Stellan Skarsgård has revealed what it takes to balance filming over 100 projects alongside raising a brood of children.
The 74-year-old Swedish native has eight children between the ages of 49 to 13—six of whom are also actors—and only put an end to fathering the next generation of Hollywood stars by opting to have a vasectomy.
“It’s insane,” he told CBS News of his childrens’ success in the TV and film industry. “I mean, what is the chance?”
“I didn’t encourage them. They have no illusions about the business. They see I am I’m happy and I’m enjoying what I’m doing, so they probably learn from that.”
Pointing out that the age ranges of his kids means that he’s been a father as long as an actor—“I’ve had kids in the ’70s, in the ’80s, in the ’90s, in the ’00s, and in the ’10s”—Skarsgård suggested that his home and work lives always went hand in hand.
The actor said of the balance: “I sort of made sure that I was at home a lot. You can’t be a perfect father always. I mean, you gotta accept, and the kids have to accept, I’m flawed. Good luck!”
The two-time Golden Globe award winner also mused that having such a big, young family may have helped him hone his craft.
Skarsgård told the outlet: “Maybe I couldn’t have made 150 films if I hadn’t have eight kids to learn from.
“I stole things from them. Like, expressions and the sort of naive attitude towards everything. Just watching them is fantastic.”
Skarsgård’s career is showing no signs of slowing down. The actor won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor this month for his role in Sentimental Value, which also won the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix award. Skarsgård also starred in the new season of Disney+’s highly regarded television show Andor.
However, the actor has admitted that he’s dealt with lasting mental impacts from having suffered a stroke in 2022. Skarsgård didn’t take a break despite the health crisis and began filming Dune: Part Two with an earpiece through which an assistant could feed him his lines.
Speaking to Vulture last year, he admitted that his health presented a challenge. “Suddenly, I can’t come up with names,” he said.
“I can’t follow a thought or make an argument that spans several sentences that gets to the point—that, then bang! That is extremely frustrating. But on the other hand, I’m alive. I can work.”
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