'

In 1997, the actor worked extensively with Steven Spielberg: "Amistad" and "Good Will Hunting" with Matt Damon, where Skarsgård appeared as a mathematics professor. From this point on, he began to appear in feature films aimed at a broad audience: "Ronin" (1998), "The Glass House" (2001), "No Good Deed" (2002), "King Arthur" with Clive Owen.

Stellan Skarsgård in the movie 'Good Will Hunting'

At the same time, he continued to appear in festival films like the psychological thriller "Passion of Mind" with Demi Moore (1999) and the melodrama "Timecode" (2000).

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

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

In 2004, Stellan landed one of the lead roles in "Exorcist: The Beginning," which brought him significant popularity. The following year saw 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" came out, where Skarsgård played Bill Turner, the father of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom), a former Irish sailor who became a pirate and then a living dead. He later reprised this role in "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End." When asked how he found 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!," capturing the hearts of 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 was a very productive year 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 and greedy boss of the character 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 releaseds, depicting the legendary Wimbledon final match in 1980 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 the birth of his youngest son, Stellan had a vasectomy, stating that 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 for a while. 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, viewers saw Stellan in the blockbuster "Dune." He returned to playing charismatic villains and portrayed the main antagonist, Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, who seeks to take over the planet Arrakis, an inexhaustible source of the most valuable substance in the universe, melange.

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'

Nyle Doherty Content writer

Stellan Skarsgard