On Playing Two Completely Different Characters

Alexander Skarsgard has been busy during his hiatus from True Blood.  He completed work on the film Melancholia, has been working on the blockbuster Battleship and has lent his voice to the already star-studded international cast of Moomins and the Comet Chase.

The 34 year old actor plays alongside his father, the great Stellan Skarsgard but the family affair isn’t the only thing that has made him excited about the project.  He is also thrilled to be voicing Moomintroll.  He describes his character as:

“A young boy and slightly naive, but very determined and brave… If you give your kids love and trust then they will feel the way Moomintroll feels when he goes out into the world.”

While American fans may not know they philosophy of the Moomins, Alex grew up with Tove Jansson’s work. He notes,

“I grew up in Sweden and [the book’s] still famous in Sweden. I just thought it would be a fun thing to be apart of and the world.”

Skarsgard’s character in this film is completely different from Eric Northman and when asked how he plays two characters that are the complete opposite of each other he replies:

“You need to build a connection to the characters and have to believe in every single moment. If I don’t feel that I can’t do a good job. Whenever I read a script the most important question is: Do I understand the character? Do I understand the characters journey? If you don’t feel that you don’t fit in the role. But I’ve definitely felt it, both, the Moomin and Eric.”

On True Blood

Skarsgard reveals that filming for Season 4begins soon and says that he does not have any information on storylines.  He talks about the sometimes gruesome scenes he has and referring in particular to the one where he literally tore a human apart he says that he does not get queasy during filming.  In fact, he actually finds it fun to do those scenes.  When talking about the fake blood that is used on set, Skarsgard says:

“It’s very sweet, a kind of corn syrup. Sweet and sticky. It tastes not exactly great and we really don’t want to swallow it. In the scene I was tearing apart that human my body was covered with that stuff. It’s so sticky, I couldn’t get my clothes off untill it was dry. My pants were like glued onto my legs. So I had to go back to the trailer and take a shower – with clothes on – only to get them off.”

On Melancholia

Filming was recently completed on Lars von Trier‘s Melancholia, the first film in which Skarsgard acts with his father (voice work for Moomins aside).  He says that he was very excited with everything about this film from the director, to his co-stars and his part.  When asked about the rumors that von Trier is difficult to work for he replies:

“For me he is a teddy bear. It was definitely one of the greatest experiences of my life and my career. It was fantastic to work with him. We had a lot of freedom, he really supported the actors and wants them to improvise, develop own ideas and play them. He’s a genius. He looks at what we are doing and then comes and whispers something in your ear, changes things a tiny bit and let you play it all over again. The continuity of the movie doesn’t really matter to him, nor any mark the actors are supposed to stand on. Everything is very playful. Great.”

Moomins and the Comet Chase

Below is a great video of the cast of Moomins and the Comet Chase discussing the philosophy of the Moomins as well as the opportunity to voice such an iconic fantasy world.

Source: justjared.buzznet.com–Alexander Skarsgard: Behind the ‘Moomins’!  

askarsgard.com–Alexander talks about his voice on Moomins

(Photo Credit: askarsgard.com)