Swedish Celebrities: Alexander Skarsgård

It's been awhile since I tackled the subject of Swedish celebrities, but since I am trying desperately to catch up with True Blood, I have been seeing quite a bit of a certain Swedish celebrity I felt might be a good subject of today's post.

Alexander Skarsgard

Before I started watching True Blood, I have to admit, Alex was off my very small celebrity radar (which pretty much still consists almost completely of anyone who ever appeared on Twin Peaks). But then one day the character of Eric started speaking Swedish - and so began my interest in Mr. Skarsgard.

I am not totally oblivious. I do know Papa Skarsgard is a famous Swedish actor. I do recognize him. And I do recognize that when the camera pans toward one angle of Alex's face he is seemingly an exact copy of his father (do cameras pan a face? I didn't go to film school).

But I am happy to hear a little Swedish on mainstream American cable TV and I am happy to see some Swedish acting going on as well. I am also happy that Alex rocks the American accent as well as he does. Apparently I am a bit of a stickler on this since I am the only person who finds Dominic West's accent on The Wire to be in the same category as Kevin Costner.

I did a little research on Alex (and by research I mean a quick google search) and discovered that one of his first major roles was in one of my first 'favorite' Swedish TV shows 'Vita Logner.' I would watch Vita Logner to perfect and fine-tune my Swedish skills. (Vita Logner was probably a favorite because I couldn't understand anything that was going on - it was one of a few Swedish soap operas that ran almost a decade ago-more British style soap than American, but heavy on the drama) I think Alex was on the show before my time, and I cannot say that his role was so memorable that I carry it with me to this very day, but I was happy to find we shared this connection.

I also enjoy reading about how the Swedish media portray Alex vs. the American media. Swedish media likes to portray him as a good old-fashioned Swedish boy just yearning for the day he can return home. They publish pictures of him looking typically Swedish boy charming. (Well sometimes anyways, I tried to find a picture to prove my theory but came up short  - but my gut tells me this is true so what the hey). American media likes to publish things about how dashingly handsome he is and how is totally cool with going naked.

Ah well, enough media analysis. Enough celebrity gossip - I'm afraid I'm just not very good at it. Here are some video clips and pics of Alexander Skarsgard. Enjoy.

Perhaps with this clip you will understand the appeal of Vita Logner. Where did all the Swedish soap operas go anyway?

 An American media take on Alexander Skarsgar courtesy of Rolling Stone

The only photo I could find to represent the so-called Swedish media take, from alexanderskansgardnews.net