Svenska Dagbladet - May 25, 2009


Peter Stormare and Stellan Skarsgård are Sweden's top Hollywood actors and both are popular choices in the entertainment business when it comes to supporting roles. For Stellan that means donning a beard and braids to play the Saxon warlord in "King Arthur" or having snails cover his face as Bootstrap Bill in "Pirates of the Caribbean" and now he plays Richter, commander of the Pope's Swiss guard, complete with German accent and a serious demeanor, in his current flick, "Angels & Demons".

During the interview in a hotel in Stockholm, Stellan Skarsgård has dropped his stone face look in the film and now breaks into smiles as he speaks. He is back home to talk about the film in which he takes on a supporting role though he doesn't appear to be overly excited about it.

He admits, "Any good actor knows that they must keep a certain distance from the fame, that inflated image of oneself that the world sees. Robert DeNiro knows it, Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep as well."

It's a fact that he has worked with all three actors, and in his own country, Stellan has been a major star with a history of theater, film and television since the late 60's when he had the title role in "Bombi Bitt". He is now reaping the fruits of a long career by taking on well-paid Hollywood roles.

He explains, "That's what people think but I do more independent films that no one hears about because there is no money to market them in the same way as "Angels & Demons". A Hollywood film allows me to make two independent films."

For the past few months, Stellan has been in Oslo filming "Regnskap" with one of his favorite directors, Hans Petter Moland ("Zero Kelvin" and "Aberdeen"). Now he's returned to Stockholm to promote "Angels & Demons" with Tom Hanks back in the role of Robert Langdon, the Harvard professor of "The DaVinci Code". Dan Brown's books are global bestsellers and the films have attracted an audience despite the fact that film critics dislike them.

Stellan notes that the film's success, unlike his indie films, does not stand or fall with reviewer comments.

"'Angels & Demons' is a film for those who like adventure for a couple hours. I have not seen it myself but director Ron Howard is usually able to get the clock ticking, and Tom Hanks, Ewan McGregor and Armin Mueller-Stahl are talented actors."

Stellan has not seen the film?

"No, how could I? I work all the time and do not have time to go to the movies. Maybe on video sometime..."