Man Candy Monday: Alexander Skarsgård

Who is Alexander Skarsgård? The Vital Stats:

Name: Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård
Nicknames: Alex
Height: 6’4″
Age: 35
Born: August 25, 1976 in Stockholm, Sweden
Profession: Actor, director, screenwriter
Status: Unknown at time of publication. Recently broke up with actress Kate Bosworth.
Filmography (year, title, role):

1984: Åke and His World (Kalle Nubb) – film
1987: Idag röd (Fred) – television series
1989: The Dog That Smiled (Jojjo) – film
1999: Happy End (Bamse Viktorsson) – film
1999: Vita lögner (Marcus Englund) – television series, 10 episodes
2000: D-dag (Lise’s Stepson) – television series
2000: Judith (Ante Lindström) – television series
2000: The Dog Trick (Micke) – film
2000: The Driver (Ingmar) – film
2000: White Water Fury (Anders) – film
2000: Wings of Glass (Johan) – film
2001: Kites Over Helsinki (Robin Åström) – film
2001: Zoolander (Meekus) – film
2004: Heartbeat (The Pilot) – film
2005: Revelations (Gunnar Eklind) – television series
2005: Double Shift (Nisse) – film
2005: The Last Drop (Lt. Jergen Voller) – film
2005: Om Sara (Kalle Öberg) – film
2006: Cuppen (Micke) – television series
2006: Never Be Mine (Christopher) – film
2007: Golden Brown Eyes (Boogey Knights Singer) – television series
2007: Järnets änglar (Stefan) – film
2008: Generation Kill (Sgt. Brad ‘Iceman’ Colbert) – television mini-series
2008-2011 (continuing): True Blood (Eric Northman) – television series
2009: Metropia (Stefan) – film, voice
2009: Beyond the Pole (Terje) – film
2010: Trust Me (Alex) – film
2010: 13 (Jack) – film
2011: Straw Dogs (Charlie Venner) – film
2011: Melancholia (Michael) – film
2012: Battleship (Stone Hopper) – film

Because I’m an honest kind of person, I’m going to admit that I was a bit disappointed when Alexander Skarsgård won last week’s Man Candy Monday poll because I honestly didn’t see the appeal. I put him as an option on the poll because he seems to be pretty popular and because my best pal, Ashley, is madly in lust with him. She has good taste so I figured I was missing something. Clearly I was. I had only gathered the first few pictures for this profile when my mind started to change. This is a beautiful man.

I am not too proud to admit when I’m wrong. There was a time when I didn’t find Robert Pattinson attractive as well. Oddly enough, the same magazine changed my mind with both men – GQ. Alexander’s spread in GQ made me look at him in a completely different way although, again being honest, Ashley helped by pointing out those intense eyes of his and that strong, masculine jaw. From there I noticed those gorgeous lips and I fell in love.

With the GQ spread fresh in my mind, I found tons of sexy Skarsgård shots. I don’t watch True Blood, which is perhaps why I wasn’t familiar with the hotness that is Alexander, so I didn’t really know much about him. Intrigued, I did a little research and learned all sorts of interesting tidbits about him. First, he has been voted the sexiest man in Sweden an impressive five times, is the oldest of six siblings and nearly lost his breakout role in HBO’s mini-series Generation Kill because the producer, David Simon, wasn’t convinced he could pull off an American accent. Director, Susanna White, had faith in Skarsgård and he eventually won the role; learning he’d been cast less that two days before he had to leave to begin filming.

While Generation Kill is often considered Alexander’s big break, his role as Eric Northman on HBO’s vampire mega-hit True Blood is really the role that made him a star in the US. Of course, Alexander was no stranger to fame. As the son of Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, Alexander got his start in acting at a young age; portraying Kalle Nubb in Åke and His World in 1983 when he was only seven years old. Six years later he landed his first leading role; playing Jojjo in the popular Swedish television series The Dog That Smiled. It was this role that made the then 13-year-old a star in Sweden, but young Alex wasn’t quite ready for the attention that came with fame. Uncomfortable with being recognized, Alexander quit acting and didn’t return to the industry for seven years.

During his hiatus from acting, Alexander served eighteen months with the Swedish military where he was part of a unit that dealt primarily with anti-sabotage and anti-terrorism. After completing service, he moved to London where he studied English at Leeds Metropolitan University but only stayed for six months before heading to New York to study theater at Marymount Manhatten College. As was the case with London, Alexander’s stay in New York lasted only six months at which time he returned to Sweden. He decided to give acting another shot and once again became a star in his home country.

The Cast of HBO's True Blood (source: Ben Watts/Entertainment Weekly)

Success in Sweden was Alexander’s for the taking but wanting to break out in the US market meant lots of flights to Los Angeles to audition for roles he really wasn’t terribly interested in taking. After struggling to find the right role to really showcase his talents to the US market, he landed Generation Kill which was followed not long after by True Blood. To be fair, the role of Eric Northman wasn’t a role Alexander was terribly keen on winning. He wasn’t sure he wanted to play a vampire but was swayed by the involvement of Academy Award winning screenwriter, Alan Ball (American Beauty, Six Feet Under). He originally auditioned for the role Stephen Moyer landed, Bill Compton, but was later cast as Eric and the rest, as they say, is history.

Before we get on to the pictures of the delicious Man Candy that is Alexander Skarsgård, let’s talk about last week’s vote because it was definitely an interesting one. Alexander won with an impressive 32.5% of the vote with Ryan Gosling coming in second with 22.5%. Chris Hemsworth once again got his fair share of the vote coming in third with 17.5%. Fourth place went to our first ever write in Man Candy candidate, rocker Lukas Rossi who received a surprising 15% of your votes; impressive considering he wasn’t actually an option to begin with. As a Lukas Rossi fan, however, I can say I’m not entirely shocked to see his name show up with so many write in votes. The Rossi Army is a dedicated lot. Behind Rossi, we had Glee‘s Mark Salling who scored 7.5% of the vote, narrowly beating out Glee castmate Darren Criss who came in last with 5%.

Vote For Next Week’s Man Candy

This week, your options will be Ryan Gosling, Chris Hemsworth, Lukas Rossi (no one can say I don’t listen to my readers), Alex Pettyfer and, in honor of the third season premiere of The Vampire Diaries, Paul Wesley. Of course, as the Rossi Posse has shown, you can always put your favorite in the running regardless of whether he’s on the list or not by choosing ‘other’ and typing in his name. Happy voting, enjoy your Skarsgård and we’ll see you next Monday with our next installment of Man Candy Monday.