r/billskarsgard

Hi there, I’m curious what interests you most as content for this community (obviously Bill related). Would appreciate your insights and also comments 🫶

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A "dead man's line" is a steel wire that is wrapped around the trigger of a shotgun. The barrel of the gun is pointed at the hostage's neck while one end of the wire is attached around the neck, the other around the hostage-taker's torso. If something goes wrong, if the captive stumbles or lunges, the trigger will be activated and the hostage will most likely be killed.

It was Tony Kiritsis who coined the term in 1977, in one of America's most high-profile kidnapping dramas. The then 45-year-old Kiritsis sought revenge and took a bank manager hostage, using a dead man's wire.

In Gus Van Sant's film adaptation, the concept has been renamed to the title "Dead Man's Wire." The cast includes Al Pacino, Dacre Montgomery, Coleman Domingo - and Bill Skarsgård, who plays the lead role of Tony.

– I wouldn't have cast myself for this role. We have very little in common, Tony and I, especially physically, says Bill Skarsgård.
Bill Skarsgård's Tony is tall and thin with a mustache-adorned upper lip. The real Tony is short, slightly rounded, and has sideburns shaved at an angle.

– I had a hard time figuring out how to portray Tony because we looked so different. But then Gus said he wasn't interested in a photorealistic portrayal. Then it was okay.

We meet Bill Skarsgård at the top of the building that was once Stockholm's premier department store: Pub. Today it is a luxury hotel, but its years as a department store have been immortalized by, among other things, a portrait of Greta Garbo, who once worked there. Bill Skarsgård has a finished cup of coffee in front of him and a Loka with a natural flavor that he regularly sips.

Skarsgård is obviously delighted that the man behind films like “Good Will Hunting” and “My Own Private Idaho” is in charge of directing this time. He describes Gus Van Sant as a master.

– When you hear that Gus Van Sant is interested in you, you take it very seriously. Then I read the script and it was exactly what I was looking for. I really wanted to do a 70s portrayal that was character-driven, and when this script came down, it was like it manifested in some way.

It was on February 8, 1977, that Tony Kiritsis took a hostage for over 60 hours in Indianapolis, after feeling mistreated by the mortgage broker Meridian Mortgage. He had taken out a large loan to build a shopping mall, but felt constantly thwarted by them. Together with his hostage, he barricaded himself in his home, threatened with explosives and demanded five million dollars and an apology.

Outside the apartment complex, both the FBI and state radio and television journalists were on guard. Much of the conversation was broadcast live, and Kiritsis himself had direct contact with one of the state's leading radio hosts, who also broadcast their conversation on the air. When Skarsgård read the script, there were therefore links to actual audio clips and videos of Tony.

– I've heard the real Tony say the lines that I worked on myself. It was pretty special. But we found our mix. Since I don't look like the guy, it was important for me to carry and channel his energy.
The film was shot in just nineteen days.
– It's an extremely short shoot. It was so fast-paced the whole time, just handheld cameras with fifteen minutes of footage. I could lose myself completely in the performance. Being so present and getting into a flow state is one of the coolest things there is as an actor.

Bill Skarsgård has previously portrayed a real hostage-taker, then as one of Sweden's most notorious criminals: Clark Olofsson in the Netflix series "Clark".

– Clark had more star power , Tony was never really heard. But my Clark performance helped me in this role.
The difference is also that Tony is a victim, says Skarsgård.
– He felt that this was his chance to live the American dream , but that Meridian Mortgage was bleeding his finances out by constantly increasing the interest rate. He felt forced to act in this way, it was the late 1970s and there was not much support for the little man from the establishment. It has not gotten better over time. It is an extreme American story, but it is at least as relevant today as when it happened.

Tony Kiritsis was later acquitted of the hostage-taking charges due to insanity and passed away just over 20 years ago. The reviews for the film have already started to roll in, but Bill Skarsgård has already received, according to him, the “coolest” review.
– Tony Kiritsi's lawyer had commented on a video clip on YouTube that "Bill is Tony". We did some research into it and it was indeed the real lawyer who wrote it.

This is neither the first nor the second time Bill Skarsgård has appeared in a crime drama set in the 70s with flared brown trousers, sideburns and chain smoking. Before that, he played Clark Olofsson. At the age of 20, Bill Skarsgård played the lead role in Hannes Holm's film "The Sky is Innocently Blue", which is also based on a real crime case.

As the fourth of the Skarsgård siblings, he made his acting debut early. In 2000, he starred in “The Iron Gang” alongside his older brother Alexander. After roles in “Kenny Starfighter” and “There Are No Feelings in Space,” his breakthrough came, when he received his first Guldbagge nomination, among other things. His first international role was in “Anna Karenina” in 2012.

Since then, the films have poured in. In 2017, he became a clown with the entire film world, when he played the horror icon Pennywise in Stephen King's "It", a role that has received both a sequel and an HBO series. Last year, Robert Eggers' "Nosferatu" premiered, where Skarsgård plays Count Orlok. The role required around 60 prosthetics. The Pennywise role also involved a lot of makeup.

– I've made almost 40 films. "It" and "Nosferatu" are the only ones that have this many prosthetics. I'm more used to working without prosthetics than with them, but there's been a lot of commotion around these films.

There was no rest after the nineteen intense days of filming for “Dead Man's Wire.” When Bill Skarsgård had done his last act as Tony, he sat in the makeup chair and shaved his head. Later that day, he flew to Northern Ireland to take on the role of Little John in the filming of “The Death of Robin Hood,” which premieres this summer.

– It was a mindfuck for me, he laughs:
– The next day we glued on a fake beard. As Little John, I do a Northern English dialect, a Yorkshire dialect. Going from Tony, who is American, to this dialect, it was… I've never made such a sharp turn before.

The film is directed by Michael Sarnoski (A Quiet Place. Day One and Pig) and is a much darker portrayal than Disney's animated fox version. The role of Robin Hood is played by Hugh Jackman, and here he does not steal from the rich and give to the poor, but instead suffers for his sins.

– There is an aging Robin Hood who has spread a myth about himself. What you feel is that he is probably a mass murderer who, in his old age, must be held accountable for what he has done, morally. That is what this tale is, it is a cool takeon it.
Now Bill Skarsgård is back home in Sweden, but he is secretive about what he does when he lands on home soil:

– Fuck you, he laughs.

But being out making a Hollywood film and coming home late, what's the contrast?

– It's quite extreme to be in a film production, especially if you have a supporting role. You live in a special microcosm, so it's nice to come home to Stockholm. To walk the same streets I grew up on, to be among people I've known for a long time. When you're out on these adventures, it's nice to come home and be grounded.

Ok, so recently I've been seeing clips of Bill Skasgård in Hemlock Grove and it looks like it would be a good show to watch. Only thing is I have no clue where I could watch it (I have HBO, Prime video, Netflix and Disney+ but as far as I'm aware its not on any of them) I live in the UK so it may vary depending on location (I think)

Thank you!