Alexander Skarsgård interview: True Blood lust

Sweden used to be known for peace, Abba and long hours of daylight. These days, from the novels of the late Stieg Larsson to the cult film Let the Right One in, its dark side appears to be taking over the world. And in Alexander Skarsgård, who stars as the 1,000-year-old Viking vampire Eric Northman in the American drama series True Blood – soon to start its second series on Channel 4 – it has an actor who has brought a new level of cool to the vampire genre. Tall, blond and beautiful, Skarsgård mixes sex, danger and laconic humour in a way that sets femoral pulses racing.

True Blood, created by Alan Ball, the Oscar-winning screenwriter of American Beauty and Six Feet Under, is based on the Southern Vampire Mysteries series of novels by Charlaine Harris. Its dark tales of 'glamouring' vampires, who can hypnotise their human victims; fangbangers, who are addicted to vampire sex, and users who get high on 'V' – vampire blood – have made it the most watched series on HBO in the US since The Sopranos, as well as an internet phenomenon. In Britain it opened with more than two million viewers. Skarsgård says its appeal is that 'you can sit back and enjoy it, but it's also really intelligent. It says a lot about society today and about how we relate to each other.' His appearances as Eric in the first series were few but mesmerising, and instantly propelled him to the status of the series' sex symbol. We are going to see a lot more of him in the second series.

read on