Stellan Skarsgård is the head of a veritable acting dynasty, with seven of his eight sons having gone into the family business. In a recent interview with Vulture, the self-proclaimed “nepo daddy” revealed that his youngest son, 13-year-old Kolbjörn, gets bullied at school by “cruel kids” who call him a “nepo baby.”
“My 13-year-old, Kolbjörn, suffers from that,” Skarsgård said. “When his pals at school call him nepo baby, he gets so sad. He doesn’t have any friends at school. He gets isolated. Cruel kids — or cruel and ignorant. They love it on the internet. But it is such a bullshit thing. Because nobody would hire you, at least not for anything good, if you’re not good enough.”
Kolbjörn Skarsgård currently stars in the Swedish horror series Blood Cruise, portraying a character named Walter. He made his on-screen debut playing the younger version of his real-life half-brother Bill’s character, Clark Olofsson, in Netflix’s 2022 series Clark.
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In addition to Bill — best known for playing Pennywise in the It horror films — the Skarsgård brothers include the oldest, Alexander (True Blood), Gustaf (Westworld), and Valter (Lords of Chaos).
To Stellan’s credit, he is well aware that their fame may have surpassed his own. Speaking to Vulture, the patriarch explained that he doesn’t consider his kids “nepo babies” because he is the one who gets “so much goodwill and maybe jobs because of them.”
He also opened up about having to earn his sons’ respect as a father. “I have a very good relationship with my kids,” he said. “They have no respect for me just because I’m their father. Because that’s bullshit. You shouldn’t be respected for five minutes of joy.”
“I don’t demand respect for being a father. I demand respect for a good idea or if I do something well or if I create something for them,” he continued. “When my son Alexander was on Conan, he was talking about his childhood and he said that I always walked around naked… That lack of respect is very good. He can joke about anything.”
The nepotism discussion came up in reference to Skarsgård’s new movie, Sentimental Value, where he plays a legendary director trying to reconnect with his daughter by offering her a lead role in his own film.
The nepo baby discourse has been fueled in recent years by Vulture’s 2022 “Year of the Nepo Baby” editorial package. Among those who have since rejected the concept are famous father Tom Hanks and so-called “nepo babies” Lily-Rose Depp and Zooey Deschanel.