John Stellan Skarsgård (born 13 June 1951) is a Swedish actor. He is best known for his work as - Prof. Gerald Lambeau in Good Will Hunting (1997), Bootstrap Bill in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End (2007), Bill Anderson in Mamma Mia! (2008), Martin Vanger in The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Dr. Erik Selvig in Thor (film) (2011), The Avengers and in the upcoming Thor: The Dark World (2013).

Early life

Skarsgård was born in Gothenburg, Sweden; the son of Gudrun (née Larsson) and Jan Skarsgård. He moved often in his childhood and lived, amongst other places, in Helsingborg, Totebo, Kalmar, Marielund and Uppsala.

Acting career

Skarsgård started his acting career early. At the age of 21 he already had a great deal of experience in film, TV and stage. Most of his early roles were in Swedish TV (such as Bombi Bitt) and films. Of Skarsgård’s Swedish film work, he is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Swedish diplomat Raoul Wallenberg, who worked to save Holocaust victims. The filming was done in Budapest, in the only Jewish ghetto to survive World War II.

Skarsgård’s first American film was the 1984 film Noon Wine directed by Michael Fields, in which Skarsgård played a mentally disturbed immigrant farmhand being chased by a bounty hunter. He played opposite Fred Ward, who portrayed the farmer.

Personal life

He married My, a physician, in April 1975 and together they had six children: Alexander (b. 1976), Gustaf (b. 1980), Sam (b. 1982), Bill (b. 1990), Eija (b. 1992) and Valter Skarsgård (b. 1995). Alexander, Gustaf, Bill and Valter are also actors, while Eija is a former model. Skarsgård and My divorced in May 2007 and he married Megan Everett in January 2009. The couple have two sons together, Ossian (b. 2009) and Kolbjörn (b. 2012).

Actors Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly named their son Stellan as a tribute to Skarsgård.

Skarsgård has been best friends with Peter Stormare since 1976 and even made Stormare the godfather to his son, Gustaf.

[ Wikipedia / CC-BY-SA ]

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