Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård[a][1] (born 25 August 1976) is a Swedish actor. A son of actor Stellan Skarsgård, he began acting at the age of seven but quit at thirteen. After serving in the Swedish Navy, Skarsgård returned to acting and gained his first role in the American comedy film Zoolander (2001). He played Brad Colbert in the miniseries Generation Kill (2008) and had his international breakthrough portraying vampire Eric Northman in the television series True Blood (2008–2014).