Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård has received his first Academy Award nomination for best supporting actor in Joachim Trier’s Norwegian drama Sentimental Value. In a Variety interview, he reflects on the film’s unexpected nine Oscar nods after a SAG Awards snub. Skarsgård shares insights on his career, collaborators like Lars von Trier and Robin Williams, and concerns about AI in cinema.
Stellan Skarsgård, a veteran actor with over 50 years in film and more than 200 productions, earned his first Oscar nomination in the best supporting actor category for his role as Gustav Borg in Sentimental Value. Directed by Joachim Trier, the Norwegian-language drama explores fractured family bonds, with Skarsgård portraying a film director and father alongside Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, and Elle Fanning. The film secured nine Academy Award nominations, a stark contrast to its complete shutout at the SAG Awards.
“We got snubbed for the SAG Awards, and then suddenly we got nine nominations,” Skarsgård said. “That’s better.” He described the role as potentially one of the best of his career, crediting Trier’s direction for allowing full expression. “It’s not only the role as written on the page. It became what it became through Joachim’s way of letting me do my job as fully as possible,” he explained.
Skarsgård highlighted the film’s focus on unspoken elements: “So much of this film is about what is not on screen — what is not in dialogue, not in the script. It’s all atmosphere, all our memories and personalities. Joachim extracts that from who we are and plays with it.”
Reflecting on influences, he recalled childhood viewings of films like Marcel Carné’s Children of Paradise, which inspired his interest in capturing human facades. He discussed early collaborations with Lars von Trier on films including Breaking the Waves, Dancer in the Dark, Dogville, and Melancholia, noting von Trier’s evolution toward encouraging improvisation: “On the set of Breaking the Waves, he had signs everywhere that said, ‘Make mistakes.’” Skarsgård drew parallels between von Trier and Trier in freeing actors’ emotions.
On Good Will Hunting, he remembered working with Gus Van Sant and Robin Williams, praising Van Sant’s unblocked scenes and Williams’ improvisational energy: “Robin was all over the place, of course, because he couldn’t help improvising and doing wild things.”
Skarsgård praised his Sentimental Value co-stars, calling Reinsve an “exceptional talent” and noting Fanning’s challenging portrayal. Addressing cinema’s future, he emphasized human curiosity: “For thousands of years, people have been very much interested in people. That curiosity will never leave us.” He viewed AI as secondary to capital concentration: “AI is nothing without the men behind it. AI is owned by the tech barons standing right behind power.”
He mentioned hoping for a shared nomination with son Alexander for Pillion and cherished set collaborations after five decades in the industry.
