Our favorite 6-foot-4-inch, 34-year-old Swedish vampire graces the June 2011 cover of GQ, and while he discusses his family and career at length, Alexander Skarsgård goes through great apologetic lengths to stay mum on his romantic life. Maybe because he doesn't have much of one? Hmmm.
But what's the one thing Skars is happy to talk about?
His marbles.
"Hollywood can be like kids playing marbles on the schoolyard. Everybody wants the shiny marble until one kid says he doesn't. Then nobody will touch it. So it's important that I make good decisions now."
Are you saying you're that shiny marble, Skars? Don't worry, we'll always want to play with you!
But with a strong True Blood fan following and three new movies in the works, doesn't seem like Skars has anything to worry about anytime soon.
In his new film Straw Dogs, due out this September, Skarsgård stars alongside his real-life love interest, Kate Bosworth.
But as Brett Martin writes in the new GQ article, "When asked about the relationship, he shuts down, smile disappearing, with a completeness and efficiency that could only come from growing up in the public eye. 'My father always kept the family out of the press,' he says later, almost apologetic."
In the film, in which Kate and Alex both play down-home Southerners (we were as surprised as you are), there is an especially rough rape scene where Skars' character attacks newly married hometown hottie, Bosworth.
"In the beginning [of filming the rape scene], Kate would be crying after every take and Alex would try to comfort her. By the end, everybody got really raw," Straw Dogs director Rod Lurie told the men's rag.
But shooting awkward scenes is all in a day's work for Skars, who frequently shares love scenes with his True Blood costar, Anna Paquin, who is married to their other super doable costar, Stephen Moyer.
"It's really clear to Steve and to everybody else what the deal is—which is that Anna is like a sister to me," Skarsgård tells the mag. "Those love scenes take quite a bit of acting, actually. A lot of acting."
Skars, who is the son of Sweden's biggest movie star, Stellan, and the ultimate product of a high-profile upbringing, chooses to keep his real-life romances and personal time super quiet. Again, we say maybe that's also because he doesn't have that much going on with Kate to keep on the sly. Just a hunch.
"It's difficult to get to know a Swede. But once you do, you're in," he says. And there's a stronger sense of boundaries. "You're never going to see a television show The Skarsgårds."
While we won't be catching Skars starring on a reality show anytime soon, get to know him better in all his shirtless glory here in his "Here Comes the Viking" spread.
Thanks, GQ!