Alexander Skarsgård ‘threw in the towel’ on acting career at 13 after early fame ‘crushed’ him

The ‘Murderbot’ actor is the son of fellow star Stellan Skarsgård

Alexander Skarsgård has revealed he almost gave up on his acting career while still in his teens.

The 48-year-old Murderbot star became famous in his home country of Sweden at the age of 13 when he starred in the 1989 television film Hunden som log (The Dog That Smiled).

Speaking on the latest episode of Armchair Expert with Dax Shepherd, Skarsgård said he didn’t enjoy the experience.

“It was a 50-minute-long TV movie, but this was back in the 1980s, so we only had like two channels in Sweden, way before cable," explained the actor. “So if something was on, the whole country would watch it. I was 13 and suddenly just because of that one little thing, I was recognized. Yeah. I became a star.”

Skarsgård said he was already uncomfortable with the bohemian lifestyle of his father, fellow actor Stellan Skarsgård.

Alexander Skarsgård at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2025 (Getty)

“A Swedish star was born,” joked the Legend of Tarzan star. “And for someone who's longing for a father in a gray suit, driving a gray Saab to the gray office, it was rough. I didn't like being recognized. I didn't like going to school and kids at school being like, ‘I saw the movie.’”

Rather than reveling in the newfound attention, Skarsgård said he found it disconcerting. “My confidence was just down the drain,” he continued. “I remember being 13, 14, and if a girl showed a little bit of interest in me, I was like, ‘She's just a fan of the movie. That's it.’

“It just crushed me. 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.”

Skarsgård said the experience was so troubling for him he decided to give up acting entirely. “I retired.” he said. “Threw in the towel at 13.”

He added: “I wanted to be popular as well, but I wanted to earn it. I didn’t feel like I earned it if someone had seen me on television. Then I’d be like, ‘Well, you're into the character that I play in the movie. You're not into me.’

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

ADVERTISEMENT. If you sign up to this service we will earn commission. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.

“It wasn't a difficult decision because again, I was like, ‘I don't want be an actor anyways, I just want to drive a Saab.’ So I just kind of stopped doing it.”

Skarsgård did not return to acting for over a decade, when he went to an audition while visiting his father in the United States. That led to him making his Hollywood debut with a small role in the 2001 comedy Zoolander, and he’s since become a star of television and film in projects including Succession and 2022's The Northman.

Earlier this month, Skarsgård’s father Stellan reflected on his own early years in the industry, recalling that the late director Ingmar Bergman was a “Nazi” who was “the only person I know who cried when Hitler died.”