One of the most famous and talented families working in the industry today is that of the Swedish-born Skarsgårds — including Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård, his brother and horror movie star Bill Skarsgård, and their father, Stellan Skarsgård. In addition to his long and storied career, the acclaimed patriarch of this Hollywood dynasty has also become the first in his family to become a part of the Star Wars universe as a member of the Andor cast on Disney+.
In honor of this stellar achievement, we have compiled a showcase of our choices for the best Stellan Skarsgård movies and TV shows, with where you can find them on streaming below — and his aforementioned new Star Wars TV show is where we shall start.
Andor (2022-Present)
A young loner (Diego Luna) discovers that he can put his rebellious characteristics to good use by joining a secret, slowly developing war against the oppressive governmental system ruling over a galaxy far, far away.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård TV shows: The actor plays Luthen Rael, who recruits Luna’s title character into the Resistance, on Andor — a thrilling, critically acclaimed series prequel to the events of the film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, from 2016.
His Pirates Of The Caribbean Movies (2006-2007)
After Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) has helped break the curse upon his old ship, he enlists the help of Will Turner (Orlando Bloom) and Elizabeth Swann (Keira Knightley) to break a curse upon himself and, later, engage in battle for the future of piracy itself.
Why they are some of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: For one of his earliest collaborations with Disney, he joined the cast of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies — which many might agree are some of the best pirate movies ever made — as Will Turner’s cursed father, “Bootstrap” Bill Turner, in the second installment (subtitled Dead Man’s Chest) and would also reprise the role in the third film, At World’s End.
Stream the Pirates of the Caribbean movies on Disney+.
Rent/buy Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest digitally on Amazon.
Buy Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Rent/buy Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End digitally on Amazon.
Buy Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End on Blu-ray on Amazon.
His Marvel Movies (2011-2022)
The lives of an esteemed theoretical physicist (Skarsgård) and his colleagues (Natalie Portman and Kat Dennings) are changed forever when they become acquainted with a young man (Chris Hemsworth) who claims to be a celestial being banished from his otherworldly home to Earth and may be the planet’s only hope against an impending attack if he can reclaim his powers.
Why they are some of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: Years later, he would join another franchise owned by Disney by appearing in one of the earliest installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline, Thor, as Dr. Erik Selvig — whom he would reprise again in 2012’s The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World the following year, Avengers: Age of Ultron in 2015, and Thor: Love and Thunder for a brief cameo in 2022.
Stream the Marvel Movies on Disney+.
Rent/buy the Thor movies digitally on Amazon.
Rent/buy The Avengers digitally on Amazon.
Rent/buy Avengers: Age of Ultron digitally on Amazon.
Rent/buy Thor: Love and Thunder digitally on Amazon.
Buy Thor: Love and Thunder on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Cinderella (2015)
Following a chance meeting with a charming prince (Richard Madden), a kindhearted young woman (Lily James) unjustly treated by her stepmother (Academy Award winner Cate Blanchett) and stepsisters, is given the opportunity to find true love and escape her unfair life by attending a royal ball, with help from her fairy godmother (Helena Bonham Carter).
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: The talent also stepped into the world of one of Disney’s most iconic and beloved animated classics by starring as the Grand Duke in director Kenneth Branagh’s genuinely enchanting live-action reimagining of Cinderella in 2015.
Rent/buy Cinderella digitally on Amazon.
Buy Cinderella on DVD/Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Mamma Mia! Movies (2008-2018)
On the eve of her wedding day, a young woman (Amanda Seyfried) invites three men (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and Stellan Skarsgård) who could be her real father and, years later, learns more about the earlier years of her late mother (Meryl Streep) as she prepares for the reopening of the hotel she once ran.
Why they are some of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: Another time Skarsgård appeared in one of Lily James’ movies was when he reprised his role as Bill Anderson (and played his twin brother, Kurt) in Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again — the sequel to the 2008 cinematic adaptation of the hit stage musical featuring songs by legendary disco group, Abba.
Stream Mamma Mia! on Starz.
Rent/buy Mamma Mia! digitally on Amazon.
Rent/buy Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again digitally on Amazon.
Buy the Mamma Mia! movies on Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Hunt For Red October (1990)
During the height of the Cold War, a CIA analyst (Alec Baldwin) tries to prove that a Soviet Union submarine captain (Academy Award winner Sean Connery) is planning to defect.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: One of his first major English-language film roles was Russian Captain Viktor Tupolev in director John McTiernan’s adaptation of Tom Clancy’s novel, The Hunt for Red October — the first of the Jack Ryan movies and the only to star Baldwin as the iconic action hero character.
Stream The Hunt For Red October on Netflix.
Rent/buy The Hunt For Red October digitally on Amazon.
Buy The Hunt For Red October on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Good Will Hunting (1997)
Eager to exploit the extraordinary mathematical talents of a young, aimless custodian (Matt Damon), an M.I.T. professor (Skarsgård) forces him to seek inspiration from a disillusioned therapist (Robin Williams, in an Oscar-winning performance).
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: Inciting the plot of director Gus Van Sant’s inspirational coming-of-age story, Good Will Hunting — which earned Damon and Ben Affleck Oscars for Best Original Screenplay — is Skarsgard’s character, Prof. Lambeau, and his discovery of the reluctant title character’s genius.
Stream Good Will Hunting on HBO Max.
Rent/buy Good Will Hunting digitally on Amazon.
Buy Good Will Hunting on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Amistad (1997)
Following a violent revolt on a Spanish slave ship, a group of American abolitionist lawyers work to prove that the African men aboard were captured illegally and, therefore, deserve to be set free.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: Also in 1997, director Steven Spielberg cast him in Amistad — another powerful, Oscar-nominated drama — as New York-based abolitionist Lewis Tappan.
Stream Amistad on Paramount+.
Rent/buy Amistad digitally on Amazon.
Buy Amistad on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Chernobyl (2019)
At a nuclear power plant in the northern Ukraine, employees face deadly circumstances to prevent the spread of disaster in the midst of a colossal explosion in 1986.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård TV shows: More than two decades after Amistad, Stellan Skarsgård appeared in another acclaimed historical drama — this time an HBO original miniseries from creator Craig Malin — called Chernobyl, in which he plays Boris Scherbina, who served as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Soviet Union at the time of the devastating historical event dramatized here.
Stream Chernobyl on HBO Max.
Buy Chernobyl digitally on Amazon.
Buy Chernobyl on Blu-ray on Amazon.
Ronin (1998)
A former spy turned freelancer (Robert De Niro) puts together a team of outcast specialists like himself to find and retrieve a suitcase desired by rival Irish and Russian gangs.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: Playing one of DeNiro’s outcast cohorts — namely German computer specialist and former KGB associate Gregor — was Stellan Skarsgård in Ronin, which is a classic, international crime drama in the style of a heist thriller from director John Frankenheimer and screenwriter David Mamet.
Stream Ronin on Tubi.
Stream Ronin on Freevee through Amazon.
Rent/buy Ronin digitally on Amazon.
Buy Ronin on Blu-ray on Amazon.
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (2011)
A journalist (Daniel Craig) enlists the help of an anti-social, but highly skilled, hacker (Oscar nominee Rooney Mara) to investigate the decades-long disappearance of a wealthy industrialist’s niece.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: In one of the few English-language films on his resume that is also set in his home nation of Sweden, Skarsgård plays Martin — the brother of the missing Harriet Vanger — in director David Fincher’s version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which is based on the gripping, bestselling novel by Stieg Larsson.
Stream The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on Hulu.
Rent/buy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo digitally on Amazon.
Buy The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on DVD/Blu-ray on Amazon.
Nymphomaniac: Vol. I And Vol. II (2013)
After discovering a woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) badly beaten in an alley, a man (Skarsgård) takes her to his home, where she recounts all of the events that led her to diagnose herself as a sex addict.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: For his sixth (technically sixth and seventh) collaboration with writer and director Lars von Trier, Skarsgård appeared in the prolific and polarizing filmmaker’s raunchy, two-part drama, Nymphomaniac, as a man who enjoys reexamining the main characters’ sexual escapades as fishing metaphors.
Stream Nymphomaniac: Vol. I and Vol. I on Hulu.
Stream Nymphomaniac: Vol. I and Vol. on Amazon Prime.
Buy Nymphomaniac: Vol. I and Vol. II on DVD/Blu-ray on Amazon.
Dune (2021)
In the distant future, a prince (Timothée Chalamet) haunted by horrifying premonitions and his family find themselves embroiled in a violent struggle for ownership over the most valuable resource in their galaxy.
Why it is one of the best Stellan Skarsgård movies: Currently, the actor is shooting his reprisal of the role of the ruthlessly oppressive Vladimir Harkonnen in the second half of Dune — director Denis Villeneuve’s visually stunning, star-studded, and multi-Oscar-winning adaptation of author Frank Herbert’s seminal sci-fi epic.
Stream Dune on HBO Max.
Buy Dune digitally on Amazon.
Buy Dune on Blu-ray on Amazon.
If you are a fan of the Skarsgård brothers and are curious to see where their talents stem from, all you really need is to see the Stellan Skarsgård movies and TV shows above.
