#goth is too expensive in 2023

[oedonchapeldweller]

srry that i get most of my goth shit from halloween costumes and tights from amazon but im not rich enough to have real goth shit thats 900$ and not even in my size

[favescandis]

NEW interview with Alexander Skarsgård and Sharp Magazine!

(photos from Corey Nickols/IMDb at Sundance and by George Pimental at the Canadian premiere of INFINITY POOL in January 2023)

Alexander Skarsgård Admits He’s ‘Quite Boring’

by Marriska Fernandes, February 22, 2023

Alexander Skarsgård is mostly a private person who prefers to use his craft as a platform to tame his wild, primal side — and he’s certainly one who opts to wear his Chuck Taylors to a snowy Toronto red carpet premiere of his latest film, Infinity Pool.

The Swedish actor has been digging his teeth into darker roles that are far removed from himself, and roles he finds thrilling. From the abusive husband in Big Little Lies that earned him an Emmy, to the testosterone-fuelled Viking in The Northman, Skarsgård likes tapping into the primal nature demanded of these roles. In Toronto filmmaker Brandon Cronenberg’s horror “Infinity Pool,” he certainly taps into a violent and visceral portrayal of an unsuccessful writer.

The film, which is now playing in theatres, follows James (Alexander Skarsgård) and Em (Cleopatra Coleman), who are on an all-inclusive resort in a fictional country. When Gabi (Mia Goth) and her friends take them outside the resort grounds, James accidentally runs over and kills a local. The punishment is either be executed, or if you can afford it, allow yourself to be cloned and watch the clone killed instead.

Skarsgård is not the classic industry nepo baby some imagine him to be (he’s the son of famed actor Stellan Skarsgård) — his insecurity runs deep; just like his onscreen character James, he too suffers from imposter syndrome. In fact, Skarsgård shared how he thought he was surely getting fired on Generation Kill, his first major role in the U.S. It was only until two months in that he calculated he was likely safe as it would have been too expensive for HBO to recast.

Skarsgård, 46, approaches his roles passionately, studying the ins and outs of his character as if they were his own. He thinks, plans and sleeps on it — structure, for him, is key, he says. So when it came to playing James and his many clones, the actor found himself mapping out the psychological journeys of each one – which he did for himself, really.

The jaw-dropping horror is one that will live rent-free in your mind as Skarsgård frightens, impresses and marvels in his haunting turn. We spoke with the actor about the film, his performance (he apologizes for the nightmares), his process, and his personal style.

I’ve been following your work having seen most of it, from Big LIttle Lies to True Blood to The Northman. So having the luxury to do any kind of role, what were you looking to do next as an artist when this one came your way?

I was sent the script when I was way deep in mud in the Irish soil, shooting The Northman. It was a very, very intense shoot; a tremendous experience and I loved it, but it was very physically and mentally exhausting. James (in this script) is so diametrically opposed to Amleth, my character in The Northman, who’s very much of a testosterone-filled berserker and James is definitely not that. So that was exciting and tonally, I was familiar with Brandon’s work; I had seen both Antiviral and Possessor and I thought they were terrific films and Andrea Riseborough is a dear friend of mine and so obviously, the star of Possessor had spoken so highly of Brandon, what it was like working with him and how he ironically, is the sweetest, most humble, lovely, gentleman which is strange, because the stuff that he comes up with is so dark and twisted. Maybe that’s his… I don’t know if it’s his therapy and he gets it out of his system by writing about it. I found him to be such an inspiring and singular and interesting filmmaker and it’s a gift as an actor to get to play a role like James because the journey he goes on; what he experiences is psychologically absolutely fascinating to me. So I was thrilled to jump on board.

You said that the sweet spot for you is when you’re intrigued by the character and you understand aspects of him, and he makes you curious to learn more. How did that apply to James and the different versions of his clones?

Because there’s so much to interpret, I’m still thinking about it (laughs). It’s such a rich character, and what a treat to get to play three, four versions of the same character and to play around with the juxtaposition between James the author and James the clone, and the different iterations of the clone and what happens to James after the first time he watches the execution of the clone, what happens after the second, third? How does that change him? What does it do to someone psychologically when you have to witness your own death in such a brutal way, where he can’t look away. It’s horrifying. But it’s also exhilarating in a weird way. I found that really interesting to play around with who is James? And also literally who is the character we’re watching? Because it could also be open to interpretation. Is this James or like Dr. Modan says in the movie, ‘Do you ever wonder whether you are the clone and they killed the real James?’ And that was fascinating to me and very interesting to play around with that notion when I was prepping the movie, and honestly shooting it I’d like to leave that open. This could be James but this could also be the clone.

And did you really map out the psychological journeys for all the clones?

I did for myself and then obviously tried to leave room for interpretation for the audience.

There seems to be a through-line with some of your roles because there’s always something primal whether it was the beast quality in The Northman or the wolf in Hold the Dark and now in this you’re wrestling with a naked version of yourself as a dog.

Yeah, I think I guess I’m quite drawn to the primal. The more people that revert back to something more atavistic and that friction that is being human in a modern day society, the friction between functioning in a civilized society. Right now, I’m in New York City, and I’m surrounded by millions and millions of people. But deep down, you also have the more atavistic equality and the more primal qualities and that animal within that we sometimes let out, most often try to suppress and that I find quite fascinating. I think that’s been the through-line in some of my films.

So when it comes to creating roles, you have often said that you like structure and you read the script once a day, every day until shooting. Was it any different with this one?

I do like structure, I compartmentalize so that helps me map out the character and the journey. I do find it very useful to read the script, go over it in prep once a day because it helps me trigger inspiration and discover new things. And even if it’s the 30th time I read the script I’ll notice something that I’ve not noticed before or makes me think about something in a different way. Most of those ideas, I just discard but occasionally you’ll find something that’s really fascinating and that might be even the foundation for the character and you start building off of that.

Did this structure help you process any scene in particular?

It helps me with everything; it helps me understand the character and map it out. The most obvious was the first transformation, the first execution. The first cloning is a pivotal moment because it is the first time James witnessed his own execution and so that was a very big moment and important to understand in deciding how James would react to it. James’ wife is looking away as she’s horrified by it but he is mesmerized by it, almost transfixed by it. And that was fascinating to me to try to kind of go in that direction and see what we discovered.

A few years ago in an interview you were asked what scares you and you said you have the tendency to scare yourself sometimes. So did that happen during the making of this horror when you’re in the process of trying to scare us?

(Laughs) I don’t know if I scared myself but it was definitely intense… (laughs) in a very primal way. I don’t know… working with Brandon was so wonderful and there was so much love and trust there and I really just genuinely believed in his vision for the film and for the role and that’s what it’s all about. Create that trust on a movie set and then you just let yourself go and I feel like most of the cerebral work is done in prep. That’s when you think about the character and you map it out and all this is interesting, but it’s very practical. And the goal is to once you show up on set, you can just hopefully that is somewhere in your systems you don’t overthink it, you don’t actually think about it at all, you can just throw yourself into the situation and where that takes you and on Infinity Pool, as you’ll see in the movie, it took us to some really weird, dark places.

So do you find it thrilling to deep dig into these darker roles that require you to tap into a different aspect of yourself as an artist?

Tremendously. I think I’m privately a very mellow human being. I’m quite content, probably quite boring and so it is thrilling to open up a channel that I never do in real life. It gives me an excuse to tap into that and explore that darkness or wild or more kind of eccentric or crazy or the more primal side of who I am.

James does tend to have this kind of imposter syndrome because when he’s trying to write. Have you ever felt that and when?

I quite often feel that. I’ve been working for quite a few years, but I still feel that. I definitely still struggle with insecurity or feeling that I’m not talented enough or that I’m miscast. The biggest one was probably on Generation Kill, which was my first major role in the U.S. and it was a project that I was incredibly excited about. It was an opportunity to work on it. It was an HBO miniseries about the invasion of Iraq, made by David Simon and Ed burns. They did The Wire show that I was a big, big fan of; It was such a terrific role and I was completely unknown. I hadn’t really worked. I’d done a couple of days on Zoolander, five, six years prior to this, but I definitely wasn’t… I felt that I couldn’t believe I was cast in this really great role in this really great HBO series. I had a very, very strong sense of imposter syndrome there. We were in Africa for seven months shooting it and I was so certain that they would recast and fire me that every day I would figure out how much time or how much money HBO had spent on shooting this and how expensive would it be for them to replace me? So it was like two, three months into production when I realized, well, if they fire me and recast the role, they have to reshoot 40% of the show when that would cost a lot of money. So maybe that won’t happen now. That’s when I first started feeling like I might actually get to finish this job. But up until that point, I was certain that we would get a phone call saying, ‘You were miscast; you’re out!.’

Oh wow. Thank you for sharing that and I think you were well cast in Generation Kill. Before we wrap, I do want to ask you about your red carpet look in Toronto. I love the casual sneakers and T-shirt look in the midst of the snowstorm. Is that your personal sense of style?

Yeah, that was. (laughs). That’s kind of what I wear. I almost missed the red carpet or the Toronto trip didn’t happen because I was flying out from New York and because of the blizzard in Toronto, I was delayed by three or four hours. So that’s why unfortunately, you have to do this over the phone. I was supposed to come in to Toronto and do press in the afternoon and then have to relax a bit and maybe put on some real boots instead of my Chuck Taylors. But instead, I was so delayed that I came straight from the airport to the red carpet.

Is that the classic Alex look?

Yeah. I’m on the road so much that I love to travel with just carry on, which means I have to really plan what to pack. So I can only bring one pair of shoes, maybe two pairs of trousers and one or two sweaters. That even goes for when I’m home. Like I don’t have much clothes. And I prefer to have items that I really love to wear and I don’t really feel the need to have 45 different pairs of sneakers on. If I love my sneakers and have one of them for two years and when I need a new pair, I’ll buy a new pair. But that’s all I really need and the same goes for all my clothes.

That’s very minimal and I love to hear that. Glad you made it out to Toronto!

I’m really glad. It was important for me to come out there because again, Brandon’s hometown and most of the crew and even some of our producers are from there. So it was on this tour that we’ve been doing Sundance, New York and we’re going to the Berlin Film Festival next month. It was really not only because I love Toronto, it’s always fun to be there. But again, to come home to Brandon’s hometown and have a night of celebration together was really really important to me, even though I almost missed it.

Thank you and congratulations again on the film!

Thank you and I appreciate it.

We’re sure to see more of Skarsgård, who is currently filming season four of the HBO familial drama Succession. He was introduced in season three as tech mogul Lukas Matsson and we’ll be seeing a lot more of him in the new season.

Infinity Pool is now playing in theatres.

via sharpmagazine.com 

[boybasher]

God Bless Me 🕊️ (my soft goth style look book and emo girl poem reading)

.

•

.

my poem:

Why does no one like me?

Am I not pretty

Was I easier to love when I was 13

Scruffy face and soft thighs

Rigid thoughts and crooked teeth

I’m fixated on someone who isn’t alive

Dreaming of a better me

Leaves me feeling lonely

Ripped soles, ripped soul

I’m already bleeding

Jab the steel in deeper

Fingers like metal

Cold and boney

Artificial Intelligence

What’s the point of living

Don’t mind me

I forgot the world exists outside of me sometimes

Shy and nervous

I’m scared and anxious

Just ignore me

I forget there’s other people breathing

Don’t wanna be seen

Stop looking at me

I’m fake hair and too much eyeliner

Walking past the beach

I’m used to puddles and jagged streets

Never been somewhere where I could just be me

Stare at me but I just don’t care

Dark Chocolate

I’m not as sweet as you think

Not as dark as I seem

My scopes so small

And my eyesights pretty bad

I’m pretty in the mirror

Behind the digital camera

But never in person

Kiss me til I can’t feel my toes

Heaven Is For Real

Ain’t just a movie

Living in hell

Is just another Tuesday for me

Who wears boots to the beach?

A hipster wannabe

Is all I’ll ever be

But hey, at least the boys think I’m sexy

Dirty blondes

Oversized tank tops

Sweaty, so shiny

You’re the highlight of my day

I wish I could be under you

As I pass by with my head down

Dodging eyeballs

As if they were bullets

I don’t give smiles out for free

Unless you entice me

Little kids building sand castles

As big brother kicks them down

That’s life for you

God loves you

But only on Sundays

Melted ice cream

I’m dripping for you too

I can’t accept your drink

I don’t let my guard down just for anybody

Unless a paycheck is involved

I only see me

And I’m not used to giving in

Expensive Prescriptions

Big fake teeth

We don’t belong here

Yet i try so hard to fit it

In a place so temporary

Would god mind if we shared a sin?

.

•

.

poem: God Bless Me by dark baby, (2023).

[spaceageloveblog]

So we went to a Cure concert.

Taylor Swift played 3 shows in Tampa in April and it was too expensive and we'd already seen her in 2018 anyway. But those April shows came and went and I felt regret. Then I saw she was in Cincinnati in July, we could make a weekend out of visiting our old stomping grounds and seeing the show. But she said, c'mon, that's still too expensive, and we don't want to see her without the kids.

But we could use a summer weekend getaway without the kids, I said. Did some Googling and couldn't believe we didn't know the Cure were ending their North American tour in Miami on Saturday, July 1. It was sold out, but we could scalp decent ticket for $700 each, expensive but not Taylor Swift expensive, that would be awesome, right? She agreed.

I could only find the seats on Vivid, not Seatgeek or Stubhub, which seemed weird. I wanted to be sure who I was dealing with before dropping that kind of money on concert tickets. The company seemed legit. However, I mentioned I was thinking about this to a coworker of mine who knew was a big Cure fan, and she cautioned me the band was going to war with ticket scalpers so be careful.

Reading Robert Smith's Twitter feed demonstrated that war, making it very difficult, Vivid being the only secondary site to try. My Reddit research indicated Vivid was doing something a bit sketchy, selling Ticketmaster accounts not tickets. That is, I pay them money, they transfer an account to me, then I change the name on the account to mine. Knowing how much effort Robert Smith was putting into bucking scalpers, we decided not to risk it.

If we weren't willing to try that route, the only way was the Ticketmaster face value resale. So I just refreshed that site a few times per day. I got a hit one Saturday morning, nosebleeds, side view, around $100 per ticket all in. Sellers were offering all 3 or just 1, not 2. So I bought all 3. Put the 3rd up for sale on the verified site right away and it sold in 10 minutes. Kept refreshing everyday. About a week later, 2 more nosebleeds popped up, about $10 more per ticket, but better location, not a side view. Bought those 2, resold my other 2, again in like 10 minutes. Kept refreshing for a few months, but gave up a few days before the show. Nosebleeds were it.

Research on Reddit indicated that opening act went on at 7 for 45 minutes, half hour break until the Cure at 8:15, played until 11. Knowing that, you still get worried and get there too early in case that's not always the case. But on Twitter the band account posted nearly exactly that, Twilight sad at 7, the Cure at 8:15.

We took the under 10 minute walk to the hotel on the somewhat pedestrian friendly sidewalk, surrounded by tons of nerdy 40- and 50-something white dudes in non-trendy jeans with black, grey or navy T-shirts and black shoes. Their dates were similarly aged, dressed slightly more trendily. Closer to the arena we did wee more young people dresses goth though. She wore something moderately hip if I recall correctly. I wore the standard nerdy dark grey T-shirt, but opted for Bermuda shorts and white Adidas sneakers. So I was dressed very non-trendy for Miami standards, but on the upper end of trendiness for Cure concert in 2023 standards.

Getting into the arena was pretty easy, lines moved quickly. Looked like long merch lines inside, but we weren't interested. Up the escalators to the nose bleeds, past dozens more dudes in T-shirts and jeans and sneakers. Opted for a drink, but we're on a no alcohol kick, so water. They poured the water bottles into big plastic cups which was annoying.

It was around 7:40, sounded like opening act was finishing up, so we decided to sip water and wait in the concourse until they finished. Not that I have anything against them, I listened to an entire album of theirs plus a few more of their songs in preparation for the show, but at this point, why bother some fan that really wanted to see them by navigating to our seats for one song.

When it was time, we find the entrance to section 310. Start walking up, it's dark and difficult to see the row numbers. We wonder how far up row 22. Turns out it's all the way up. Your natural initial reaction is, yikes, last row, these suck. But they were great. The angle of the section meant our row only had 6 or 8 seats in it. We were seats 1-2 and didn't have to constantly make way for others coming and going. And there was a ledge behind us, so we had somewhere to stow our gigantic plastic cups of previously bottled water.

We had a few moments to ourselves as the crowd trickled in. She asked what even is this area for? I pointed to the Miami Heat championship banners we didn't even have to crane our necks to see because we were so high up, they were basically at eye level. We talked about whatever, we were generally happy, talking pictures, laughing. My college friend had sent me a picture of himself from Taylor Swift in Cincinnati the night before, so I did a similar pose, she took my picture and I texted it to him.

The Cure is a weird band for me inasmuch that I love them, but I started loving them later in life, so I don't know a lot of their deep cuts very well. And I know a few of their songs from living through them as a kid when I wasn't into them. Definitely remember living through "Lovesong" in '89 then "Friday I'm in Love" in '92. And by college in the late '90s I was definitely aware of more of their '80s classics like "Just Like Heaven" and "Close to Me" and "Boys Don't Cry."

At some point in the 2010s, I became enamored with "Pictures of You" which led me to their Greatest Hits and the Disintegration album. And those were enough to call myself a fan. Over the last few years I eventually got around to listening to most their '80s albums and the entire album "Friday I'm in Love" is on (can't believe "Letter to Elise" escaped me for so long). But I have barely listened to much of their stuff from the rest of the '90s and onward.

All that is to say, there are many songs they played that I didn't recognize, including their opening song. That didn't matter to me very much, the second song they played was "Pictures of You" and I stood there in the back row and sang along, I think she did too. And I was in.

Well, I was in before that. When the band came out, Robert Smith methodically walked around the stage, hit every angle, looking all around, seemingly soaking it all in. This took 5 minutes or so. It was quite the sight to see. He seemed to be feeling something, and that feeling transferred itself into the crowd. It felt special to be there. To be in the presence of this band and these songs that have been with so many of us for so long.

I could have sang along to "Pictures of You" then a few others and called it night and been happy. But they played for so long, playing so many of their best songs, it was simply a grand experience. An experience that was only slightly dampened by so many people being in the wrong seats all around us, and plenty of back and forths with ushers and whatnot. It was dark, I get it, but c'mon. All of this didn't get totally sorted probably until a half hour or so into the show.

They played 14 songs before the first break, and besides "Pictures of You" the only other really "big" song (in my opinion) they played was "Lovesong." They played "Push," a song I've gotten into lately as I've listened the The Head on the Door album in its entirety for the first time recently. That was a highlight. A song I really dug that I didn't previously recognize was "And Nothing is Forever."

The band left the stage unceremoniously around 9:45 and she asked what was going on, I thought you said they were playing until 11. I said they were probably just taking a break. And they did come back out just a few moments later. They call this an encore online, but it didn't feel like a normal concert encore where the band ends on a dramatic note with a big song, then comes back out for 2 or 3 more big songs. This just felt like a break, the first of 2.

They came back out for 5 more songs, but it was sort of low key, playing sort of mellow songs, the last 3 of which from Disintegration, including "Plainsong." And just like that, they were off for another break. This time it felt even more obvious because their biggest songs were still yet to come.

When they came back on, Robert Smith walked around the stage again, soaking it all in. He genuinely seemed emotional, like this was important and meaningful to him. Then they played "Lullaby" plus a couple more and then were onto some of their biggest songs. "Close to Me" then "Why Can't I Be You?" then "In Between Days" then "Just Like Heaven" then "Boys Don't Cry." That felt like that should have been it. But then they played a couple more. 30 songs in total if setlist.fm is to be trusted.

We stopped by CVS on the walk back to the hotel for drinks and snacks, waited in a long line of concert goers. The next morning we had a great breakfast at Brazilian coffee shop nearby that I found on Yelp because we you aren't drinking alcohol, you need to have a thing, and mine is good coffee. Then we were off to Key West for 2 nights which had its ups and downs, many of the downs caused by my obsessive navel gazing about teetotaling and scoffing at the price of mocktails. Essentially Key West was fine but not for us, at least not for us in the place we're at in our lives.

But we saw the Cure and for a moment we were happy.

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

246 of 2023

What’s the latest youtube channel you’ve discovered and binge-watched?  

Long time ago, Molly Burke and Nik Nocturnal. Also some local, Dutch language channels.

What’s one thing that makes your shoulders hurt? 

Sleeping on the wrong pillow.

Does it snow where you live?

Rarely. We’re usually above zero, so even if it snows, it doesn’t stay for long.

Do you think your hair looks better long or short?

I don’t care, I prefer it short now. I used to have long hair in the past.

Do you look best with or without bangs?  

Lol. No bangs for a guy okay?

What stereotype would you say you fit the most?  

None. I’m a bit of hip hop, a bit of metalhead, a bit of goth. It’s hard to say, there’s alwaqys a twist.

Do you enjoy editing photos on your phone?

No, I have a proper computer software for that.

What’s your favorite thing to do on your phone? 

Browsing the internet, but even this is better on the computer.

Which season do you wish would last longer?  

Summer, definitely.

Do you like the name Eliana?  

I prefer Elaine.

Do you know anyone named Claire? Veronica? Cescily? Marcella? Miranda?  

I used to attend kindergarten with Veronique, but not any others.

Haw many outdoor birthday parties have you had? 

One, I think.

How much taller or shorter are you than your mom? 

10 cm taller.

Who is your favorite sibling?

My sister by default, I don’t have any other siblings.

Do you have neat handwriting?

Not really, but at least it’s legible.

Do you enjoy journaling?

I do. I love making handwritten notes and writing important dates and events in the calendar.

What is your most recent new favorite food you’ve discovered?

I can’t remember. I usually stick to the same foods. But I’d go with mini pizzas/mini burgers from Lidl.

Do you like sushi? 

Yes, I do. Too bad it’s that expensive :(

Have you ever tried seaweed?

I think so, in sushi.

How often do you wash your hair?  

Every two dayds. Washing hair every day is not healthy.

Do you have an actual pig-shaped piggy bank? 

No, and I never did. They’re so tacky.

Would you rather hike a mountain or dive into the sea?  

Dive into the sea.

Would you rather grow wings or a tail?

Lol no, thanks.

Which Barbie doll was your favorite?

I’m a guy lol.

Do you prefer cheetah or zebra print? chevron or polka dots? paisleys or plaid? stripes or stars?

Jeez, this all is so tacky. I would never wear it, even if I was a woman.

Do you like your natural hair color?

Nope, it’s so boring.

What is your natural hair color? 

Brown.

Did you dream of becoming famous as a kid?

Kind of, but as I was growing up, I liked the idea less and less.

What show did you want to be on?

None.

Have you ever been to a gynecologist?

Is there any reason why a person who is male should go to one?

Do you use the Bitmoji app on your phone?

No, I don’t even know what it is.

Do you get on facebook every day?

I don’t even have Facebook and I don’t intend to have.

What is your Instagram screenname?

Here you go.

Do you remember the very first episode of Spongebob when it first came out?

I’ve never watched this shit.

Did you watch the Kids Choice Awards when you were a kid? 

No, I had better things to do.

What was your favorite girl group when you were growing up?

None.

Would you ever consider naming a child after a family member?

I was kinda named after my grandpa, so I like the idea, but there’s one problem, I don’t want to have kids.

List three names that sound similar to your name. 

Can’t think of any, except for alternative spellings of my own name.

List three spelling of your name that you are glad you don’t have.

Lol at this survey. One thing is certain, I’m glad to be Joeri.

What were you almost named? 

Joris. It’s actually the other version of my name (and that’s what my grandpa was named), and I like it as much as *my* version.

Do you like your name?  

Very much so. Even though it’s very common where I live.

What are your top three favorite girl’s names? boy names?

Laura, Sylvie, Monica; Joris, Adriaan, Damiaan. (all the Dutch spelling)

What is something you always wanted to do that your parents never let you?

Go to parties. I was going anyway.

Do you have any symptoms of COVID-19 right now?

No, and Europe doesn’t give a shit anymore. Our lives came back to normal.

Have you made your own mask to help prevent the spread of the virus? 

Does anyone still believe in this bullshit?

Do you know anyone who has the virus?

Plenty of people, even my husband. Spoiler alert: none of them died. Only two were in the hospital. 95% had minor symptoms resembling cold. At this moment, no one has it. But as I said, Europe doesn’t care anymore.

What was the last grocery store you shopped at? 

Albert Heijn.

Name three countries you would like to visit.

Finland, Sweden, Spain.

What does your name mean?

It’s a variant of George, so look it up.

Are you proud to be an American? (if applicable) -

Thankfully I’m not American, and if I was, I’d be rather ashamed.

What countries have you visited?

Belgium (lol), Germany, France, the Netherlands, Denmark, Poland.

Do you have any regrets?

No, it’s pointless. The past is the past.

Do you ever wish you had someone to hug? 

I do have someone to hug.

Do you ever sleep on your bedroom floor? 

Why would I? Our bed occupies all the space.

[skarsjoy]

NEW interview with The Guardian: Alexander Skarsgård: ‘There’s a politeness to Swedes. It’s a facade. Deep down we’re animals’

by Ryan Gilbey, March 27, 2023

The actor talks about his new film, the explicit sci-fi horror Infinity Pool, why he gave up acting for eight years – and why he likes playing darker, more twisted characters

Alexander Skarsgård is an embarrassing creep who tries to coerce women into partying naked with him in hotel suites. Or so it would seem from the version of himself that he played last year in Donald Glover’s comedy Atlanta. “I’m not saying that I dance around in a leopard-print thong in front of girls I don’t know,” he says. “But I’m also not saying that I don’t. That kind of thing works really well when there’s a kernel of truth in it.

”This twinkling, teasing playfulness represents the default setting of the 46-year-old actor. His natural self-deprecation is what makes it so startling when he turns up on screen as another of the brutes and bastards that have become his speciality over the years. There was the violently abusive husband in the HBO series Big Little Lies and the violently abusive cop in War on Everyone; a racist in Passing and a rapist in the Straw Dogs remake, as well as a sad, moustachioed sleazeball who sleeps with his partner’s underage daughter in The Diary of a Teenage Girl. Eric, the vampire he played across all seven series of True Blood, was an absolute catch by comparison.

It could even be argued that Skarsgård looks lost or vague in those roles that don’t supply some darkness to temper his natural sheen. He was ferocious as a mud-caked proto-Hamlet in Robert Eggers’s wild Viking epic The Northman, but as the yodelling vine-swinger in The Legend of Tarzan, there was none of the usual depth present behind his beauty. Whereas his character in the new satirical horror Infinity Pool – directed by Brandon Cronenberg, son of David – is up to his disbelieving eyes in vanity, amorality and rancid privilege.

Skarsgård plays a novelist called James living off the wealth of his wife, Em (Cleopatra Coleman), and struggling to write a second book six years after his debut. In search of inspiration, he and Em visit a luxurious resort in an unnamed country. What begins as a taunting comedy about the awfulness of the 1% veers off into extremity when the couple fall in with the hedonistic Gabi (Mia Goth) and her partner, Alban (Jalil Lespert). All it takes for the impressionable James to be hooked by these reprobates is a few compliments from Gabi followed by a sex act shown in graphic detail. “My job is so hard,” the actor says with a smirk.

Cronenberg and Skarsgård are both the sons of talented men. (Skarsgård’s father is Stellan Skarsgård who, like him, is part of the Lars von Trier Cinematic Universe.) Director and actor also have a certain placid temperament in common. “There’s a politeness to Canadians and Swedes,” says Skarsgård. “But it’s all just a fucking facade. Deep down we’re animals. We’re just very good at concealing it.” He gestures at me. “Brits too. It’s all down there, though. You can just open the tap and let it out. That’s what this movie does.”

Even as the film descends into gruesome horror, Skarsgård remains committed to the idea of his character as a show pony with delusions of being a stallion. “James is arm candy. His wife buys him all these expensive clothes. The two of them look like something out of a travel brochure: the perfect couple on vacation. And he’s trying to play that part while wanting also to be this serious author. But he’s not a Charles Bukowski, he’s not tormented and twisted. He isn’t in touch with the darker side of his personality.”

That changes when James finds himself facing the death penalty after accidentally killing a local farmer. He is assured by the police that there is a way out: for a hefty price, a clone of him can be created to take the fall on his behalf. This is no dumb beast, however; the sacrificial lamb will possess all his memories and feelings. It will, in effect, be indistinguishable from him. In a film featuring explicit sex and violence, there is still nothing quite as unnerving as the moment James encounters his own double as it wakes with a shocked gasp in a vat of red goo.

“The film company gave me a prosthetic of the clone’s face with all that goo round it,” he says, shaking his head. “It’s incredibly disturbing. What am I meant to do with it? Should I just hang it on the wall? Put it in the fridge?” He decided to go down the practical joke route. “When I have guests over, I’ll hide it in different places around the house.”

Would he take the clone option himself, I wonder? “One hundred per cent! I don’t blame James for going to the ATM. But it opens up other questions. If the clone retains all his memories, then how will he ever know that he is not the clone? Maybe they’re killing the real James. That fascinated me, and I love that there’s no answer in the movie. To throw another wrench in the works: maybe James has even been to the island already. Maybe he’s done this sort of thing before.”

These questions of authenticity, dilution and duplication are especially intriguing for an actor who proposed that twisted alternate version of himself in Atlanta, and who claims to suffer even now from impostor syndrome. Had you been present in 2008 on the set of Generation Kill, the HBO Iraq war mini-series written by the creators of The Wire and shot in Namibia, Mozambique and South Africa, you might have noticed him sitting off to one side between takes, quietly totting up figures with a pen and paper. “It was my first big job,” he explains. “I was so convinced they were going to fire me that I started calculating the cost of recasting the role once they realised I wasn’t good enough. A month or two in, I was still convinced that every time the phone rang, it was my agent saying: ‘Pack your bags, you’re not cutting it.’ It was only when we’d done some big battle scenes that I knew it would be too expensive to replace me.”

It wasn’t as if he has a history of flunking, though there was the job in the Stockholm bakery that he was sacked from at the age of 16. “We were dipping little biscuits in chocolate for six hours a day in a basement and that was the only thing we got to do,” he says pleadingly, as though mounting the case for his defence. “When you get chocolate on your fingers, it’s tempting to put little stains on your buddy’s white robes. That turned into a bit of a food fight.” He smiles bashfully. Chocolate wouldn’t melt in his mouth.

A few years earlier, he had abandoned a childhood acting career after feeling freaked out by all the attention he received. “When people recognised me, or I thought they did, it made me very uncomfortable. I also believed everything I heard about who I was. Most people at 13 have no idea who they are. I was going from a boy to a man, which is a crazy transformation anyway, but to do it while being in the spotlight was not healthy. That’s why I didn’t work for eight years.” What could he learn now as an actor from his younger self? “There was a lot of joy,” he says. “That makes me sound bitter now! But there was something innocent and lovely and wide-eyed. It’s worth remembering that it can still be a big silly game.”

His continuing appetite for comedy bears this out. He was a riot in the opening episode of On Becoming a God in Central Florida, where he played a dope who gets involved with a pyramid scheme before being eaten by an alligator. (His on-screen wife was Kirsten Dunst. For further proof that their marriages never end well, see Von Trier’s apocalyptic Melancholia.) He also goofs around gloriously in the new season of Documentary Now!, in which he stars as a Werner Herzog-esque director shooting an epic in the Urals while simultaneously showrunning a US network comedy pilot called Bachelor Nanny. “I’ve met Herzog a few times over the years, but I don’t know if he’s seen this yet,” he says, slightly sheepishly. “I’m curious to hear what he thinks.”

It was in fact comedy that tempted Skarsgård back to acting again after all those years away. He was on holiday in Los Angeles in the early 00s when his father’s agent suggested he try out for an audition. Six weeks later, he was pootling around New York in the back of a Jeep with Ben Stiller, pouting away happily as gormless Swedish model Meekus in Zoolander. Getting that job was such a breeze that he was crestfallen to be knocked back repeatedly in other Hollywood auditions. He returned to Sweden to continue acting; another six years elapsed before Generation Kill kickstarted his US career.

These days, he seems somehow both ubiquitous and judicious. He is getting ready to make his directorial debut with The Pack, in which he and Florence Pugh star as documentary makers in Alaska. And he will return this month in the fourth and final season of Succession, which reportedly places even greater emphasis on Skarsgård’s character, the tech bro Lukas Matsson. Another bad boy of sorts.

“Quite a few of the projects I’ve chosen deal with the juxtaposition of someone trying to function in modern society while also dealing with that atavistic primal question of who he is deep down and what happens when that flares up and can’t be suppressed any longer,” he says. “It’s incredibly cathartic to play those roles. Maybe because I’m quite mellow in my disposition. These darker, more twisted characters give me an opportunity to howl that primal scream and let it out, which I rarely do in everyday life.”

James in Infinity Pool has his head turned by the tiniest compliment; Skarsgård knows that, for all his own protestations about refusing to read what is written about him, he is just as susceptible to praise. “I really don’t read reviews,” he says. “That said, it’s so nice when people enjoy your work enough to come say something or take a photo. I’d prefer that to the alternative, which is crawling around in the mud for seven months and giving it everything and then it’s just … crickets. I like people appreciating what I’ve done. I’m a vain motherfucker!”

Infinity Pool is released on 24 March. The new series of Succession is on Sky Atlantic and NOW on 27 March.

Photos credited to Charlie Clift (in 2022 for The Northman promotion in The Guardian), Moviestore collection Ltd/Alamy (True Blood), Everett Collection Inc/Alamy (On Becoming a God in Central Florida), and Graeme Hunter/HBO (Succession). theguardian.com; cover updated from guardiang2 on Instagram, 3/17/23 (my edit)

[the-cannibal]

Heyy! Loved your account so had to follow! If you’re still doing the slashers match up could it be possible to do one for me? Im 4’11 and on the chubby side. I dress either grunge, goth, or preppy but boots are my to-go shoes! In my spare time I love drawing, listening to music and sometimes I’ll play my guitar and/or sing.

I mainly love to sing post punk songs or indie songs. Im a big horror fan that I don’t get scared that much. I do love a gorey movie from time to time. I want to believe that im kind and friendly but I get mad easily. Idk if this is good enough for you to choose but thank you anyways! Have a great day🫶🏻

Helloooooo! Thank you so much for the follow, I’m so glad you like my stuff! Boots are such a great choice in shoes, and you have awesome taste in music and style!

I wrote this on my phone so I apologize if it gets laid out weirdly

I pair you with…

Bo Sinclair!

Okay so hear me out. Bo is totally a punk fan and would probably burn so many CDs for you. Man probably still uses limewire even though it’s literally 2023.

He absolutely loves your style and would buy you band shirts he knows you like! He would also help you take care of any expensive boots you may have! He wears boots all the time too so he knows the pain of accidentally scuffing a boot.

Bo is very tall so don’t be surprised if he teases you about your height. If you don’t like it he will ease up on the jokes. If you want him to stop completely then get Vincent to smack some sense into him for you. Vincent would happily help you :)

Please sing and/or play your guitar for this man. Sing to him when he’s real stressed, it will calm him right down.

Bo has some anger issues himself, so both of you know each others needs and “do not do, this will make me more upset”. You both understand that space is important, but you are also both there with open arms for the other if needed.

You probably get him into horror. I know, the big scary murder mechanic not really watching horror? Surprising! But I think he likes more action films and possibly even westerns. But as soon as you show him them, he’s hooked and getting ideas for victims. You started this, don’t blame him!

He’d probably steal Vincent’s art supplies for you to use. “Bo, stop stealing your brothers stuff for me!” “Darlin it’s fine! He’s got a million of them!” “He said I can borrow them if I ASK! You don’t need to steal!” “…but this is so much more fun!”

[alsjeblieft-zeg]

028 of 2023

Describe your hometown. What’s it like there?:

It’s a small coastal town placed by the North Sea, quiet in winter, busy during summer. There are a few hotels and restaurants there, and costs of apartments or houses are pretty high. It’s pretty there, though. My street is placed along the little forest and there’s a tram line there that is quite famous. I no longer live there, but I come back anytime I can.

What did you do yesterday evening?:

Chilling out.

Are you comfortable with leaving the house without any makeup on?:

I’m a dude, I see no reason why would I even wear make up at all.

Do you have any expensive hobbies?:

I guess getting the licence for shortwave radio and a decent equipment would be pretty expensive.

What length do you like to keep your nails at?:

Short. There’s nothing weird about it, though.

What’s your favorite memory with your last ex?:

Him singing to me when I was feeling down.

Have you ever felt physical pain in a dream?:

Yeah, I think twice.

What is the oldest online account that you still use?:

One forum. I’ve had a Tumblr before, but I deleted it.

Have you ever had Christmas carolers come to your house and sing for you?:

Yeah, but later we stopped letting them in.

Do you know anyone whose family has lived in the same house for 3+ generations?:

Not that I know of, seems rare in Belgium.

What was the last video game you beat?:

I don’t play video games.

What’s your favorite Studio Ghibli film?:

I don’t like any movies.

What did you learn from your last failed relationship?:

That beautiful eyes can be deceiving.

What country does your favorite band hail from?:

France.

What’s something on your to-do list that never actually gets done?:

Cleaning upstairs.

Have you ever been really passionate about something but then lost interest? If so, what was it?:

Everything goth.

Do you sleep with the TV or the radio on?:

TV, I can’t sleep when it’s dark and quiet.

What’s the worst thing about being male/female (whichever you are)?:

That whole toxic masculinity thing which I can’t relate to at all.

What movie has the best special effects?:

I couldn’t care less. Ew, movies.

What habit is essential to your daily life?:

Taking my medication.

What is your favorite documentary?:

I think it’s named Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons. That one is pretty cool. Also, Somebody Feed Phil. Both are interesting in a way they’re about different parts of the world, but from different perspectives.

When did you last have a vision test?:

Last year, I’m supposed to come this year, too. My vision is really bad.

What do you typically eat for breakfast?:

Oatmeal or something like that, but when we stayed in a hotel in Waterloo, I truly enjoyed full English breakfast. It just felt right.

What are three things you need to do tomorrow?:

Go somewhere, do the groceries, prepare the house for someone to visit.