Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård (born 25 August 1976) is a Swedish actor. A son of actor Stellan Skarsgård, he began acting at the age of seven but quit at thirteen. After serving in the Swedish Navy, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in the American comedy film Zoolander (2001). He played Brad Colbert in the miniseries Generation Kill (2008) and had his international breakthrough portraying vampire Eric Northman in the television series True Blood (2008–2014). After appearing in films such as Melancholia (2011), Battleship (2012) and The Legend of Tarzan (2016), Skarsgård starred in the drama series Big Little Lies (2017–2019) as an abusive husband, which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. He went on to appear in the films Long Shot (2019), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), Passing (2021), The Northman (2022), which he also produced, Infinity Pool (2023), and Pillion (2025). He also played Randall Flagg in the miniseries The Stand (2020–2021) and tech mogul Lukas Matsson in the drama series Succession (2021–2023), for which he was nominated for two Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe Award. He currently stars in the science-fiction comedy series Murderbot (2025–present).