Tagged "eric northman"

Moviefone interview

Alexander Skarsgard is well aware that he can’t be the scoundrelly yet, at times, amiable, vampire Eric Northman forever. That’s not to say that he hasn’t enjoyed his time on ‘True Blood’; he has, even if that does include filming an occasional ménage à trois with real-life husband and wife Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin. But he also realizes that continuing to play the versions of Eric Northman he’s continuously offered — “without the fangs,” he admits — is, as Skarsgard puts it, “creative suicide.” In other words: nothing a Lars von Trier movie won’t fix.

In ‘Melancholia,’ Skarsgard plays Michael, a man we meet on the day he’s set to marry Justine (Kirsten Dunst), until every single thing that could wrong during a wedding does go wrong. Of course, all that happens before they learn that a rouge planet — named Melancholia — is on a collision course with Earth. Moviefone spoke to Skarsgard about what it’s like to work for the controversial director, his game plan to avoid being typecast as a vampire, the details of filming a threesome with a real life married couple, and how ‘Zoolander’ changed his life forever.

This is a fucked up movie.
Yeah, it is. It is pretty fucked up.

When you read the script, is that what you were thinking?
I mean, it’s a Lars von Trier movie, so it’s a little romantic comedy about the end of the world.

You play, by far, the nicest person in this movie.
It was fun because Eric on ‘True Blood’ is an alpha male. And we shot this right after we wrapped season three, so I had spent seven months being Eric and it was so fun doing something that was very different.

Is that what drew you to this?
No. I mean, Lars von Trier drew me to it. I mean, it’s a no-brainer. Whatever he wanted me to do, I would have done.

I do think that this shows a halfway realistic look at what would happen if another planet was going to smash into Earth. I mean, Bruce Willis doesn’t take off in a spaceship to save the day.
[Laughs] No.

Or maybe he is, but we’re not seeing that.
And just the confusion of it all. Like, “What the fuck is this? What’s going on?”

This is a hard movie to ask questions about.
It’s a hard movie to talk about.

Why?
I don’t know, it’s just so… [pauses] It was just such an amazing experience shooting it, and it’s difficult to describe, in a way. It was just so different. And [von Trier] is just so unconventional the way he makes a movie.

What’s unconventional about him, in your opinion?
The way, like, you’re so free. It’s so liberating, in a way. There are no tape marks that you have to hit or 45 minutes of lighting because it has to look beautiful. It’s all real. And you shoot a lot — there’s not a lot of waiting around. And you can have fun with it, he doesn’t care about continuity.

What scene stands out in that respect?
Well, the first day was the limo scene. And Lars was like, “You guys, you’re stuck, you talk about that for a while, and then Alex will get out of the limo to help the driver.” And I was like, “Sure, which side do you want me to get out?” And Lars just looked at me and was like, “I don’t know. You do whatever you want.” And that’s what was so liberating.

As an actor, can you take that too far?
Well, I felt like you’re free to do whatever you want. And he’ll reign it in if it’s not working. But you want to feel that freedom as an actor. You want to feel that confidence that I can do whatever I want.

You play an extremely popular character on ‘True Blood.’ A lot of people have played popular characters on television and sometimes it winds up haunting them. Between a Lars von Trier movie and ‘Battleship,’ is there a plan in place so you’re not known as Eric Northman the rest of your life? Or maybe you want to be known as that?
Well [pauses], it’s not so much like a career move or a strategy that I have. It’s more… I need that. Like, creatively. Of course, after ‘True Blood,’ I get a lot of scripts that are similar to ‘True Blood’ or very similar to Eric Northman — because people want to pigeonhole you. So it’s the same character, but in a movie set or whatever. First of all, of course it’s not a good career move to do that, because then you become that. You’ll get typecast doing that forever. That’s creative suicide. But it’s also, for me — I’m not going to do a good job if I do something I’ve done 25 times before. Because I won’t be inspired; I won’t be encouraged. There’s nothing in that script or in that role that I’ll discover. I mean, it’s already there, I know what I’m doing. I’ll just go there and I’ll show up and I’ll be whatever I’ve been for the past ‘X’ amount of years. So that’s why I actively look for guys like Michael in this movie, who is so different than Eric Northman.

Have you been offered other vampire roles?
Not other vampire roles, but definitely a lot of roles that are very similar to Eric Northman, even though they are not vampires — but kind of the same type. Basically Eric Northman, but without the fangs. Pretty much the same guy.

I’m curious how much input you have in this: During the first season of ‘True Blood,’ I found Eric a bit frightening, but I feel like there’s something more appealing about him in recent seasons — even when he does something frightening, I still want to be his friend. Maybe it’s the hair.
Well, that’s what I loved about it. When people watch something, they’re lazy. So they want to label the characters. Oh, “the hero.” “The girl.” “The villain.” And they sit back and it’s very convenient, you know? And what I loved about Eric — I always love when it’s because life is more complicated than that. In movies, I always love when there’s darkness in the protagonist. You know? And there’s goodness in the antagonist. When there’s more of a grey zone than just black and white. What I love about Eric is that when you meet him, he’s introduced as “the villain.” And the audience is like, “All right, very well, here’s the evil sheriff.” But then, after a while, you’re like, “Oh, wait a minute, that was kind of nice, why did he do that?” And I love that, that people had to revisit, “Oh, shit, well, actually, maybe he’s not just the villain.”

But, of course, when people see a vulnerability that he can be weak and sensitive and kind and loyal… it is tough, because you still want him to be dangerous; he’s still a predator — so you can’t emasculate him too much.

I know love scenes on set are nothing but professional. But is it at all different when the other two members of the scene are married in real life?
Not really. We’re good friends and professional actors. All three of us. So we know what we’re doing. And it’s like, I love Anna [Paquin] to death, but Steve [Moyer] obviously knows that our friendship is very platonic. So, sometimes it’s more awkward if you don’t know them. Steve knows that I’m not a threat.

Well, I’d be more like, “Oh, I hope I’m not imposing.”
Nah. And Steve was very sweet before we got in to all of that stuff. He said to me, “Dude, I just want you to know that I want you to feel comfortable with this and it’s not awkward at all. I love you and I know there’s no one I’d rather have doing these scenes with Anna and me because we’re friends. It’s not awkward at all and I don’t want you to hold back because then that’s going to be weird. Like, do what you have to do.” It was very great of him to say that.

What are your memories of doing ‘Zoolander’? That was your first American movie, I believe.
It was my first job. I was here on vacation and I lived in Sweden. I was here on vacation visiting my dad and his manager was like, “Do you want to go and try an audition and see what it’s like?” I was like, “Oh, that’s fun. I’m in Hollywood and I’m going on an audition.” And it happened to be ‘Zoolander.’ I was lucky enough to get it. It was surreal. I was this kid from south Stockholm on vacation in Hollywood. Two weeks later I was shooting a movie in Tribeca with Ben Stiller, you know?

And then you went back to Sweden and acted there?
Yeah. Because I was there on vacation. And I did that and got an agent and a manager because of ‘Zoolander,’ but I was working on stage in Sweden, so I went back to Sweden and I was there for another three or four years. And when you’re on stage, you really don’t really have time — you work six days a week. So there’s really no time to go to L.A. and take meetings and read scripts and stuff. But since I had an agent and a manager, they basically said, “Whenever you’re done with your plays, come on over and hang out for a couple of weeks and take some meetings. So that’s how, in 2004 and 2005, I started going out to L.A. because I was like, “I have an agent and a manger, but they can’t do shit for me right now because I’m in Sweden doing plays. But whenever I have a little break, I’m going to go out and check it out.

All because of ‘Zoolander’…
Yeah, it’s weird. It’s really crazy that happened. Yeah, it’s extremely fortunate… in my very first audition.

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[Photo: Magnolia]

Lucy Griffiths…this is supposedly who will be playing Eric’s sister on Season 5 of True Blood

santress:

The Film Stage interviewed Alexander Skarsgard, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Kirsten Dunst at the New York Film Festival. Here are the Alex-related parts:

Film Stage: How is it different working with Lars von Trier as opposed to other directors you’ve worked with?

Alexander Skarsgard: It’s very documental. It was such an interesting vibe and atmosphere. We all kind of lived together in the middle of nowhere in southern Sweden. You’re kind of used to working where you block a scene, then you have tape marks and then you shoot a master and the lights are coming from here and you got to find that light. And then you show up and he’s just like ‘Alright, let’s see what happens. Oh, that was great’ or ‘That sucked. Let’s try again’ He doesn’t care about continuity, he’s so open and he wants to be surprised. He wants to be like ‘Oh, that was interesting, I didn’t expect that to happen’. But then he can also be like, you do whatever you want. But then he’ll come in and he knows, you kind of feel like he’s editing it in his head as he watching it. And he’s like ‘Oh, that was great, that’s interesting’ and then if there’s something he needs then he’ll come in and he’ll just whisper something like try this and try that. It really was one of the most amazing experiences of my career.

FS: Does he have you rehearse?

Alex: No, well he shoots it. And it’s usually disaster. It is, do you remember those big scenes with cars coming and going? And he’s like ‘Alright, let’s shoot’ and we’re like, what’s my cue when do I drive?’ But I get it because there are these moments that will happen. Most of it will be disaster because people show up and be like, ‘Oh shit, what am I doing here?’ But then something will happen in that rehearsal, some little moment or something awkward or something that is real. And you won’t be able to re-create that and he’ll be there with a camera and he’ll capture that. And then you’ll do it again obviously and you’ll fix what didn’t work but then he’ll have those little moments that he can put in

Charlotte Gainsbourg: It’s interesting to be off balance also. That’s what he works with is trying to push you a bit off your grounds and it’s very helpful.

Alex: Well it makes it real because if you come and you’re like alright I’m an actor and this is what I’m going to do, planted in my head I’m going to do this and I’m going to look over there when I say that line–

Kirsten Dunst: Well that’s not fun… (laughs)

Alex: Then it’s kind of great that he’s just like no, no, no break that up, do it differently see what happens, just be there.

FS: How much of what was in the script made it to screen and how much was improv?

Kirsten Dunst: It’s all in the movie, we did some improv. (to Alexander) I actually improved with you the most, I feel like. The whole limo scene and like the bedroom scene and even if it was just like physical improv, it was just like, ‘guys figure out the scene.’

FS: How was the atmosphere on set?

Alex: We had parties on weekends, really had fun because you need that. It’s like you can’t spend two months in that darkness.

FS: Has Lars overcome the depression which is such a theme in the film?

Alex: He would never be able to make another movie again and he would just make boring romantic comedies.

FS: How did you handle the arc from the happiness in the beginning of the film to its dark downward spiral?

Alex: We talked about that before we started it and we were all kind of on the same page. You got to start somewhere to be able to go down here, you can’t start down there. You want a lightness and excitement, is this going to be a great day? You know they’re both like, ‘OK, we’re at least trying.’ If you start in the limo and it’s just like (makes moaning sound) where do you go from there?

FS: (to Alexander) Was your character supposed to be dumb, unaware of the situation with Justine?

Alex: No, I’m dumb as an actor, it’s all real. (laughs) I think he’s just trying desperately, Justine is such like a little fragile wounded bird and he believes he can make it better. He’s like I’ll take care of you as the more she slowly drifts away and he’s struggling and trying to make it OK. There’s a scene that we shot that didn’t make it into the final cut…

Kirsten Dunst: Lars was happiest about this scene, he was so happy with us that day. So happy and it didn’t make the movie.

Alex: I know and he told me that he was devastated, he’s like ‘it just didn’t work in the cut.’ But it’s a really sad moment, because it’s like Justine says that she’s not happy and he’s like, ‘well, no one is happy. I’m not looking for happiness, it’s OK. You have moments of happiness but no one is really happy,’ And it was just so sad to hear Michael, who you think is the kind of guy whose going to say no this is great, say no we’re content and we’ll have a pretty good life but I’m not happy. Let’s just stay together because it’ll be alright. It was just so sad.

FS: (to Alexander) Did your father, who worked with Lars several times, give you any acting advice about working with him?

Alex: No. He just said do it. If you ever get an opportunity to work with him, just do it.

FS: And how was it working with your father?

Alex: Everything about it was so amazing. We shot in Sweden so on weekends I went up to Stockholm to see my mom and my siblings. Just an amazing ensemble working with one of the greatest directors out there and my old man is in it and I love working with him and just hanging out with him. It was the first and only time I’ve said yes to a project without having read the script. I just got a call and I was like, ‘alright, I don’t know what he wants me to do, but I’ll do it.’

FS: Is there something you have to get in your head to bring this concept to life? Especially in the end when so much of Claire’s emotion is coming from seeing the planet in the background. Are you looking in the distance and picturing something?

Alex: Ignorance is bliss. My guy has no fucking idea. (laughs) No idea!

FS: How did you feel when you saw the movie after spending time shooting it?

Alex: But that’s why I could actually watch the second half of the movie as a member of the audience and kind of just enjoy it. It’s always weird when you watch yourself, especially the first time, I’m very critical and I kind of dissect my own performance. I’m like, ‘Oh fuck. That was – why? Oh! That’s way too big,’ and, ‘Why did I do that? Oh, really? They chose that take? I remember another one that was much better.’ I wasn’t able to go to Cannes, I was working in LA on something so I missed Cannes, so I went back to Sweden in May and it was in theaters then, or in June right after Cannes and I just, oh, I thought it was amazing. Just the sound, I saw it in the theater and the second half –

Kirsten Dunst: The sound is crazy at the end.

Alex: It just blew me away.

FS: Did Lars give you any advice before going in, any specific direction that sticks with you?

Charlotte Gainsbourg: I remember he asked me to watch Persona.

Kirsten Dunst: Yeah. And he told me to watch A Philadelphia Story, too.

CG: Really?

KD: Yeah.

Alex: He told me to watch A Philadelphia Story, too.

KD: I’d seen it before, but, yeah.

FS: Why?

KD: I think because it takes place at a wedding and it’s funny and charming and he didn’t want to lose that essence even though it was a film about depression.

FS: How about your personal preparation processes? What do you all like to do? Break down the script, anything like that?

Alex: I just sit and I read the script like three times a day and then I take notes, just write down ideas and then 98% of them will be crap and then it’s just finding those things that you thought of when you read it and finding those interesting things. It’s just inspiration and coming up with ideas and then that’s how I like finding the character, is how I work.

FS: You’ve been working with so many great directors. Is there any aspiration to direct yourself?

Alex: I’ve done a little bit of that in Sweden. I directed a short and a couple of commercials. And, yeah, I’ve written some stuff. I’d like to do that eventually.

FS: Do you think that the film has a happy ending?

Alex: I do in a weird way. I don’t want to give it away, but there’s that one little moment between the sisters at the end and I was like, ‘Aw.’

Kirsten Dunst: They all saw the movie. It’s okay. Oh, you mean – (laughs). Yeah, okay. Oh, that’s sweet.

Alex: No I did! Because you finally connected, you know?

KD: Yeah.

Alex: And then we all died, (laughs) but there was that little brief moment.

FS: How would you react to the end of the world?

Alex: I’d go hang out with my family.

(Source: TheFilmStage.com, Photo credit: filmsdulosange.fr)

Waiting Sucks

This scene made me cry and laugh at the same time!

Waiting sucks….so hard!

*not my gifs

Umm, is it just me or does it look like he doesn’t like the taste of the oatmeal in the bottom picture???

I don’t know who made this, but I save this GIF for rainy days because…it’s priceless…I call it my favorite derp face!!!

I physically can’t look at this without giggling!

Happy Wednesday

santress:

Alexander Skarsgard, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Richard Peña & Kirsten Dunst at the Melancholia Q & A for the New York Film Festival (October 3, 2011)

(Source: FilmLinc @ twitter)

Our favorite man is once again sitting/standing in the chair at the same time…..