Alexander Skarsgard

“'True Blood' was the most amazing adventure of my life; I met some of my best friends.”

“On a global scale, the way Trump talks about dealing with foreign policy is very scary.”

“My plan was never to be an actor like my father.”

“The system in Sweden is great because you get free healthcare and free education; someone who doesn't have a lot of money can become a doctor or lawyer. There's good paternity and maternity leave - the U.S. is probably the only civilised country in the world that doesn't give parents anything.”

“Swedes are such a civilised, perfect society - at least on the surface. There's a great safety net, a huge middle class, free education, free health care. People are very polite, they wait their turn. They're not too loud, they're not too quiet, but sometimes it's a little too perfect.”

“I spent two months in Fredericksburg, Texas, when I was 8, while my father shot a movie, and I loved it. I just embraced the whole cowboy culture. I got myself a pair of awesome boots and a cowboy hat.”

“In some people's eyes, nudity is so much more dangerous than violence. I never really understood that.”

“It's difficult to get to know a Swede. But once you do, you're in.”

“When I was four or five, I would organise my cars and my action figures. I needed some kind of structure, I think.”

“Being followed is weird, that people want to discuss where I ate lunch or what I wear when I go to lunch... the private life is just gone.”

“I'm pretty intense when it comes to relationships, platonic ones as well. If I feel a connection with someone, I'm willing to go there.”

“I don't really have any plans in terms of what I want to do - movies, television, theater - but I'd love to do a play in New York.”

“I grew up in a very urban, bohemian family where everyone was a hippie or a pacifist. It was artistically and intellectually stimulating, but they were definitely not into outdoor sports or activities.”

“I don't really have a three-year plan or a five-year plan. I don't know what's next, and that's what I find quite exciting. I dig it.”

“It's all about trying to find those projects where you get to enjoy yourself, because I think that's when you create as well: when you're genuinely excited about something. Then you're not just doing it because it's your job.”

“When we were shooting in Shreveport, me and a couple of friends went down to Lafayette, because they had a big Zydeco music festival down there. We spent two days dancing to Zydeco music, eating fried alligator... It was one of the craziest festivals I've ever been to in my life, but I loved it.”

“I've been a member of Greenpeace since I was a teenager.”

“It was always chaos with Mom, Dad, uncles, you know; we all lived in the same building. Dinner parties with 25 people every night.”

“People don't know much about what's going on on the ground in Iraq: what you see in the media is heavily censored.”

“I have to be careful because there is something destructive within me, I think, and I can have a tendency to just search for the kicks. I can't really get too close to someone who's too destructive, or too dark, because then I might go down the rabbit hole myself.”