Stellan Skarsgard

Born: June 1951
Where: Goteborg, Sweden

Accomplished Swedish film and stage star Skarsgard first came to the notice of Hollywood in Lars Von Trier's Breaking the Waves.

He earlier had the leading part in the Oscar nominated Oxen and made his first foray into Hollywood with a small role in The Unbearable Lightness of Being in 1988.

His role of Captain Tupolev in Hunt for Red October was cut down and it was Von Trier's surreal fantasy with Emily Watson which gave him his big break.

After that supporting roles followed in My Son The Fanatic, Good Will Hunting and Steven Spielberg's Amistad and the jokey thriller Deep Blue Sea.

He went on to appear in Kiss Kiss (Bang Bang), tense thriller The Glass House and City of Ghosts.

In 2003, Von Trier cast him alongside Nicole Kidman and Paul Bettany in the Dogme drama Dogville.

Recent work includes the role of a fallen priest (played originally by Max von Sydow) in Renny Harlin's troubled prequel Exorcist: The Beginning.