Stellan Skarsgård opens up about acting struggles after stroke: 'I got really scared' Raechal ShewfeltOctober 23, 2025 at 12:02 AM 0 Eric Charbonneau/Getty Stellan Skarsgård and his son, Alexander Skarsgård, in 2020 Actor Stellan Skarsgård has been onscreen since the '70s, most notably to U.S.
- - Stellan Skarsgård opens up about acting struggles after stroke: 'I got really scared'
Raechal ShewfeltOctober 23, 2025 at 12:02 AM
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Eric Charbonneau/Getty
Stellan Skarsgård and his son, Alexander Skarsgård, in 2020
Actor Stellan Skarsgård has been onscreen since the '70s, most notably to U.S. audiences in films such as Amistad, Good Will Hunting, and 2021's Dune. But after he suffered a stroke three years ago, he's faced new challenges.
He described when it happened — "between one and two of Andor and one and two of Dune" — as "perfect timing."
"I found a way," Skarsgård said in a new interview with Vulture. "They have earpieces where you have a prompter that says the line. It's not enough because I have my rhythm. They have to say their line on top of my line for me to be able to answer it. They have to say it very fast, very neutral. It takes a lot of training for that guy."
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That particular experience was on the Denis Villeneuve-directed Dune films, he said. Clearly, he didn't coast through playing the role of Baron Harkonnen.
"You might say, 'Oh, you're lucky. You don't have to learn your lines.' There's more work now than there was before," Skarsgård said. "Suddenly, I can't come up with names. I can't follow a thought or make an argument that spans several sentences that gets to the point — that, then bang! That is extremely frustrating. But on the other hand, I'm alive. I can work."
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty
Actor Stellan Skarsgård survived a stroke three years ago
Although he said the stroke made him "really scared," he's continued to work. His latest film is the drama Sentimental Value, about a father attempting to reconnect with his daughters, which Skarsgård starred in and executive produced.
"I'm not afraid of dying," the Chernobyl star said, "but I am afraid of not being capable of living. That is a fear. And being boring."
Notably, six of Skargård's eight offspring have gone into acting themselves, including True Blood and Big Little Lies alum Alexander, Vikings star Gustaf, and Bill, the It film franchise's killer clown Pennywise. But don't call them nepo babies.
"I consider myself a nepo daddy," Skarsgård said, "because I get so much goodwill and maybe jobs because of them."
He said that he hadn't recommended them for any jobs.
"It is such a bulls--- thing," the actor said. "Because nobody would hire you, at least not for anything good, if you're not good enough."
Sentimental Value arrives in theaters Nov. 7.
on Entertainment Weekly
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