Skarsgård says he returns to Iceland every year to hike

Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård said he visits Iceland every year and hikes in different parts of the country with friends. He told mbl.is he was surprised to receive an honorary award from the Reykjavik International Film Festival (RIFF), presented at Háskólabíó cinema on Tuesday evening during the Nordic premiere of his latest film, Wicker.

“I wanted to come here. I come to Iceland every year. Some of my best friends are from here,” Skarsgård said. He described his connection to the country and its people as strong. He had never attended the Reykjavik festival before and said coming was a priority, but he had no idea he would receive an award. He called it a great honour and said he was very proud.

Skarsgård gained international recognition in 2008 for playing Brad “Iceman” Colbert in the series Generation Kill. That year, he also began playing vampire Eric Northman in True Blood, appearing in 76 episodes between 2008 and 2014. He later won Emmy and Golden Globe awards for his role as Perry Wright in Big Little Lies and drew attention for playing billionaire Lukas Matsson in Succession.

He starred in and co-produced the Viking film The Northman, which was partly filmed in Iceland. Skarsgård said he had good memories of the production and already knew some of the surroundings from earlier visits. He had previously spent several weeks filming the British movie War on Everyone in Iceland, and some members of that film’s crew also worked on The Northman.

Skarsgård said working with Icelanders felt more like working in Sweden than in the United States. He described the atmosphere as relaxed, with less hierarchy and more of a sense that people were helping one another. He called the experience very good.

Wicker is based on Ursula Wills-Jones’s short story The Wicker Husband. Skarsgård described it as a romantic love story set in a fictional time and place, with a medieval look. It centres on a fisherwoman who lives alone in a hut on the edge of a village.