In an interview with the Sunday Times‘ Jonathan Dean, Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård has opened up about his distaste with the clash between his physical attractiveness, and his chances of playing more emotionally-profound characters.
“After my first job I was on a stupid ‘sexy hunky hot list’ and then people didn’t take me seriously,” said the Godzilla vs. Kong star. “If you want characters with depth but have been labelled ‘a dude who takes his shirt off’, you’re not going to get those offers.” A similar claim was made by actress Charlize Theron in 2016, who stated that when “meaty roles come through, pretty people get turned away first.”
Referencing Theron’s statement, Skarsgård humorously quipped, “As a good looking blonde woman, I can relate.”
“I don’t really know if that was the reason I wasn’t getting those roles,” he would later admit.
Though the Stockholm native’s complaints may seem low-browed to some, the topic has been explored academically, notably by economists Markus M. Mobius and Tanya S. Rosenblat in their 2006 article, “Why Beauty Matters,” which posits that conventionally-attractive individuals experience more social advantages than their less-attractive counterparts.
Despite this research contrasting with Skarsgård’s claims, the actor’s words may still ring true for many, with respect to the “himbo” or “dumb blonde” stereotypes, which equate physical beauty with intellectual ineptitude, and which have been popularized by media time and time again; think Community‘s Troy Barnes, or Friends‘ Joey.Tribbiani.
Skarsgård will star as Viking warrior prince Amleth in the historical revenge-thriller The Northman, which releases in the United States on April 22nd.
