Alexander Skarsgård recently opened up about why he retired from acting at the age of 13 in an interview with Armchair Expert. The Swedish actor originally launched his acting career at a young age by appearing in several Swedish productions, only to step away from the profession a few years later. Eventually, he returned to acting as an adult after pursuing a theatre course at Marymount Manhattan College.
Alexander Skarsgård retire from acting at the age of 13
Alexander Skarsgård appeared in a recent episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast. In it, he recounted his early acting career and how his initial brush with fame at 13 — following his appearance in the 1989 Swedish film, Hunden som log (The Dog That Smiled) — troubled him.
Skarsgård explained that the film was a “50-minute-long TV movie,” noting that it came out during the 1980s, back when Sweden only had two channels and before cable became a thing. “So if something was on, the whole country would watch it,” he added. “I was 13 and suddenly just because of that one little thing, I was recognized.”
The True Blood alum said that he “became a star,” adding “A Swedish star was born.” He recalled his experience with his newfound fame as being “rough,” emphasizing that he disliked the recognition.
“I didn’t like going to school and kids at school being like, ‘I saw the movie,'” he shared. The Infinity Pool actor revealed that his “confidence” went “down the drain.” He recalled that if a girl showed interest in him, he assumed it was because she was “a fan of the movie.”
The 48-year-old added that his fame “crushed” him. “I was like, ‘This is terrible.’ And I’ve done one 50-minute made-for-TV movie. I don’t want to keep doing this,” he continued.
Skarsgård, who “threw in the towel at 13,” admitted that he “wanted to be popular as well,” but “wanted to earn it.” “I didn’t feel like I earned it if someone had seen me on television,” he explained. “Then I’d be like, ‘Well, you’re into the character that I play in the movie. You’re not into me.'”
The Northman star noted that quitting acting at the time wasn’t “a difficult decision” for him. “I was like, ‘I don’t want to be an actor anyways, I just want to drive a sob,'” he elaborated. “So I just kind of stopped doing it.
Originally reported by Abdul Azim Naushad on ComingSoon.net.
