Bill Skarsgård shares father Stellan’s advice that still encourages him

The Skarsgard family is about one of the most talented working clans today. Headed by patriarch Stellan, the sons include Bill, Alexandar, Gustaf, and Valter. And while not every one of them is a household name, some have been able to break away from their old man to make a distinct mark in the business. As it has been for the past few years, Bill is the sort of presence that might make you say, “Oh, right, I forgot who his dad was!”

Even though Bill Skarsgard might be the reigning “scream king” by playing Pennywise in It and Count Orlok in Nosferatu (among others), he has carried with him plenty of advice from father Stellan, who had already made a name for himself in the family’s native Sweden and in the States (thanks to movies like Good Will Hunting, Amistad and Ronin). As he recently told MTV UK, “I would say my dad, you know, and he really instilled in all of us, sort of this, Just trust your own instincts and if you do anything, you do it all the way. So, if you decide to do it, you should commit yourself 100% to whatever it is. But also, please do whatever you want to do…There was never any sort of him encouraging us to pursue acting, per se. I think he’s quite surprised that this is the way it ended up, you know? But it was that kind of self-belief or just encouraging you to trust your own instincts…”

Such instincts have led Bill Skarsgard to earn acclaim well outside of his surname, most recently leading Robert Eggers’ take on Nosferatu, something nobody in his family tree – and perhaps anyone else, for that matter – could do like him. “I started finding that I was, like, OK, well, I have and I have a perspective and that is what is uniquely mine. And if I pursue that, something will come out of it that’s genuine. And I still try to live like that.” (Be sure to read our 10/10 review here.)

Who is your favorite actor in the Skarsgard family? What is their best performance to date?