Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård is one of the finest actors in the industry who has appeared in movies, including Good Will Hunting, King Arthur, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Mamma Mia!, and more. The actor portrayed the character of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and reprised his character for the recently released Dune Part Two for which he has been appreciated.
The actor has also been a part of Marvel Cinematic Universe portraying Dr. Erik Selvig in 2011’s Thor followed by The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Age of Ultron, and Thor: Love and Thunder. Stellan Skarsgård recently opened up about his experience of working in the MCU.
Dune actor Stellan Skarsgård reveals his initial reaction on joining MCU
Stellan Skarsgård, who recently reprised his role as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen for the sequel of Dune, shared his initial reaction on joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe with 2011’s Thor. In an interview with Vanity Fair, the actor explained,
“The film was fun. We live in Santa Fe, where they have more Birkenstocks and gray ponytails than anywhere else in the United States. No, I wasn’t excited. I was…what the f**k? I didn’t know much about Thor…I knew about the real Thor, but I didn’t know much about the comic books. So the thing was that Kenneth Branagh was directing it and he’s good.”
The actor said that he agreed to do the movie but added that when you sign up for one of these (MCU) movies, you sign up for four which made him feel like he had sold his soul to the devil. He, however, clarified that he didn’t especially for the first one, because he had a lot of fun.
Skarsgård went on to share that it was him, Kat Dennings, and Natalie Portman; the trio and they were together in a lot of scenes, and not only did he have fun working with them but also learned so much about them. He further dwelled upon his reason to continue appearing in the MCU and said,
“I had a contract, and it was fun doing those small things. You don’t have to be too pretentious about what you do. It’s not a crime to do not-high-brow all the time.”
The actor was appreciated for his portrayal of astrophysicist Dr. Erik Selvig in the MCU who becomes involved with Asgardian Thor and the government organization SHIELD. In 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, he was also shown as one of the victims of the Blip but was restored to life in 2023.
Stellan Skarsgård talks about the tedious process of transforming into Baron Vladimir Harkonnen for Dune: Part Two
The actor reprised his role as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen for the recently released Dune: Part Two and shared that it took him eight hours every day to transform into the character. In an interview with BI, he said,
“It was painful, but it was worth it. We wanted him to be so well defined as an image that he made an imprint on people just by showing up on the screen. And that imprint should last throughout the film without having him show up all the time.”
The Swedish actor recalled a similar incident from his time on Pirates of the Caribbean in which he played barnacle-covered Bootstrap Bill and added that he was the only one on set with real prosthetics on. He explained that people would show up five minutes before the shot and would have dots on their faces, whereas he had been there for six hours getting his makeup done.
Stellan Skarsgård says he likes that. Talking to Vanity Fair, he shared that with Dune, he was attracted to Denis Villeneuve’s work, calling him a great cinematic poet. He added that the role wasn’t that big so you could survive, but it was good that it was so concentrated. He lastly added that he has been very lucky.
Dune: Part Two is playing in cinemas.
