August  25

Alexander Johan Hjalmar Skarsgård's Birthday
 

Alexander Skarsgård

A few people may remember Alexander Skarsgård as the witless male model Meekus in Zoolander (2001) which he made while on vacation from his home in Stockholm, Sweden. A few more may have first seen him in the seven-part 2008 HBO television miniseries Generation Kill. But everyone with a subscription to HBO knows him as the vampire Eric with abs of steel in True Blood  and who may have appeared nude more than any other actor in television history."He was once naked for about eight hours and he's completely comfortable with it," says Kristin Bauer, who plays Eric's sidekick Pam. "He's Swedish. My husband's band toured in Sweden and he said that just how it is. There's no puritanical background there. It's nice because it makes all of us more comfortable with it."

Alex who has been named Sweden's Sexiest Man five times in a row he told Rolling Stone that he won't wear anything: on the set "I don't want a sock around it, that feels ridiculous. If we’re naked in the scene, then I’m naked. I’ve always been that way." His costars  Stephen Moyer and Anna Paquin wear their psychological modesty coverings while filming their nude scenes.

In an interview in  the 2011 Mens Journal in which he reprises his Meekus persona as the cover model, Alex doesn’t want to only be known for those steamy sex scenes. “You tend to get a lot of offers that are, like, the hot guy,” Alex says. “And those parts aren’t very fun. I hope there’s something more to me than my pecs.” He got his wish and was signed to star is several films including a 2011 remake of Straw Dogs.

When questioned about the connection between sex and violence that is the subtext of True Blood, Alex commented "Yeah. First of all, sex and violence are always something that attracts an audience, and vampire stories usually have a lot of both. And, vampires symbolize consistency and something that's permanent, in a world where everything is constantly changing -- humans, animals, nature and even mountains will change over time. To have something that will just stand the test of time is attractive. Eric has been around for a thousand years, and he hasn't changed one bit. That intrigues people. What makes good drama is that people are intrigued by that and drawn towards it, but at the same time, that comfort they feel in something that is consistent, is also lethal and can kill them in a second. That creates a good platform for drama. -- on why people are attracted to vampires and the whole sub-genre in general."

There is only one way to celebrate Alex's birthday. Watch Season 4 of True Blood which has the majority of his nude scenes and make a batch  of Ravioli Nudi (Naked Ravioli).