Alexander Skarsgard On 'Big Little Lies' | Los Angeles Times

[Music] hi everyone welcome to the envelopes Emmy contender series I'm Yvonne Villarreal today we're talking to alexander skarsgård who plays parried the abusive husband to Nicole Kidman's character on HBO's big little lies and we'll be taking your questions as well so shoot them over in our comment section thanks so much for being here thank you for having me I actually want to start with some tweets that I want to read to you if you don't mind okay yes take some water now Alexander Skarsgard and big little lies is simultaneously gorgeous and completely repulsive I have very complicated feelings about Alexander Skarsgard now thanks big little lies Alexander is so hot in big little lies but he's also a c-word this is so mentally stressful for me are these the kind of comments you've been getting about your character of the show on the street are you getting that well I was I kind of I wasn't in the country when it aired I've been shooting up in Banff north north of Calgary and then I went straight from there to Morocco to shoot out there in the desert so I missed everything I was then like I said you went to the air in a way I wasn't here I missed the whole I didn't I didn't see the show um and I you were in a nice bubble then I was I was very much in a bubble working and I wasn't online I didn't know like what was going on how it was received and it was until I got back to the states about a week ago and I and I landed and and everyone at the airport like oh no we didn't thank you really see a smiley yeah and that people just look at me differently now and I'll probably never get another job that's okay we had a good time on it it's all forget it was worth it you had a fantastic time shooting it but ya know it's on people seem quite disturbed by it and uh rightfully so yeah I've been getting texts from and emails from friends and like no no no you can't do that huh you're really bad Ally were you checking in to see how the show is being received like did you get any updates from research yeah I got a little bit of uh yeah from like from Nicole and people on the show basically saying like that you know after the premiere and and and the producers and yeah dr. John Mark and everyone was seemed very excited and happy but again I I saw the show a couple of days ago so what was that like finally seeing how it all came together it was the good thing is I always it's always kind of weird to watch stuff you're in specially on the first if you the first time it's very technical well at least like you dissect the performance and you're like oh that was I should have done I should have done that differently or should have tone it down or done you know or or like oh they chose that take that's way okay interesting and then they cut out there so but the good thing about it is all the other storylines out obviously wasn't there for so I could you know almost objectively sit back and enjoy that and I I thought it was I thought that stuff was great um I thought they did a fantastic job well how did you initially see Perry and how did that sort of evolve as you like we're making the episodes like from one to you know eight um well I was initially drawn to it because of the writing I thought it was um there were just a fascinating piece and that dynamic between Celeste and Perry was very disturbing and very rich and interesting and I felt like there's a way of playing an abusive husband with that and try to kind of avoid the stereotypical abusive husband and to kind of find a someone who's conflicted and tormented and who's who's really struggling with this as opposed to just playing like a you know two-dimensional bad guy um and I an opportunity to explore that with Nicole was you know it was just such a dream what were your conversations like was jean-marc about developing this character I think we were all on the same page I mean they it was important to find that in a dynamic between Celeste and occult that was on toxic and but that they there's also a lot of love there and a lot of desire and on and that it's that would be a it's intense and that makes it more difficult for Celeste as well because she she blames herself a bit at least in the beginning were well do I am I an instigator do I because you know where it is physical and violent but on what part do I play in it yeah am I responsible and it takes a while for her to realize that I'm not and I'm not he's not going to change um and it's not my fault what was it like to view it in those ways in the different shades versus a black or white thing but so often that's how we sort of view these types of things but it was it was hard because it was tough shooting those scenes the it really was we it was emotionally very difficult and then to go back a year later and rewatch it was quite tough what what was it like sort of preparing going into it I know Jean Mark said he likes he sort of recommended that everyone go to dinners I don't know if that was just between the women or what part you took in that or how you and Nicole sort of we spent time together and also with the boys our kids on just playdates we would just hang out and get to know each other better and have fun and it was very important that the boys were comfortable and relaxed around us um I wanted Perry to have a great relationship with his kids I wanted him to be a good dad again just to make a bit more interesting and and more difficult for Celeste in a way where she's like we have the strong connection we love it there he's an amazing that on but then there's this darkness and it you know it's almost like a switch when he when he goes black and away and I and I wanted I thought it'd be fun we're interesting at least to kind of present Perry and that light in the beginning of you know and their life is just like my drag is yeah that's like this amazing house they they have a patent they've been together for a decade and they're still like tons of passion there and he's great with the kids and and I it's I thought it'd be interesting if you can present that to the audience and they'll lean back and go like oh this is great I love this and then you have that little thing in towards the end of the first episode where he grabs her and we don't go from zero to a hundred it's not like he hits but it's like there's something off about that and it's a bit but you know it's not okay and I thought that could be interesting if we can get that reaction of the audience with like oh wait what was that about this was like the life I wanted but what's going on here and then slowly as you get deeper into the relationship you you know you learn more about them and his his the darkness how was it she to do that first theme where it's slight it's not as you said the full-on sort of altercations that we see as the show progresses but even that initial one how was that to do was it hard to go even full force on that did you were you sort of not easy with it but softer with it initially like did it take like Jean Marc saying a little more forceful that initial time how do you sort of get into it I think it was we oh oh yeah no it was just um he's in control and when he's not that kind of heated he snaps and it's just that one split second of grabbing her too hard holding onto her and it was important to get that to feel that shift and that it was shocking to the audience so no I don't think we even tried a softer version or more tender when it was important that it be kind of an explosion even though it's he doesn't hit her there but it's definitely way too physical and too aggressive and it was important to have that kind of that dynamic that it would change so quickly and you know but for you once that once you're done with that take are you like are you okay Nicole like is everything like that was again that was the beginning of it but when we shot the stuff later you know the scenes later in the on the show where it got very physical and very violent um it was those days were really tough very difficult um because we obviously had to go for it and we shot those scenes it's all hand held as you can tell the show it's it's a lot of it's very kind of telling one is most of its in one take its existing lights so it's not it's not traditional filmmaking in terms of like you shoot a master and then a two-shot and then your close-up and then we turn around it's all on very organic which is great for us for the actors because you don't really have to worry about continuity or tape marks on the floor you just run around and explore it but it's also it takes a level of commitment obviously because you shoot the whole thing and you you know it you just have to kind of jump in um and those those fight scenes were very tough to shoot emotionally because obviously like the nature of it and um and it was difficult at the end of the day tikkun we it was very important for Nicole and I to kind of check in with each other and you know and hug and be like you know just because it's weird to go from shooting that for 10 hours and then you jump in your car and you go home me on there um fortunately I don't live in LA but I was staying with close friends of mine and they had just like this very idyllic beautiful family life with two great kids that I've known since they were born and it meant a lot that I had that to come home to as opposed to like an empty hotel room after those days was very important to have like people around my family well even I talked to like I think Nicole back in January or something and even in recounting the way you are some of those scenes she's like God emotional she started to cry sort of reliving how powerful those things were because Sean Mark doesn't like to do too much rehearsals right he started wants me to go into it yeah so how was that I mean would you say like shooting these types of scene is even more intimate than doing maybe like a sex scene like how would you compare the two like just in terms of vulnerability well it's an interesting way of working and because stuff goes wrong and that's kind of interesting because you've discovered things that you might not have had it been too planned or too structured um and again we didn't rehearse much we just kind of we got there and would jump in and then it's an interesting feeling because after the first take you're always like oh that was interesting we didn't I didn't expect that or the theme to go in that direction and um it didn't necessarily work every time sometimes we felt like if something happened and we went somewhere and then we're like alright well maybe we should try it again and go in a different direction but it was always exciting because it felt real and alive so how was it - when you watch the series to see how those things came together uh I don't know again like watching myself is lovely know what is it I don't really have a problem with it but it is very I feel slightly emotional to detach from it it is easier for me to get involved and get invested in the other characters in their storylines watching my own stuff it feels very technical and I again dissect it and I'm like oh okay that wasn't very critical I never liked it I'm always like oh dude that was flying right way too big yeah was LeAnn on set while you were shooting any of your set no I think well maybe one day one day yeah you didn't get to talk about fun but no no my son with her no how do you read the book or were you sort of like I'll go off the script he wasn't but I read the book yeah so you were prepared of where it was headed yeah and again it's the unlike on True Blood where it's a series so yeah you never like when we got the first episode I didn't know if I was going to be as I'm going to make it till the end or what word what direction they were going this one was obviously in a limited series so we had all the stuff all the seven episodes were written before we started shooting so it was more like when you do a feature where you have the whole arc of the character of the story so you can like plan it how was it knowing how things end for him oh how did that inform your performance from me outside I try not to think about it obviously about where I was going to end you try to you know you read it so you have it in the back of your head an idea of the arca where it's going in and so you can pace it a bit and in terms of like their relationship and the intensity of it and it's escalating the violins and but I don't yeah I try not to think about where the goal like where it's going to go and and instead you know you obviously try to focus on staying in the moment and being present well what was it like to be part of a project that was you know where women's stories were at the forefront and you're the villain in this in this whole thing it was very refreshing to read it because it's it's so well written and it's so on female-driven obviously it's about these very strong very independent very some of them are crazy but like it's a great group I mean they're all those roles are so rich and so interesting and it's it's real it's there's definitely not enough material like that here in Hollywood and can we talk about the game night's episode why were there no games do you know where were the game oh the what the end sequence the whole now well the party is it is supposed to be a game or a trivia night yeah but we're we know I think that was so was a plan but then someone got murdered so I kind of killed the vibe I don't know ELISA a little bit where did you guys shoot this epic party what's it called it's on Suns it was here in Hollywood and I think it was on it's this park on Sunset but like east of Western okay he saw West so it's like kind of Los Feliz area and this it's up on a hill there's a school I don't forgot the name of it but we were shot up there on for about two weeks whew we yeah were you in Elvis costume like for two weeks oh yeah it was supposed to be five days but it end up being two weeks on but it was great because it was the first time we all worked together you know I had all my most of my self was with Nicole I had a couple of scenes with one or two scenes with reason and and then Shailene but that was it so so much resulted towards the end of the shoot it was like it almost felt like an extended wrap party it two weeks and I got to hang out with everyone it was really well discussed in an Elvis costume do you even get to keep that probably not no I have the wig you have the wig how about and in that in that episode a crucial moment is that is the look between you and Shailene where it clicks yeah how many times you have to do that and I don't it was at 4:00 in the morning on night 12 or something like that so it was like a delirious I wasn't conscious I don't even remember doing that so what you see there when you think like oh there's something going on no there's nothing going on in my head I'm just like think about my bad problem how about the the moment where they all sort of come together yeah I it's it was brilliant and it was I thought about it as like like animals when one predator is being attacked by smaller predators but they gang up on him from everywhere and it's like you know you see those like nature documentaries where like they're you know everywhere and a one on one it can take but it's just overwhelming and we wanted to be so primal and violent and and to kind of recreate that of like his but like attacking someone but then there's someone on his back and Ruiz was literally up on my hanging on my back you know like pulling my hair and someone else was punching my ribs and it was it was intense were you like ladies like it chill out a little camera isn't even rolling like coolest yeah how about Wilson see were gone you probably didn't hear much of this discussion but everyone was talking about the homes that these women live in yeah like they're amazing I think our home is what was for sale at least last year we really yeah if you're interested okay can you loan me a few bucks yeah did you have a favorite having seen the episodes did you think I thought Bonnie's home was really nice for bulimia and yeah I like the vibe there I mean I wouldn't say no to it was pretty okay uh but I do think it was like eight million dollars maybe ten like that Oh crazy yeah a little crazy yeah well we're going to take some questions from some of your fans who have been waiting patiently for me to stop Maru on Twitter asks what role did you find more challenging True Blood or big little lies um Perry yeah a little love yeah just because of the nature of their relationship and the theme and finding that balance on Eric there's some darkness there as well obviously but on a different level it's it felt more fun and light in a way so really yeah okay a Jody on Twitter asked your role on pair ear role as Perry and big little lies makes Terry in war on everyone look like a saint any chance you'll do more comedies I need to do that now after after this and then hold the dark the move I just wrap it's also very very dark I yeah it's very disturbing character kills a lot of people so I just need a light rom-com now he's a wrong yes come on please a fan asks have you ever been approached to play James Bond is that a role you'd consider I think they warm a Brit for that you know oh yeah but I think being a sweet who lives in the States um I don't know it's working against yeah I think a Swedish bond would be pretty cool but Nancy on Facebook asked do you ever plan to produce your own projects on yeah I'm I there are a couple of things that I'm like I do this probably oh yeah to develop what kind of like reach it was this one where you find a great book or come up with a great idea and then you know you bring a good team together it's it's it's fun to be that it's very creative and it's fun to be proactive that way instead of just waiting for your agents to call right here's the next one right to go out and find stuff that you're drawn to and interested in and kind of get those teams together so I'm doing that on a couple of things and we'll you know it's on that journey is long and it takes it's difficult to actually get them off the ground but it's it's I am enjoying the process oh it's big little eyes there's all this talk about a season two what do you think about that I mean it might be hard for you to be in it but what do you think about that so Harry has the twin sister Terry and so the premises it's six months later and Terry shows up in in Monterey mom and she's pissed off okay because they kill her brother twin brother uh-huh so it's like a revenge story basically this is six foot four the twin sister of Perry Terry long hair Bob what do you think I think it's long like Farrah Fawcett style like really long blonde I like it yeah - do you think maybe she could sing to offset and I'm Scott he was great but he is someone else's boys Oh doing I think so yeah I was so impressed I loved it I was like she's really good huh sorry - Beth and he's like thank you know I didn't take right away I didn't know that yeah I think of someone else as well but you know whatever fine we all have our talents always got a great voice though yes she does yeah well we're going to do a lightning round so take your water okay this is like better than the Actors Studio I'm just letting you know what was the last show you binge watched it's called gentlemen it's a Swedish miniseries okay that I just finished you know working and then I want and then this great show called big little a little I've finished it yesterday actually okay I didn't like the end end but like the rest of us what show what classic showed do you love that you would want to be on on I grew up I was a huge Simpson the Simpson fan when I was a kid so a B that'd be pretty cool yeah it was on sentence I like that which show would you want to sit and watch someone else enjoy for the first time uh feet probably yeah I love that one and it's I I've actually done that up you sit in what well yeah you know I've obviously seen the episodes but then I watch my friend introduce them to it and and I basically just like it's like oh wait for this part are you know and I try to be my hands off and let them I'll enjoy it but that's um I think it's brilliant brilliant show what genre would you like to try comedy yeah Walter White or Tony Soprano um Tony Soprano what was your first acting job and what did you learn from that that you're still using now it was all calcified acha and his world would be that it's a Swedish film that I did when I was eight on and I learned that you get free Cinnabons on set it was was this Cinnabons on big little lies yeah okay good yeah uh and you can just there's no lemon you can eat you can eat a bug on they even let you like bring them home you don't have like you're eating a lot of Cinnabon humble I'm surprised I'd be surprised well Alex thanks so much for joining us it's a pleasure really driven for all of you thanks for tuning in if you want to check out more of our Emmy contender chats head over to le times calm thanks

Channel: Los Angeles Times

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Id: WCRuWEYVvpQ

Length: 26min 36sec (1596 seconds)

Published: Mon May 15 2017