Bill Skarsgård: The new face of horror films joins Anthony Hopkins on the big screen

Alexis Thibault.

Publié le 7 april 2025. Modifié le 9 April 2025.

Bill Skarsgård and Cinema: A Family Affair

The youngest member of the Swedish Skarsgård clan, Bill was destined for a life in film. His father, Stellan, who appeared in Millennium and Melancholia, had already guided two of his sons—Gustaf and Alexander—into the world of acting. Gustaf is known for playing Floki, the Viking in the series Vikings, while Alexander portrayed vampire Eric Northman in True Blood. Bill began with small roles on Swedish television before making a mark in cinema with Andreas Öhman’s Simple Simon in 2010.

He played a young man with Asperger’s syndrome—a performance that earned praise, although the film ultimately wasn’t selected as Sweden’s Oscar entry. A year later, he starred alongside fellow Scandinavian Alicia Vikander in Kronjuvelerna, before heading across the Atlantic to play Captain Makhotin in Joe Wright’s adaptation of Anna Karenina, based on Tolstoy’s novel. Hollywood soon came calling, and Allegiant (2016) marked his first blockbuster.

From Charlize Theron to Stephen King

In 2017, he appeared alongside the magnetic Charlize Theron as her Berlin contact in Atomic Blonde, an adaptation of the graphic novel The Coldest City by Antony Johnston and Sam Hart. But the film’s stylish, pop-soaked atmosphere wouldn’t be what ultimately transformed his career.

Though most viewers didn’t recognize him at the time, it was his terrifying portrayal of a demonic clown that left a lasting impression. Bill Skarsgård took over the role of Pennywise—previously played by Tim Curry in the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King‘s It. After an exhaustive casting process, he landed the role at the last minute, edging out Will Poulter (The Maze Runner, The Revenant), and embodied the stuff of coulrophobes’ nightmares under director Andrés Muschietti’s watchful eye. “Some actors gave us their best Tim Curry impressions; we even had women audition! But the moment Bill stood in front of us, we were immediately sold,” recalls producer Barbara Muschietti. Towering at 6’3″, Skarsgård lured the children of Derry into a trap decorated with eerie red balloons…

A breakthrough thanks to television

Though cinema launched his career, it was television that introduced Bill Skarsgård to the wider public. After appearances in Lilyhammer (2012) and House of Cards (2013), he landed a lead role in the horror series Hemlock Grove, one of Netflix’s earliest original projects. Produced by gore-lover Eli Roth, the series was described as a “Twin Peaks caught in a monstrous spin.” Then 27, Skarsgård played Roman Godfrey, a wealthy heir at the helm of a steelworks in Hemlock Grove, Pennsylvania. Amid vampires, werewolves, and devious scientists, his icy gaze and chilling charm captivated viewers over three seasons.

After The Crow and Nosferatu, Skarsgård teams up with Anthony Hopkins

Following a face-off with the unkillable Keanu Reeves in John Wick franchise, Skarsgård returned to the horror genre this year as a vampire in Nosferatu (2024). Director Robert Eggers reimagines the 1922 horror classic with his signature dark flair.

Meanwhile, director Rupert Sanders cast Skarsgård opposite singer FKA twigs in The Crow, a troubled new adaptation of James O’Barr’s comic, which was first brought to the screen in 1994. The plot: Eric Draven and his fiancée are murdered by a gang. Resurrected by a crow, Eric sets out to avenge their deaths…

On April 9, Skarsgård reunites with legendary actor Anthony Hopkins in Locked, a new thriller from American director and screenwriter David Yarovesky. He plays a thief who breaks into a luxury vehicle—only to find himself trapped inside by its unsettling owner. Yarovesky gained fame in 2019 with Brightburn, a horror-infused twist on the superhero myth.

Locked (Piégé), in theaters on april 9th.