Skarsgard became firmly established in features with his award-winning turn in "The Simple-Minded Murderer" (1982). By the end of the 80s, he had begun to appear in international films, portraying an engineer in Philip Kaufman's "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" (1988) and a Soviet submarine commander in John McTiernan's "The Hunt for Red October" (1991). In 1996, he had the male half of the title role in "Harry and Sonja" and was a dirty, mean seal hunter in "Zero Kelvin". 1997 shaped up to be the actor's biggest year as he filmed roles in the British comedy-drama "My Son the Fanatic", "Savior", set against the backdrop of the Bosnian conflict, Steven Spielberg's period drama "Amistad" and, in one of his best-known roles, "Good Will Hunting", as a professor who mentors math whiz Matt Damon. After the latter role, mainstream Hollywood increasingly beckoned the actor, casting him in middlebrow thrillers such as "Ronin" (1998), "Deep Blue Sea" (1999), "The Glass House" (2001) "The House on Turk Street" and "City of Ghosts" (both 2002), would-be blockbusters like "King Arthur" (2004), experimental indies like Alain Berliner's "Passion of Mind" (2000) and Mike Figgis' "Timecode" (2000) and above average telepics including "Harlan County War" (2000) and "Helen of Troy" (2003).

Among a steady slate of non-Hollywood projects, the actor also reunited with Von Trier for the writer-director's acclaimed "Dancer in the Dark" (2000), with Skarsgard in a supporting role. Next they teamed on the unusual Danish television event 2000 "D-dag" (aka "D Day") which aired live on New Year's Eve and had four directors each assigned to an individual actor in an improvised situation in which the actors would come across each other (while the notion was interesting, the result was unremarkable); and the actor and director re-teamed for "Dogville" (2003), in which Skarsgard as one of the townspeople who offers refuge to a mysterious fuguitive (Nicole Kidman) at an awful price.

Given his career similarities to Max von Sydow, it came as no surprise that Skarsgard was cast as the younger version of Von Sydow's character in "The Exorcist" for the 2004 prequel "Exorcist: The Beginning," playing Father Merrin in his earlier days. Skarsgard was hired by the film's original director Paul Schrader, and after the studio fired Schrader and the bulk of the cast, the actor was the only holdover in the subsequent, wholly revamped attempt directed by Renny Harlin.

In all, Skarsgard has appeared in well over 50 films, including 1986's "Jim och praterna blom" which he also scripted, although not all have had widespread international distribution. While Skarsgard has appeared in Swedish TV projects, his only foray in the USA was the busted NBC pilot "Parker Kane" in 1990.

Born: on 06/13/51 in Goteborg, SwedenJob Titles: ActorFamily
Children: has six, born between 1976 and 1995
Son: Alexander Skarsgard. born on August 25, 1976
Son: Gustaf Skarsgard.
Significant Others
Wife: My Skarsgard. married in 1974
Milestones
1968 At age 16 starred in Swedish TV series "Bombi Bitt"
1973 Early film work in "Anita, Swedish Nymphet"
1982 Had international breakthrough in "The Simple-Minded Murderer"
1986 First produced screenplay, "Jim och piraterna blom"; also acted
1988 Played featured role in "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
1990 Co-starred in "The Hunt for Red October"
1990 Made US TV pilot, "Parker Kane" (NBC)
1996 Breakout role opposite Emily Watson in Lars von Trier's "Breaking the Waves"
1997 Played a math professor who takes Matt Damon under his wing in "Good Will Hunting"
1998 Co-starred in the international thriller "Ronin"
1998 Earned praise for leading role as a detective investigating a murder in "Insomnia"
2000 Appeared opposite Demi Moore in "Passion of Mind"
2000 Garnered praise for performance in "Aberdeen"; also served as associate producer; co-starred with Charlotte Rampling
2000 Had small role as a doctor in Lars von Trier's "Dancer in the Dark"; premiered at Cannes
2000 Played a movie producer in Mike Figgis' experimental "Time Code"; Holly Hunter appeared as one of his assistants
2000 Second film with Rampling, "Signs & Wonders"; again played an estranged couple
2000 Starred opposite Holly Hunter in the Showtime movie "Harlan County War"
2001 Starred with Leelee Sobieski and Diane Lane in "The Glass House"
2003 Starred in his third movie with director Lars von Trier, "Dogville," with Nicole Kidman
2004 Cast in "King Arthur" a demystified take on the tale of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
2004 Portrayed Father Lankester Merrin in Renny Harlin's "Exorcist: The Beginning"
Began career as a child actor
Cast as Spanish grand master Francisco de Goya in Milos Forman's "Goya's Ghosts," which tells the story of the last years of the Spanish Inquisition (lensed 2005)
Spent 16 years with Royal Dramatic Theatre Company