Stellan Skarsgard lives by a varied list of dos and don’ts when it comes to his children.

The acclaimed Swedish film and stage actor is the patriarch to a new dynasty of Hollywood stars.

Of his eight children, six have followed in his footsteps.

Here is a look at the Golden Globewinning Skarsgard, his family and their legacy.

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Stellan Skarsgård

Stellan never intended to become an actor. In his youth, growing up in Gothenburg, Sweden, he had hoped for a life in politics, specifically a job as a diplomat. 

Yet, after landing his first TV role as a teenager, his political ambitions were drowned out by the sounds of shrieking fans.

“I didn’t take acting seriously until I was 16 and got a role in a Swedish show that made me extremely famous right away. There were screaming girls, all that stuff,” he told The Guardian in 2020.

“I’d never had any girl take an interest in me before that. Suddenly being a diplomat didn’t seem half as attractive as it had done.”

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In the 56 years since his first role, Stellan has navigated the transition from local star to highly sought-after Swedish export.

He has more than 100 roles to his name.

The most notable to English speaking audiences are the Oscar-winning Good Will Hunting, Mama Mia, The Hunt for Red October, Pirates of the Caribbean, Thor and the Dune film franchise.

He received a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor in 2020 for his role in the limited mini series, Chernobyl

“For being a Swede with an accent, I have been extremely successful internationally, so I can’t complain,” he told The Daily Beast in 2020.

He then dropped an expletive about his well-founded talent as an actor, before exclaiming: “I’d rather be an actor than a star.”

Today, Stellan shares his name with his eight children.

Three of his offspring – Alexander, Gustaf and Bill – have already made a name for themselves in the film industry.

“I don’t give advice to my children who act. I give them support,” he told The Guardian.

“If you give them advice and they achieve something then they don’t feel like they achieved it. Also, if you do give them advice and they don’t achieve something, then they can say: ‘It’s all your f—ing fault.'”

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Another don’t he believes is to always remain truthful.

“Don’t lie. Even if they ask you very difficult questions at a very young age, be truthful,” he said.

Alexander Skarsgård

Stellan became a father in 1976 when he and his first wife, My, a doctor, welcomed their son, Alexander.

It appeared acting was in the blood, with Alexander booking his first film role age seven. It was in the 1984 Swedish film Ake och hans varld, which translates in English to Åke and His World. He starred alongside his father.

He said it was watching his father’s collection of VHS tapes of films that he was first introduced to acting.

“When my father was a kid, he would go to the matinees in Sweden every week and see the old Johnny Weissmuller movies,” he told The Sydney Morning Herald in 2016.

“So then he had these VHS cassettes of all the old Tarzan movies and I remember watching them as a kid, as well as a lot of old Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Tom and Jerry and Akira Kurosawa. So it was a very nice, eclectic mix.”

His initial connection to the industry proved short-lived, with Alexander walking away from acting in his mid-teens. The sudden attention didn’t sit well with him.

Instead, he chose to focus on his education, joined the Swedish navy, before returning.

“It hadn’t really been my choice when I first started acting and I got paranoid and didn’t like people recognising me,” he told the media outlet.

“So I took off for eight years until I found my way back.”

In 2008 he was cast in the miniseries Generation Kill. The dam walls broke, with Alexander booking multiple hit shows such as True Blood, Big Little Lies and Succession.

His standout film credits include The Legend of Tarzan, opposite Margot Robbie, The Northman and Lee, opposite Oscar winner, Kate Winslet.

Gustaf Skarsgård

Skarsgard and My welcomed their second child, Gustaf, in late 1980.

Like his older brother, Gustaf took an early interest in his father’s occupation. By the age of six he was already attending acting school in Sweden.

“To any child, the first occupations that are presented to you are your parents’,” he told Interview magazine in 2017.

“I was appealed to my dad’s occupation from the get-go.”

At 43, Gustaf has a solid acting resume, though he is possibly better known by fans for his TV work. Specifically, Floki from Vikings and Karl Strand from Westworld.

Yet, in recent years, Gustaf has made a name for himself in film circles, being cast in Ben Affleck’s Air and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.

“I expected to be doing basement theatre in the suburbs of Stockholm,” Gustaf told the media outlet. “But here I am.”

Sam Skarsgård

The Skarsgards expanded their family again in 1983 when Sam was born.

Sam also followed the career path of his parents, yet, unlike his brothers, he spent time behind the camera in production before becoming a doctor like his mother.

As such, he doesn’t share the spotlight of his siblings. Though, they still speak of him.

“We have a mum and a brother who literally save lives,” Bill told his brother, Alexander, in a joint chat for Interview magazine in 2017.

“He works at an ICU so he, on a daily basis, saves lives,” Alexander said, before adding, “Do you have a sense of guilt because he works his ass off and makes less money than you?”

Bill replied that yes, he was.

“I’m constantly embarrassed at the level of attention actors get and the level of money that we get. It’s completely disproportionate. I think you have to feel guilty about it. I think it makes you a better person to keep reminding yourself.,” he said.

Bill Skarsgård

Bill, the fourth Skarsgard child was born in 1990. Like Alexander and Gustaf he inherited his father’s acting gene.

He started working when he was nine, taking on small parts where he could.

“I would never have been here if it wasn’t for the role of Klasse in White Water Fury. I was the only kid on set,” he said in Interview.

It was a role he played opposite older brother Alexander.

Yet, as he grew older, he had a realisation – he was the fourth in his family to pursue acting. 

In high school he had a fleeting “rebellious moment” where he majored in science with the thought of going into medicine or engineering. Then he had a rethink and returned to acting.

His big break came in 2013 when he was cast in the TV series Hemlock Grove.

A few years later his film career took off, with roles alongside Charlize Theron in Atomic Blonde and Assassination Nation, before starring as Pennywise in the reboot of the horror classic, It. He reprised the role in 2019.

He has since been cast in Deadpool 2, alongside Keanu Reeves in John Wick: Part 4 and will lead the 2024 film The Crow.

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Eija Skarsgård

The Skarsgards welcomed their fifth child, and first daughter, Eija, in 1992.

Eija is not an actor, but was once a model. She does have a foothole in the entertainment industry as a casting director.

She is best known for TV series Cry Wolf, Young Royals (2021) and Deliver Me (2024).

“There are 36 years between the eldest and youngest of my eight children and only one of them is a girl,” her father, Skarsgard, said in a 2015 interview.

“During each of my wives’ subsequent pregnancies, my daughter would say, ‘I hope it’s not a girl.’ She’s very strong, stronger in many ways than the boys, and relishes her position.”

Valter Skarsgård

Skarsgard and My welcomed their sixth and final child together, Valter, in 1995.

Valter started acting in his native Sweden before scoring wider-reaching roles in 2016 with the BBC series Black Lake.

He then landed a role in the 2021 Neflix series Katla. His star is on the rise.

Last year he starred in the lead role for Börje Salming.

The mini series follows Salming’s story as the first Swedish player to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. Salming died in 2022 after a battle with ALS.

“It had this quote from Borje: ‘I see a young version of a cocky me in Valter Skarsgard'”. Can’t get a better seal of approval,” Valter told The Canada Press.

“He was a hard-ass hockey player … but that’s what was so surprising about meeting him. He’s the most kind and humble guy. Throughout the time I spent with him, he never turned someone down who wanted an autograph or a photo.”

 In 2007, Skarsgard and My divorced. Two years later, he married Irish screenwriter and producer Megan Everett.

They have two sons together Ossian Skarsgard, 15, born in 2009, and Kolbjorn Skarsgard, 12, born in 2012. They are both aspiring actors.

Skarsgard was asked during a 2021 interview to share what he’s proud of about his family. This was his answer.

“I’ve had two beautiful wives—and very smart wives—and that’s helped a lot. I’m not going to take much credit for anything,” he said.

“But what I’m proud of is, when I hear from other people in the business about Gustaf or Sam or Bill or Valter or Alexander, I hear that somebody worked with them and they were really nice on the set and totally cool with everybody, and how no matter what menial job anyone had on the set they were nice to them, then I’m proud.

“If they win awards it’s secondary to that, because that is a lottery anyway. Awards are sort of like reality shows.”

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