5 things you never knew about Andor’s Stellan Skarsgård

We are just mere weeks away from the premiere of the long-awaited Star Wars series, Andor.

The series will follow the early life and adventures of rebel fighter Cassian Andor who first appeared in 2016’s Rogue One, the first Star Wars anthology film.

The new series has a large cast featuring a handful of household names. Not least among them is veteran actor Stellan Skarsgård. While details are few and far between at the moment, what we do know is that Skarsgård will play a new character called Luthen Rael who will appear in at least three episodes of the new series. His allegiances and motives, however, remain a mystery.

Before we get to know Luthen Rael, let’s have some facts on the man himself, Stellan Skarsgård!

1. Stellan Skarsgård comes from a major family of actors

If you think the name Skarsgård sounds familiar, it’s because you can hardly avoid the avalanche of Skarsgård’s on the big (and small) screen. Stellan is far from alone in this regard. Four of his sons are major actors. Among them you may recognize Alexander Skarsgård (True Blood, The Northman), Gustaf Skarsgård (Vikings, Westworld) and Bill Skarsgård (It, Atomic Blonde). Truly a modern-day acting dynasty.

And that brings us to our next point:

2. He is the father of eight children.

From his acting offspring alone, it would seem that Stellan has his work cut out for him. But those mentioned are just a sampling of his eight children from two wives. This likely means we’re in for even more Skarsgård screen credits than we already have already.

3. He is originally from Sweden

Actors with distinct enunciation are always in demand and are a nice departure from the onslaught of Atlantic voices that dominates all forms of media. Skarsgård’s highly recognisable tones hail from the cold and beautiful northern European country of Sweden as does his whole family.

Må kraften vara med dig!

4. He is no stranger to big budget Disney productions

Skarsgård has been a major asset to some of the biggest Disney franchises. He played Bill Turner in Pirates of the Caribbean as well as Dr. Erik Selvig in the Thor and Avengers films. With Andor, Skarsgård lends his talents to the company once again.

5. Has been in the business for over half a century

He first started acting in 1968 and made the jump to English language roles in 1985. Skarsgård and his family have been well known in Sweden for just about this entire time but it wasn’t until more recent decades that the actor became known to more international audiences.

The three-episode premiere of Andor arrives to Disney+ on September 21.

What are you looking forward to most in Andor? Let us know in the comments below!

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