All The Actors In The Skarsgård Family, Ranked

Stellan Skarsgård was born in 1951 in Göteborg, Sweden. He started acting as a teenager on Swedish television and became well-known in his native country. His first big screen role came in the film Strandhugg i somras in 1972. His most popular Swedish films include The Simple-Minded Murder/Den Enfaldige mördaren and Good Evening, Mr. Wallenberg.

The Swede also worked regularly in the theater after joining the Royal Dramatic Theatre in 1972. In the 1980s, Skarsgård began working in international movies. His first American movie was 1985’s Noon Wine, where he played a mentally disturbed immigrant.

In the 1990s, Skarsgård appeared regularly in Hollywood movies, mostly as a supporting actor. He co-starred in The Hunt for Red October, Good Will Hunting, Amistad, Deep Blue Sea, and Ronin.

In 1996, the actor made his first movie with Danish writer-director Lars von Trier, Breaking the Waves. The pair would team up four additional times for the art films, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, Melancholia, and Nymphomaniac.

In an interview with The Talks, Skarsgård said he would show up for any von Trier movie. "Yeah, I would work with him without a script. I mean, I don’t consider it work. It’s just fun; it’s like play. I love it," he added.

Skarsgård continued working steadily as a character actor into the 2000s in mainstream Hollywood movies, art house cinema, and Swedish films. Most American audiences will recognize him for his blockbuster roles in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, Mamma Mia!, Angels and Demons, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.  

Skarsgård also appeared as renowned astrophysicist Dr. Erik Selvig in five MCU films - three Thor movies and two Avengers installments. He also took on the villainous Baron Harkonnen in Dune and Dune: Part Two.

Skarsgård has also had a prolific career on the small screen. He received a Golden Globe Award for playing Boris Shcherbina in the HBO miniseries Chernobyl. He also played Luthen Rael in the Star Wars prequel series Andor, making him one of the most ubiquitous actors in hugely popular, nerd-friendly properties. In total, the Swede has over 150 professional acting credits as of 2024. 

The actor has six children (Alexander, Gustaf, Sam, Bill, Eija, and Vaster) with his first wife My Skarsgård. The pair divorced in 2007 and Skarsgård married Irish writer and producer Megan Everett. Stellan and Megan have two children together (Ossian and Kolbjörn.)

Bill Skarsgård was born in 1990 in Vällingby, Sweden. He is the fourth son of Stellan Skarsgård and his first wife My Skarsgård. Bill made his movie debut at ten years old in the Swedish thriller White Water Fury, which starred his older brother Alexander.

Bill always knew that he wanted to be an actor. However, he was leery about getting into the family business. “I’ve always felt a very strong need to do it myself,” said the actor in 2016. “The association with my brothers and my father is already so big, I didn’t want them to have anything to do with what I did. I needed them to feel that I am completely responsible for what I do.”

In 2011, Bill received a nomination for a Guldbagge Award for his titular performance in Simple Simon. Two years later, the actor scored the role of Roman Godfrey in the Netflix original horror series Hemlock Grove. 

Bill’s Hollywood career took off in the 2010s. He appeared in The Divergent Series: Allegiant, Atomic Blonde, Deadpool 2, the psychological horror television series Castle Rock, the Netflix miniseries Clark, The Eternals, and John Wick: Chapter 4.

The actor’s biggest, most high profile role to date came as Pennywise the Clown in the 2017 horror movie It and the 2019 sequel It Chapter Two. The internet has launched endless debates on whose Pennywise was more terrifying, Skarsgård's or Tim Curry's from the 1990 TV miniseries It, and even being in competition with Curry's legendary performance is no mean feat.

The actor didn’t go method for his performance, however, he did give it his all. “Everything I did took 100 percent of my energy,” revealed Skarsgård. “It was by far the most exhausting character I’ve ever done, physically and mentally.”

Skarsgård plays the lead character Eric Draven/The Crow in Rupert Sanders’s The Crow reboot, taking over for Brandon Lee, who died while filming the 1994 original. Whole that character is a fairly unambiguous hero, Bill portrays yet another villain, Count Orlok, in a remake of Nosferatu.

Bill is in a relationship with Swedish actress Alida Morberg. The couple has one daughter together. 

Alexander Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1976. His father is Stellan Skarsgård and his mother is My Skarsgård. He is the oldest of the Skarsgård kids. The child actor got to work at 7 years old in the Swedish drama Ake and his World. In 1989, he scored his first big hit in The Dog That Smiled. However, the Swede didn’t take to being famous.

"The fame was scary to me," said Skarsgård. "When people stare at you and you read about yourself in papers - at 13 it just got very confusing. I thought that if this is what it's like to be famous, I don't like it one bit."

Alexander decided to leave the acting world behind. When he was 19, he joined the Swedish Marines because he “wanted the challenge.”

After his military service, Alexander enrolled at Leeds Metropolitan University in England. He eventually decided to get back into acting. Skarsgård made his Hollywood film debut as a dim-witted male model in the 2001 comedy Zoolander. He also acted in several Swedish movies.

In 2008, Skarsgård starred as a Marine in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill, which proved to be his breakout role. The actor reached a new level of fame after appearing in Alan Ball's hit HBO series True Blood, playing sexy bad boy vampire Eric Northman. 

Alexander felt that after his role as the often shirtless vampire, he became type-cast in “sexy hunk” roles. At least initially, the Swede felt that his physical attractiveness hindered him from getting serious roles.

He explained:

I don't really know if [my appearance] was the reason I wasn't getting roles. Starting out in Sweden, there was stuff about being tall and blond. But most people here are tall and blond. Still, after my first job I was on a stupid 'sexy hunky hot list,' and then people didn't take me seriously. If you want characters with depth but have been labeled 'a dude who takes his shirt off,' you're not going to get those offers.

The actor went on to appear in Straw Dogs, Battleship, The Legend of Tarzan, Godzilla vs. Kong, Passing, and The Northman. He also shared the screen for the first time with his dad Stellan in 2011’s Melancholia.

Perhaps Skarsgård's most impressive dramatic work came in the HBO series Big Little Lies. The actor won an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Critics' Choice Television Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award for his portrayal of an abusive husband.

Skarsgård also guest-starred in the final season of Succession, playing tech bro Lukas Matsson. He earned an Emmy nod for his performance.

As of 2024, the actor is not married. However, he’s been romantically linked to the likes of Evan Rachel Wood and Elizabeth Olsen. 

Gustaf Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1980. He is the son of Stellan Skarsgård and his first wife My Skarsgård. The Swede knew at just six years old he wanted to be an actor like his famous father. Gustaf made his feature film debut in the 1989 Swedish thriller Codename Coq Rouge, in which his father played the lead role.

Gustaf attended drama school in Stockholm. He appeared in several Swedish films and TV miniseries in the 1990s and 2000s, including an award-winning performance in Förortsungar and nominations in Evil and Patrik 1,5.

In 2012, Skarsgård scored the lead role of Floki in the popular History Channel show Vikings. He also appeared in Peter Weir's survival epic The Way Back, HBO’s Westworld, the 2020 original Netflix movie Cursed, and the 2023 behind-the-scenes-Nike movie Air. He also played Hans Bethe in the 2023 Academy Award-winning Oppenheimer.

Gustaf echoed his father in a 2018 interview, saying his family isn’t competitive when it comes to landing roles:

Luckily, we are different in type and age, so there hasn’t been a lot of competition for specific parts. There is competition to the point that we can actually make fun of it - we’ll keep scores and laugh about it. At the end of the day, we’re in this industry to have fun.

We’re a very close family, and we’ve always been supportive of one another. But it’s definitely easier to be happy for the other person’s acting success when you’re doing okay yourself. Ultimately, when you’re all in the same competitive industry it can be more hurtful to see the other succeed if you’re not doing as well.

The actor is married and has one daughter.

Valter Skarsgård was born in Stockholm, Sweden in 1995. He is the youngest child of Stellan and his first wife My. The actor has yet to break out into American cinema, however, he’s appeared in several Scandivanian TV programs and films.

The actor has appeared in Black Lake, Arn: The Kingdom at the End of the Road (which also featured his dad and brothers Bill and Gustaf), Lord of Chaos, Funhouse, and Beck.

One of Valter’s most challenging roles came in 2023 as the titular star of  Börje - The Journey of a Legend. The actor played Swedish hockey star Börje Salming, who played for the Toronto Maple Leafs for 16 years. The Hall of Famer died in 2022 from ALS.

Valter completely immersed himself in the role. The actor talked about the pressure of taking on such a demanding character:

I felt a lot of pressure. The first time I met Börje and [director] Amir Chamdin,, which was in 2018, and got offered the part I thought about how to portray someone that legendary. To figure out who he was or how he was as a person, it was all overwhelming to me. The second they left I called my agent and said, “I don’t care what we do. I have to do this part. Whatever it takes, tell them I’m in.” I was always sure I wanted to do this because it was such an opportunity. It was terrifying because I couldn’t skate and was out of shape. It was two years of prep, but in the end I got comfortable with Börje and knowing his family. I knew within myself that I knew I could pull it off. Me and my body double who did a lot of the hockey stuff, we used to joke that on a good day, we were both 30 percent Börje each. That if we can make 60 percent then that’s as close to him as we were ever going to get.

Kolbjorn Skarsgård was born in 2012. He is the youngest Skarsgård, and like his older brothers, started acting at an early age.

Kolbjorn played the young version of Clark in the 2022 TV miniseries Clark. His brother Bill played the title character in the crime comedy, making the title character a multi-Skarsgård role. Kolbjorn also played Milo in the Swedish TV series Kenny Starfighter.