Alexander Skarsgård on His First Kiss, Jessica Lange, and Dr. Pepper | Screen Tests | W magazine

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In this Screen Tests interview, 'Big Little Lies' actor Alexander Skarsgård talks about his first kiss, his childhood crush on Jessica Lange in 'Tootsie', tasting Dr. Pepper for the first time, trying to make cowboy boots cool in Sweden, and his brief experience as a child actor. Transcript My name is Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård. In the States, it's Alexander Skarsgard. When I was a kid, I spent a summer in Texas when I was eight, which was pretty cool for a kid from Stockholm. That was my first time in the States, first time I tasted Dr. Pepper, which blew my mind. And just to be around horses and cowboys and a desert, which we don't have much of a desert in Sweden, so I thought it was so cool. And I got my first real cowboy boots out there and a hat. And then I got back to Sweden a couple months later, and I proudly wore those boots to school, and I thought all the girls would love me, and like everyone would just faint when they saw those real crocodile boots. And instead everyone mocked me. In Stockholm, people there don't quite appreciate cowboy boots. They thought I was wearing women's shoes. It didn't quite go down as I had hoped. When I was a teenager, I did not want to be an actor. I was dead set on doing something else. I was a child actor in Sweden, and I just, yeah, didn't like it. Then I did this movie when I was , a small Swedish movie, and it got a little bit of attention in Sweden, and it just made me very uncomfortable. I guess I ended up going back to acting, 'cause I was shit at everything else. I tried desperately to figure out what I wanted to do, and I was quite mediocre at most things. So I was like, well, maybe this whole acting thing. That's how passionate of an actor I am. Not only my first movie crush, but my first crush period, it was Jessica Lange in Tootsie. I think I saw her at an event two years ago, and I was quite drunk, 'cause otherwise I wouldn't have had the courage to tell her. But I told her that I loved her and love her, I still do, but that was the first, I remember, I was maybe eight or nine the first time I saw Tootsie. I had never felt anything for a girl before that, and I was just drawn to Julie, her character in the movie, and I was just mesmerized by her. The reason I wanted to watch it over and over again, I told my dad, it was an old VHS casette, I was like, dad, one more time. It was like a little hit. Give it to me. (interviewer laughing) Was because of Jessica Lange. I was so in love with her. I'm still not over her. And so now every time I meet someone, I compare them to Jessica Lange in Tootsie. And that's probably why I'm sitting here unmarried. I don't really celebrate my birthday. I think it's a day of mourning. I'm a Virgo, yeah. Well, maybe I'm a bit of a Leo because my mom was due on August rd or th or something like that, and then I kind of liked it in her womb, so I decided to stay there for another three weeks. pounds when I was born. It was in the archipelago of Stockholm. It wasn't consensual. She just kissed me. Freia was her name. I wanted no part of that. I was . No, but maybe , , something like that. She was a year older, and she had kissed someone before and asked if I had any experience. And I said nope, and I'm not interested. And she was stronger, bigger than me. So she just grabbed me and kissed me. I cried a little, but then I got over it, and I think we dated for a couple weeks after that. And then she left me and broke my heart. I haven't seen her since, Freia. She walked out of my life at age , and she never looked back. Still haven’t subscribed to W on YouTube? ►► http://bit.ly/wyoutubesub ABOUT W The Who, What, Where, When, and Why in the world of fashion and style. W provides the ultimate insider experience with an original, provocative approach to art, culture, videos, travel, fashion, and beauty. Alexander Skarsgård on His First Kiss, Jessica Lange, and Dr. Pepper | Screen Tests | W magazine