Tarzan hunk Alexander Skarsgård opens up on pubs, his love of being in the buff, and living with a drug dealer
The star, named Sweden’s Sexiest Man five times, hated his first touch of celebrity - and nearly never went back
WITH his six-pack rippling above a tiny loincloth, Alexander Skarsgård looks like a poster boy for naked ambition.
But while the Swedish star has no problems with nudity thanks to his liberated actor dad — his hunger for fame has taken longer to mature.
The 39-year-old star of The Legend Of Tarzan, in cinemas today, grew up in Stockholm with his family walking around the house in the buff.
He says: “I love to be naked.”
But Alexander’s trek through the Hollywood jungle almost never happened when, after making a hit film in his early teens, he took an instant dislike to celebrity.
It took a 15-month stint of National Service — and six months as an English student in Leeds — to put him back on the path that today sees him starring opposite Margot Robbie, as Jane, in this summer blockbuster.
But then acting is in Alexander’s blood.
He is the eldest child of Stellan, 65 — star of Mamma Mia!, Good Will Hunting, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and BBC’s River.
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He made his first film aged seven and was 13 when he appeared in another low-budget film, The Dog That Smiled, which became a surprise hit in Sweden in 1989.
Alexander says: “The fame was scary to me.
“When people stare at you and you read about yourself in papers — at 13 it got very confusing.
Sweden is not like the States or England where you might get sent to Afghanistan. Our last war was 200 years ago
“I thought if this is what it’s like to be famous, I don’t like it one bit.”
The star turned his back on the movie business before volunteering for National Service at 19.
He explains: “I come from a family of pacifists so it’s not like I was going to join the war.
“Sweden is not like the States or England where you might get sent to Afghanistan.
“Our last war was 200 years ago.
“For me it was just a personal challenge.
“I’m very happy I did it, but it was tough.
“Our unit did anti-sabotage and anti-terrorism so some of those who applied were total warheads.
“The mentality sometimes got a bit too testosterone-fuelled for my tastes.
“A lot of the guys I served with wanted to be James Bond whereas I was a hippy.
“Most of my friends didn’t do military service.
“But they spent those 15 months hanging out drinking and smoking pot.
“I wanted the challenge.
“I was curious.
“I wanted to see what it would do to me to go through all of this.”
Afterwards Alexander wanted a complete change of pace and came to England.
It was 1996, Cool Britannia ruled and London was where it was all happening.
But he and a friend ended up in West Yorkshire instead.
He says: “We just looked at a map.
“We both liked Leeds United FC so we thought, let’s go there.
“We didn’t study much.
“We just had a blast.
“People were super-friendly and I had a great time.
“I still support Leeds United.
We just looked at a map. We both liked Leeds United FC so we thought, let’s go there
“I just needed a break — to be able to chill.
“So did my friend.
“We went there and studied, but it was basically just hanging out and having fun.
“We lived in this basement with no heating, used sleeping bags, and shared a bathroom with a drug dealer who was obsessed with the Queen of Sweden for some reason.
“It was kind of scary.
“I know that seems weird to come to the UK and not go to London, but I wanted to see the real England, and I saw it in Leeds.
“I recommend The Headingley Run — have a pint in every pub on Otley Road.
“That’s how you entertain yourself.
“Lots of pound-a-pint nights.
“Then I knew I had to decide what I wanted to do with my life.”
After six months of little studying and lots of partying he dropped out — yet he got to graduate years later, when he collected an honorary doctorate degree in the arts at Leeds Metropolitan University in 2011.
Alexander enrolled in a drama course in New York and landed small roles in movies, including Zoolander.
In 2004 he moved to Los Angeles and had his big TV breakthrough in 2008’s Generation Kill and vampire drama True Blood.
He also appeared in Lady Gaga’s video for her single Paparazzi.
Since then he has been named Sweden’s Sexiest Man five times and recently joked: “Every single day I walk up to that mirror and think, ‘Five times motherf***er, five times’.”
His willingness to show off his generously proportioned manhood in True Blood added to the sex appeal.
This is a man so at ease with his body that he even posted a photo of himself sitting naked on a toilet at the South Pole, during a charity expedition with Prince Harry.
He says: “I’m not a prude. I’m from Sweden, and it’s different there.
“If it makes sense, I’ll do nudity.
“And I love to be naked.
“It’s kind of liberating.”
His father is equally body-confident.
I love to be naked. It’s kind of liberating
Twice married, father-of-eight Stellan stripped off in Lars von Trier’s controversial film Nymphomaniac three years ago and once revealed: “I was born naked and walk around naked at home . . .
“I have a very relaxed relationship with my genitals.”
As Sweden’s Sexiest Man, Alexander is not short of female company.
He has been romantically linked to Taylor Swift, Amanda Seyfried, Evan Rachel Wood, Kate Bosworth, Katie Holmes and Alicia Vikander.
He is currently dating British model Alexa Chung, 32.
At the London premiere of Tarzan on Wednesday, Alexander displayed his way with women by adjusting co-star Margot Robbie’s dress and describing her as “ridiculously beautiful”.
Alexa did not look as pleased about that as Margot did.
To bulk up as jungle hero Tarzan, 6ft 4in Alexander put on 11lb and spent three months lifting weights.
He did not have to travel to deepest Africa to make the movie — it was mostly filmed in Watford and the apes and stunning scenery were added in digitally — but an adventure in the Congo would have posed few difficulties for him.
He took up Prince Harry’s challenge to race to the South Pole with injured servicemen in 2014.
And he seems to be winning the race to become the most famous Skarsgard of all.
He says: “My dad’s a massive fan of Tarzan.
“He was more excited than I was when I got this role.”
At least Stellan will have no problem watching his son swinging across the screen in a loincloth.
Who's King of the Jungle?
ELMO LINCOLN
The US actor was the first to play Tarzan on film in hit 1918 silent flick Tarzan Of The Apes.
It was followed by successful two.
★★☆☆☆
JOHNNY WEISSMULLER
The US Olympic swimmer was the lead in 1932’s Tarzan The Ape Man and went on to play him in 12 other pictures.
He introduced Tarzan’s “yodelling” yell.
★★★★★
MIKE HENRY
The ex-American football hero took over loincloth duties for the 1966 film Tarzan And The Valley Of Gold.
It reinvented the character as a Bond-type, travelling around the world in search of adventure.
★☆☆☆☆
RON ELY
The US actor took over duties for TV show Tarzan, which ran for 57 episodes from 1966 to 1968, because it kept Tarzan’s famous sidekick Cheeta – and Mike Henry didn’t like chimps.
★★★★☆
CHRISTOPHER LAMBERT
French actor played Tarzan in the 1984 film Greystoke, which was nominated for three Oscars.
Andie MacDowell took on the role of Tarzan’s love interest Jane.