Interview: Stellan Skarsgård on Navigating the Ever-Changing Film Industry and the Cathartic Ending of ‘Sentimental Value’
“Oh, that was the one with the food.” This is how my conversation with the great Stellan Skarsgård began as we sat down to discuss his work in Joachim Trier’s latest film, Sentimental Value.
Last month, I was lucky enough to sit with Skarsgård and the cast of the film at the Critics’ Choice Awards, where a hilarious snapshot of him quickly turned into a meme (and taken by AwardsWatch’s own Mark Johnson). When asked to describe his grumpy expression in the photo, he joked, “It was disappointment over the food.” That night (and throughout our conversation), I was struck by Skarsgård’s dry sense of humor, warmth, and unfiltered approach to discussing how the film industry has changed since he first began his career as an actor. After decades in Scandinavian and Hollywood films, including collaborations with Lars Von Trier, David Fincher, Gus Van Sant, and Denis Villeneuve, Skarsgård finds himself in a role that feels like the culmination of his work in the industry.
In Sentimental Value, Skarsgård plays Gustav Borg, a charismatic yet narcissistic film director who, after a long hiatus, decides to present his estranged daughter Nora (Renate Reinsve) with a script for a new film. Even though he’s written the role specifically for her, she declines his proposal. He hasn’t been there for her and her sister Agnes (Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas) over the years, and she can’t see how this project would be any different. After meeting American starlet Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) at a retrospective for his films in France, Gustav pivots, changing the script from Norwegian to English, securing a deal with Netflix, and casting Rachel in the role he’d written for Nora. It’s a tricky role that Skarsgård makes look deceptively easy, imbuing Gustav with a balance of charm and selfishness. It’s his finest performance in a filmography filled with artistic risks and creativity.
After premiering the film at the Cannes Film Festival last May, Skarsgård has gone on to receive Best Supporting Actor prizes at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Golden Globes, as well as nominations at the BAFTAs and, of course, the Academy Awards. Much like in our conversations about his experience on the film, Skarsgård seems even more excited that his co-stars and filmmaking team have been embraced. Much like Gustav Borg, Skarsgård has found a way to use his art to communicate something deeper about the challenges facing the filmmakers and actors, raising children in a fickle industry, and maintaining a great sense of humor through it all.
Sophia Ciminello: I wanted to start with the opening of the film, where we have that great montage of the house. It’s framed as Nora’s story, but that house is also really home to Gustav’s family history for generations. It feels like an introduction to your character, even though we don’t really see you there in the same way. How did you feel about that part of the script?
Stellan Skarsgård: Well, I knew what the story was about at first, but I didn’t know about the house. I opened the script, and I started reading about that house, and I felt it was so delicious. It was a cinematic piece of candy for me. It was something that showed the generosity of the director, actually. I liked it very much. Then, of course, it also gives you a perspective on the lives in the house, because the house goes through 100 years or 150 years or something. People come and go and die and stuff, and people’s problems can feel smaller compared to others from that point of view. It was also good in a way to cut out to the house’s perspective now and then during the film and then to go back in. Even if he [Trier] did it just for fun to start with, I think he actually found a good tool in the house.
SC: I think so too. And I spoke with Renate and Inga a bit about Joachim’s involved rehearsal process. How do you view that part of your preparation?
SS: For me, Joachim’s rehearsal process was different and about sort of trying out the scenes and seeing what you can find in the scenes. So, it wasn’t so much a preparation for doing it…I have to tell you, I don’t like the kinds of rehearsals where you’re deciding how to block the scene, or you say, “Oh no, I’m going to play it like this, and you’re going to play it like that,” because it’s closing down the possibilities. And also, sometimes directors feel that actors have to get to know each other to become intimate. But they overstate that because actors are good at becoming intimate immediately. There’s a lot of mystique around it that I don’t believe in. You can go to bed with someone you don’t know. It’s easy. (Laughs).
SC: (Laughs) It feels like something that non-actors would think you would need, but you’re used to that already in a sense.
SS: Yeah, exactly. I mean, you have to have torn down those inhibitions a long time ago.
SC: And one of the interesting things about Gustav is that he is this narcissistic character, but you give him so much charm and warmth. I didn’t know how to feel about him, but I found myself rooting for you to fix things with your daughters.
SS: Yeah, he’s also ridiculous and he’s helpless in his attempts to create a relationship with his daughters. He does the wrong thing and it’s comical, and it’s tragic at the same time. But then, as a director, he’s very sensitive. And the way he listens to Rachel is that he’s following every step that she does. He sees everything she does. He’s the kind of director I’d love to work with (laughs). But that is his art, and that’s not applicable in his private life. He becomes understandable partly because he is so ridiculous.
SC: I’m glad you brought up Rachel, too, because you really do get to see a different side of him. He’s also so similar to Nora in that he can only really communicate through his art. How did you and Renate work together to create that dynamic?
SS: It’s funny because I didn’t really think of them as mirror characters at first. But now, when I see it, I see it, you know? Because my character is so in his own world in a way that he can’t see himself from the outside.
SC: Right. He wouldn’t notice that or really want to look internally.
SS: Yeah, he wouldn’t notice that either, right? So, that is a kind of analysis I’ve done after seeing the film. It’s funny because, of course, we felt it too. Renate and I, we did endless scenes in the house there with Inga and we never reached each other. We tried in different ways and it was clumsy. But then, we finally got to do a scene where we connected and that was the smoking scene outside the window and then, “bye” (laughs).
SC: That’s such a beautiful scene. It clicks that it’s this sort of melancholy love story between the two of them.
SS: I feel that too. And Joachim described it to us that way. It’s like a sad love story within a love story.
SC: And your character is also an artist who has to evolve within a landscape that keeps changing. He has to pivot to working with an American star, going to Netflix, and making the movie in English. What do you think it says about him that he still tries to make the movie in this way?
SS: I think it’s really because he feels like he has to, right? You know, I’m 74 years old and I haven’t stopped working. I just need to do the work and I think he does too. And a lot of directors today feel that too. Scorsese… he’s still making good movies, and everything is changing. Bergman was like that too.
SC: I wondered if you connected to that part of your character as someone who has been in the industry for a long time and has seen these changes firsthand.
SS: Of course. And it’s so important to see movies in the cinema.
SC: It is. I’m so glad I got to see this film in the cinema. I feel like we have to keep talking about how important it is.
SS: Yes, we do. We have to. I don’t think cinema can survive without the cinemas. Because it is different. You can make a film in a different way to present it to an audience and have this communal experience together. People are breathing in the same space. Their heartbeats are synchronized. But it’s also all of the detail that you see on a screen. What I think is wonderful about cinema is what you can express without words. And since the Italian Neorealists in the ‘50s to the Nouvelle Vague in the ‘60s, that was where cinema went to express more without saying it. If the filmmakers get used to working only on television, they will have to explain everything in the dialogue because you’ll have to be able to understand the film even if you’re cooking in another room at the same time.
SC: Exactly. Going to the cinema makes it immersive. I also just love the scenes where Gustav teaches Erik to make movies.
SS: (Laughs) Filming! It’s easy!
SC: (Laughs) He makes it look so fun for him. But Agnes isn’t so keen on it. Why do you feel she’s so hesitant about him getting involved in the film?
SS: Yeah, I think it’s just about her experience. There’s that hint when she says, “I had a fantastic experience working with you and then you left.” There is that sort of briefness in the film industry that is difficult and she wants to protect her son from that. But, I of course, didn’t protect my own children from that (laughs).
SC: (Laughs) No, you really didn’t.
SS: (Laughs) I couldn’t.
SC: I wanted to ask you about the last scene in the movie, because we really feel so much from you as Gustav looks at Nora. What do you think he’s feeling for her in that final moment?
SS: What’s interesting is that I felt what he felt, actually. It’s a scene that could’ve become really tacky and horribly sentimental. But it didn’t. And after the scene was done, I had experienced something weird.
SC: Oh, yeah?
SS: Yeah, I did not know what it was. And then I look up, and I look at her, and I see that she has also experienced something similar. And then I look away again, and then, wow, I smiled. And that’s it. It’s happy. It’s the happiest ending in a way. But I don’t believe in closure. I don’t believe in healing. I don’t believe in that. I believe that there’s always scar tissue and later bleeding, but the hope is that, wow, they’re getting somewhere. They’re approaching something and they might forgive. They might reconcile. That is a wonderful thing. It’s hope.
SC: You’re right that it still is a bit ambiguous. They’re still using art to communicate, but it does feel like that line blurs a little bit there.
SS: Yeah, exactly.
SC: To wrap up, there’s a funny scene earlier when you gift Erik, The Piano Teacher and Irréversible for his birthday.
SS: (Laughs) Oh, yes.
SC: You brought up your children in the industry earlier. Which films would you give them?
SS: Oh, you know…Nymphomaniac, Breaking the Waves, that kind of stuff.
SC: (Laughs) Of course.
SS: I’ve done a couple of those.
SC: Well, thank you so much, Stellan. It was great to see you again, and congratulations on the film!
SS: Thank you very much, Sophia. Take care. Ciao!
- Interview: Stellan Skarsgård on Navigating the Ever-Changing Film Industry and the Cathartic Ending of ‘Sentimental Value’ - February 27, 2026
- AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 333 – Reviewing “Wuthering Heights” and BAFTA Preview - February 16, 2026
- “Wuthering Heights” Review: Emerald Fennell’s Stylish Spin on the Classic Novel is More Bodice Ripper Than Brontë Gripper [C+] - February 9, 2026
Interview: Stellan Skarsgård on Navigating the Ever-Changing Film Industry and the Cathartic Ending of ‘Sentimental Value’ 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 141 – ’49th Parallel aka The Invaders’ (Powell and Pressburger, 1942) 
Frontrunner Friday Oscar Predictions: The Last Battle Before the War is Won (2/27/26) 
‘Sinners’ Leads 57th NAACP Image Awards with 9 Going Into Final Night