Alexander Skarsgård comes from a big acting family, following in the footsteps of his father, Stellan, and acting opposite his talented sibling way back when. However, the Swedish actor has apparently gone through his fair share of crying bouts early on in his career due to less-than-wonderful auditions, and addressed how he still has “a little PTSD” about that time in his life.
Alexander Skarsgård best movies are plentiful, starting with his first American role in Zoolander, and hopes are high for his upcoming A24 movie Pillion. But despite the success he can currently celebrate, he spoke candidly while appearing on Tyler Jesse Ferguson’s Dinner’s On Me podcast about how relatively quickly his mind can drift back to the point in his career before he was booking roles with frequency. As he put it:
I get a little PTSD, because I remember the feeling of coming back to my little shitty apartment in L.A., you know, crying in the shower after a day like that. I just felt filthy in my soul and, like, zero confidence. I was like, ‘I’m the worst actor in the world, and I also have no dignity because I go in and audition for this stuff. I’m wasting their time.’ It’s a rough feeling.
I completely understand what Alexander Skarsgård is saying. During any kind of job interview, it’s natural to feel unconfident if things aren’t going well, and to feel like it’s all been a waste. At the same time, it’s just as natural to remember that not every person in the world reaches their goals immediately, and it doesn’t mean their dreams will never happen. Acting is a tough, competitive business, with rejection being one of the profession’s unfortunate side effects.
During the podcast, Alexander Skarsgård spoke about how his Swedish Navy background helped his role in HBO’s life in the military series Generation Kill, but also addressed that he would sometimes audition for roles he knew he was wrong for just because the offer came in.
I found those experiences — they were horrible — when you go in for something that you know you’re not right for, and you’re not connecting with a character at all, but you’re at a place where you feel like you can’t say no to the audition. I was always on the cusp of being fired by my agents. If I say no to this, they’re probably gonna drop me, so I gotta go in, but I don’t connect to the role.
Some roles prove to be good business opportunities to get one’s name out there, as well as for financial reasons. For instance, Miles Teller did the YA adaptation of Divergent for “business reasons,” while a thespian like Michael Caine took on a flop like Jaws: The Revenge for its big payday. But if there’s no connection to the part, casting directors are keen on being aware of it.
Fortunately, Alexander Skarsgård found a lot of roles throughout his career to connect with. Most recently, he stars in the sci-fi novel adaptation of Murderbot (which is streaming on your Apple TV+ subscription). The Golden Globe nominee plays an emotionless robot who secretly gains the power of free will, but is forced to be a hero when he’d prefer to binge-watch soaps. While Skarsgård found the struggle real in keeping a straight face around comedic stars, it’s clear that auditioning for the lead role won over casting directors and allowed Skarsgård to flex his range in unexpected ways.
The beginning of Alexander Skarsgård’s career may trigger a sense of PTSD when he reflects on the early days, but the fact that he never let setbacks completely hinder his dream is something to aspire to.