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Bill Skarsgård, the horror movie actor starring in the new Gus Van Sant
Having become the new face of Stephen King’s infamous clown a few years ago, Bill Skarsgård, 35, portrayed both rocker Eric Draven in the remake of The Crow and the vampire Nosferatu in Robert Eggers’s version of the myth. As he plays a troubled character in Gus Van Sant’s new feature, Dead Man’s Wire (2025), in theatres now, throwback to the Swedish actor’s rise from television to the big screen.
By Alexis Thibault.
Published on 7 April 2025. Updated on 16 April 2026.
Bill Skarsgård and cinema: A family affair
As the youngest member of the Swedish Skarsgård clan, Bill was destined for a life in cinema. 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 the viking Floki in the series Vikings, while Alexander portrayed the vampire Eric Northman in True Blood. Bill began with small roles on Swedish television before leaving his mark portraying a young man with Asperger in Andreas Öhman’s Simple Simon in 2010.
A performance that earned praise, although the film wasn’t selected as Sweden’s entry at the Oscars. 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 film adaptation of Tolstoy’s novel, Anna Karenina. 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 of Atomic Blonde wasn’t what ultimately transformed his career. Although 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 fantasy novel 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
While cinema launched his career, television did introduce Bill Skarsgård, 35, to a wider audience. After 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.” 27 at the time, the young actor embodied 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.
Lead roles in The Crow and Nosferatu
Following a face-to-face with the invincible Keanu Reeves in the John Wick franchise, Bill Skarsgård returned to the horror genre as a vampire in Nosferatu (2024). Director Robert Eggers rewrote the 1922 horror classic with his signature dark flair.
In a different register, director Rupert Sanders cast the Swedish actor and singer FKA twigs in The Crow, a disastrous adaptation of James O’Barr’s comic book, first brought to the screen in 1994. The story follows Eric Draven and his fiancée. Both murdered by a gang, Eric is resurrected by a crow and sets out to avenge their deaths…
On April 9th, 2025, Skarsgård reunited with the legendary Anthony Hopkins in Locked, a thriller by American director and screenwriter David Yarovesky. He played a thief who broke into a luxury vehicle, only to find himself trapped inside by its unsettling owner. The filmmaker is well-known for Brightburn (2019), a horror-infused twist on the superhero myth.
Bill Skarsgård, star of Gus Van Sant’s upcoming feature
Finally, on April 15th, 2026, Bill Skarsgård appeared in Dead Man’s Wire. Gus Van Sant‘s latest feature was inspired by a real-life incident that took place in 1977 in Indianapolis. The Swedish actor plays Tony Kiritsis, an ordinary man pushed to the brink, who takes hostage the son of a broker he holds responsible for his financial ruin.
For 63 hours, his victim remains under the threat of a bomb connected to a device fastened around his neck, while his kidnapper asks for both a ransom and an apology. In this new high-tension role, Bill Skarsgård embodies a tragic figure… That of a man crushed by the system and overwhelmed by life.
Dead Man’s Wire (2025) by Gus Van Sant, out in theatres now.
