A biography for Stellan Skarsgardhasn’t been written yet.
“I am not a nationalist in any way, and I hate flag waving, and I don't think much good has come out of nationalism. I am proud of Scandinavia in the sense that we have actually managed to create a very tolerant and human society, which is very livable.”
“All male roles are written in a way where you just hide what's going on inside you, and all female roles are written in a way where they expose everything.”
“I don't know if I am a good cook, but I am a dedicated cook.”
“Everybody thinks I'm so serious and the dark side is very accessible to me, so of course it's a challenge to do something funny.”
“I treat everyone as equals. I can't work if I'm not having fun, and I can't have fun if not everyone is happy.”
“We were working under very harsh conditions on 'Zero Kelvin.' We were up there in the Arctic, closer to the North Pole than to a hospital. Sometimes you had to sleep in small Arctic tents with guns to protect yourself from polar bears and stuff.”
“If I ever lose a job because I've talked about being an atheist, then I don't want that job.”
“Man is such an amazing animal, and the possibilities are infinite for each person.”
“We have to know that the bad guys are not different from us in the world.”
“If you look at Kirsten Dunst's performance in 'Melancholia,' which I think is absolutely wonderful - it's not even in the text, because she doesn't say much; it's all in her eyes. She doesn't have to explain what she's feeling. You just feel it.”
“It takes a long time to make me beautiful, but it goes fast to make me ugly.”
“Even if you're the President of the United States, you still act like a little child and think like a little child sometimes. Childish behavior is what I look for in all of my characters because that is what makes them human.”
“When Lars Von Trier calls me, I say yes without reading the script because often the script hasn't been written yet, and if Fincher called me again, I'd say yes without reading the script, too.”
“I've never thought of myself as a professional. I very rarely do something I don't enjoy.”
“I never help my kids and I never encourage them and I never give them any advice.”
“It's not in the tradition: not even the schoolkids have hot lunches in Norway. They bring a couple of sandwiches from home.”
“There is no overacting, only untrue acting.”
“Shooting should not be about delivering something I've prepared; it should be a live process of finding things out. When things happen that you haven't planned, that's when the film comes alive.”
“You always have to figure out what the director is good at before you work with them; then you can fill in if need be.”
“Rupert Murdoch is in bed with Cameron. Of course they want to kill the BBC... anybody who is in the way.”