Bill Skarsgård is the latest of the Skarsgård clan to dramatically beef up for a role, following in the footsteps of older brother Alexander, who gained 20 to 30 pounds to play a Viking berserker in The Northman. (See before and after comparisons of the brothers’ journey from sinewy to beefy at the bottom of the post.)
In the forthcoming film Boy Kills World, described as a “dystopian fever dream action thriller,” Skarsgård plays Boy, a deaf mute with a vibrant imagination. When his family is murdered, he’s trained by a mysterious shaman to repress his childish fantasies and become an instrument of death.
“This was an incredible journey into something completely new for me,” the actor tells EW exclusively. “I had two months to learn how to pretend how to fight well. [Action coordinator] Dawe Szatarski is a wizard, and he might’ve just pulled it off. The abs I credit to another wizard, my main man Valdemar Fredriksson. I just showed up, slightly late.”
In the exclusive first look above, a buff, shirtless Skarsgård is featured with his fists up, ready to fight. The normally svelt actor underwent a two-month martial arts crash course with Szatarski, a renowned action and fight designer who trained under Jackie Chan’s longtime stunt guru, Brad Allan. Together, they developed “a unique movement style” for the 6 foot 4 actor, whose size and length “help make him an unconventional new-age action star,” a rep for the film tells EW, adding, “You’ve never seen an actor move like this in a movie.”
Other photos: Alexander (left) and Bill Skarsgård in leaner times | CREDIT: PAUL HAWTHORNE/GETTY; MATT CARR/GETTY; Bill (left) and Alexander Skarsgård bulked up for their various roles | CREDIT: GRAHAM BARTHOLOMEW; AIDEN MONAGHAN/FOCUS FEATURES
A release date for Boy Kills World has yet to be announced.
My career had already gotten off to a great start, plus I was already a celebrity. Sweden’s favorite gangster. A young, handsome rebel. The scourge of society and the police. Your average Joe’s nightmare, and his daughter’s hot fantasy. ↪ Clark (2022)
“he [Olofsson] believes that Bill Skarsgård made a decent role interpretation.”
“the main character himself [Clark Olofsson] has only seen a single episode of the series based on his life. …. He tells them that he is ill and not feeling so well - but that he will see the series about his life later.”
