ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD Favorite Place Has 20,000 Islands

Summary

Podcast Summary: Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers – Episode featuring Alexander Skarsgård

Title: ALEXANDER SKARSGÅRD Favorite Place Has 20,000 Islands
Release Date: July 1, 2025
Hosts: Seth Meyers and Josh (Pash) Meyers
Guest: Alexander Skarsgård

---

Introduction

In this lively episode of "Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers," hosts Seth Meyers and Josh Meyers (affectionately known as Pash) sit down with renowned actor Alexander Skarsgård to delve into his childhood memories, family dynamics, and adventurous journeys. The conversation is rich with humor, heartfelt anecdotes, and intriguing insights into Alexander's life both on and off the screen.

Early Conversations and Personal Anecdotes

The episode kicks off with Seth sharing a personal experience about being on the Howard Stern Show, drawing a charming parallel to his father's love for the same show:

• Seth Meyers [00:09]: "I was on the Howard Stern show. It's very fun. And it also feels like a very nice circle of life thing to be doing Howard Stern's show."

Pash (Josh) engages Seth playfully, leading to a humorous exchange about Seth's impressions and the dynamics of being on the show.

Discussing Alexander Skarsgård's Work and Interests

The conversation smoothly transitions to Alexander's professional endeavors, including his upcoming project:

• Alexander Skarsgård [06:03]: "He's got a new show, Murderbot."

Seth and Pash express excitement about Alexander's projects, highlighting the blend of personal and professional life that Alexander navigates. They also touch upon Seth's C3PO impression, adding a layer of lightheartedness to the discussion.

Family Dynamics and Upbringing

A significant portion of the episode explores Alexander's extensive family background in Stockholm, Sweden. With seven brothers and one sister, Alexander paints a vivid picture of growing up in a bustling, bohemian household:

• Alexander Skarsgård [15:04]: "It was mayhem at home. Yeah."

He elaborates on the lively extended family gatherings, emphasizing the creative and eccentric environment that shaped his early years.

• Alexander Skarsgård [14:05]: "We are seven boys and one girl."

Family Trips and Childhood Adventures

Alexander reminisces about family vacations, particularly spending summers in the Stockholm archipelago and traveling to Italy by train. These experiences highlight the adventurous spirit instilled in him from a young age:

• Alexander Skarsgård [26:47]: "We would do it over like, it was like the journey was part of the adventure."

The hosts and Alexander discuss the logistics and joys of traveling with a large family, sharing amusing stories about navigating group dynamics and accommodations.

Military Service and Antarctic Expedition

Delving into Alexander's adult life, the conversation shifts to his time in the Swedish military and his remarkable expedition to the South Pole:

• Alexander Skarsgård [40:57]: "We skied to the south pole with 21 soldiers."

He provides a detailed account of the training, challenges, and surreal experiences faced during the journey, including unexpected encounters and the stark beauty of Antarctica. Seth interjects with humor, comparing the expedition's hardships to his own less-than-stellar marathon experience.

Personal Life and Marital Insights

Alexander opens up about balancing his demanding career with family life, particularly highlighting his relationship with his young son amidst long shoots and travels:

• Alexander Skarsgård [55:00]: "He was just away, away. Pacifist. What can I say?"

This segment offers a glimpse into the sacrifices and adaptations necessary for maintaining close family ties while pursuing a successful career in acting.

Lighthearted Banter and Host Remarks

Throughout the episode, Seth and Pash intersperse the conversation with witty remarks and playful teasing, enhancing the engaging and relatable atmosphere. For instance, Seth shares his own humorous mishaps during the Stockholm Marathon:

• Seth Meyers [59:54]: "At mile 14, my knee buckled and I had to, like, literally lean against... a Sob in so much pain."

Interactive Speed Round

Towards the end of the episode, the hosts initiate a speed round of rapid-fire questions, allowing Alexander to showcase his quick-thinking and candid responses:

• Pash: "You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?"
  Alexander: "Adventurous."

• Pash: "If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, what family would you like to take a vacation with?"
  Alexander: "The Meyers brothers."

This segment not only provides entertaining insights but also solidifies the camaraderie between the hosts and their guest.

Closing Remarks and Final Thoughts

As the episode wraps up, the hosts and Alexander share heartfelt goodbyes and look forward to future interactions, hinting at upcoming joint adventures and the infusion of Alexander's personal experiences into future episodes.

• Alexander Skarsgård [66:46]: "I loved every second of it. So, no, thank you guys. And John Mulaney who wrote it? It's just so funny."

Notable Quotes

• Seth Meyers [00:09]: "It's a very nice circle of life thing to be doing Howard Stern's show."
• Alexander Skarsgård [15:04]: "It was mayhem at home."
• Alexander Skarsgård [26:47]: "The journey was part of the adventure."
• Seth Meyers [59:54]: "I had a bad feeling that I wouldn't be able to... that I was going to have an issue."
• Alexander Skarsgård [40:57]: "We skied to the south pole with 21 soldiers."
• Alexander Skarsgård [55:00]: "He was just away, away. Pacifist."

Conclusion

This episode of "Family Trips with the Meyers Brothers" masterfully intertwines humor, heartfelt storytelling, and insightful discussions, providing listeners with a comprehensive look into Alexander Skarsgård's life. From his vibrant family upbringing in Stockholm to his daring expeditions and balancing act between career and family, Alexander's narratives are both entertaining and inspiring. Seth and Pash's engaging hosting style ensures that both fans of the Meyers brothers and Alexander Skarsgård find the conversation enriching and enjoyable.

---

Note: This summary has been meticulously crafted to encapsulate all key points, discussions, insights, and humorous exchanges from the episode, ensuring it serves as a comprehensive guide for those who haven't had the chance to listen.

Transcript

[Seth Meyers]

Hi, Bhaji.

[Pash]

Hi, Sufi.

[Seth Meyers]

How are you?

[Pash]

I'm good.

[Seth Meyers]

Can I tell you something I did this morning?

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I was on the Howard Stern show.

[Pash]

Oh, that's fun.

[Seth Meyers]

It's very fun. And it also. It's very fun because dad more than us, because he was a commuter. Dad used to listen to Howard Stern all the time. And I feel like he would come home and he would tell us how funny Howard Stern was. And so it's a very nice. It's a very nice circle of life thing to be doing Howard Stern's show.

[Pash]

You. And do you, like, you sit in your own little booth when you. Stern.

[Seth Meyers]

You just sit a little booth and you just talk to Howard Stern. That's nice. I will say the other thing is, I feel like when it starts, I'm always, like, a little bit nervous, you know, because, you know, you're like, oh, talking to Howard Stern. And then with the thing. He's so good.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Because he, like, makes you so comfortable. And then at the end, he, like, wraps it up. And then while he wraps it up, and then I think you go, oh, it's over. I feel like that went really well. And then he asks you, like, a half an hour more questions.

[Pash]

Do you think they're recording those?

[Seth Meyers]

No, they are. He does this fake out where he's like, seth Meyers here. You know, check him out. Every night on late night. I'm just. Terrible Howard Stern impression. He's like, hey, I gotta ask you something. Tell me about this. And I'm like, oh, he did it. He got my guard down. But he's a real delight.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah.

[Pash]

So he lulls you into a false sense of security, and then he gets the good stuff.

[Seth Meyers]

And just for, you know, just for our guests, if any of our future guests are listening, we're gonna start using this lull move.

[Pash]

I was like. I say, oh, I've got 28 years later coming out this weekend as we record this intro. Zombies. And I've got 11 people on my ticket.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Res.

[Pash]

Big group together. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

When is it. When does it come out?

[Pash]

Comes out? I think it comes out technically on the Thursday of this week, but I will be seeing it on June 21st.

[Seth Meyers]

June 21st. Now, okay, what is your memory of the first two films? Do you feel like you remember everything that happened?

[Pash]

I definitely don't remember everything. That's not the kind of brain I have.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, you. Do you have any interest in going back and watching them, or are you just going to be like, I just.

[Pash]

Don'T know if I'm going to have time.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Pash]

I would say I probably remember 28 days letter more than I remember 28 weeks later.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, I think that's true.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I.

[Seth Meyers]

They're great movies.

[Pash]

Yeah, they're really. They're really good spookers and.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Fast zombies.

[Pash]

Yeah, it's. They were the first. They sort of broke the mold on fast zombies.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. And it makes sense, like, this idea that, like, without brains or whatever we thought zombies were. I guess zombies like to eat brains.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

But there was something that happened when they became zombie that they were sort of slow and shuffly. And then Danny Boyle was like, nah, they're gonna run like crazy. They wanna get them sweet brains.

[Pash]

Yeah. Well, they say, like, we. We have like a governor switch in our brains that, like, if you're working out or if you're doing something, like there's something in your brain that says stop.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Pash]

And I can't imagine a zombie has that. That thing that's like, oh, this is true. Don't exert yourself.

[Seth Meyers]

I don't think zombies at the end of a night are like, was I too much? Like, I feel like the whole night I was just like, yeah, I do remember. Ooh, I don't want to. I don't want to ruin anything about. Well, I also think it was like a rage disease because, like, they let some, like, crazy monkeys out of a cage that they were like.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

So there was. It was kind of a rage virus more than anything else.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

But remember, it was just a. It was just a little bit of blood. You've got a little bit of blood in you from the zombies.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

My. Our dear friend Brendan Gleon, who you've maybe never met, and I wouldn't say thinks I'm his dear friend, but he was in the film in Bruges, and I love him a great deal. He gets got the way he gets got. I think about a lot and I don't want to give anything away, but don't look up if there's a dead zombie hanging from wires above you.

[Pash]

Good advice. Good advice.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. I'm trying to think of a movie. Oh, you know what? I don't. Certainly. I didn't see Lilo and Stitch when it came out because I was an adult when it came out. But it's a pretty fun animated movie and there's a live action Lilo and Stitch, and there's a live action how to Train youn Dragon. And so I'm kind of. I'm kind of excited to have a couple of movies like that. That I hear are good, and maybe parents will actually like them.

[Pash]

Our dear friend, truly dear friend, Jill Benjamin. I was in a movie with her recently, and that trailer for Lilo and Stitch came on, and I was like, have you ever seen any of these movies? And she's like, no. And she was very offended. And I was like, well, I mean, you have kids. Like, have your kids maybe ever seen these movies? I just. I don't know if these are really good. I've missed them. You know, I'm an adult. I don't have kids. And she's like, I wouldn't know. And she was so.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah.

[Pash]

Because she has her kids see movies like the Descent, and, you know, she'll bring him to. Probably to 28 years later. And they're not, by the way.

[Seth Meyers]

Also, if you said to Jill, like, have you seen the English Patient? She'd be like, I don't know. Like, we should let people know that at large, there's a good chance that Jill doesn't know what the heck you're talking about.

[Pash]

Yeah. Jill will be joining us on our live podcast recording in Amsterdam.

[Seth Meyers]

Very excited for everybody to hear Jill for the first time.

[Pash]

Yeah. But we're going to have a bunch of our old cohort jumping in with some stories about their parents visiting them in Amsterdam and how things went well or poorly.

[Seth Meyers]

Can't wait.

[Pash]

Yeah. Very excited.

[Seth Meyers]

This is a delightful human being. And I'm very excited for you all to listen to Alexander Skarsgrd.

[Pash]

Yeah. He's got a new show, Murderbot.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Pash]

And that. Murderbot. This was totally unintentional on my part. Or maybe it was something that happens in your brain, that sort of sub. Something.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, subconscious.

[Pash]

Subconscious. Yeah. Maybe it was a subconscious tie in. But Murderbot has a governor's switch that.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, that goes off, I think. Murderbot. I don't know what you'd have to do to earn it, but I'd be pretty psyched if my nickname was Murderbot. You know what I mean?

[Pash]

I think it would make people afraid of you.

[Seth Meyers]

I think it'd be fun if you were like. If all my friends called me Murderbot and people were like, how'd you get that nickname? And I would go, I don't remember. I think it'd be a fun nickname to like. And they'd be like, you don't remember why people call you Bernabot? I'm like, no, I'm sure there was something.

[Pash]

Yeah. Maybe I murdered a robot. You robot.

[Seth Meyers]

You robot. I sure don't like them when they're around. Oh, by the way, this is for. This is for. Obviously for video only, but I feel like I. I. For the last. Last couple weeks, I've done a C3PO impression on the show. Just want to show it to you real quick.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Sure.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Pash]

It's pretty good.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. There you go. So that's just.

[Pash]

Another thing that's video only that it sort of burned me on this, but because we were having Alexander Skarsgrd on this pod. A Swede, famously Swedish.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Pash]

I thought, hey, I'm gonna wear a yellow T shirt and a blue hoodie.

[Seth Meyers]

Smart.

[Pash]

Swedish colors.

[Seth Meyers]

Smart.

[Pash]

And he's gonna be like, hey, my dude, it does not get mentioned. And then I get way too hot and I gotta take my sweatshirt. Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

So you really struck out.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Now, all right, I have a question. We're going to be in Amsterdam in a couple weeks. Yeah. Let's say someone's like, hey, you know, you're back for the Boom Chicago anniversary. Can I interview you for a local paper? Say, the Volkskrant?

[Pash]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Alchemy and Douglas. So you. NRC Handelsblad. So you sit down with this reporter.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

They're wearing blue jeans, white T shirt, red scarf.

[Pash]

Mm.

[Seth Meyers]

Are you immediately like, hey, that's my flag. My point is, what did you fucking think?

[Pash]

I thought I was showing some Swedish respect.

[Seth Meyers]

Like, go like, hey, man, by the way, like, I think every Swede's nightmare is you see somebody wearing blue and yellow and you're like, hey, I know what you're doing. And then that person's like, what? Like, if he, like, assumed you were, like, dressing up like his dad, it was.

[Pash]

I just. I'm letting the video watchers among you, which aren't very many, for the record. Yeah, yeah. I mean, we are on video. You can go over to YouTube. I put these songs on YouTube.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Pash]

Maybe like 300 people watch them.

[Seth Meyers]

Really? Yeah. Wait, you put just the songs?

[Pash]

The songs have to live alone.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh. Separate. Right, right, right.

[Pash]

Yeah. And people aren't clicking over. And do you.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you think it's a bad sign that the. Your co host of the show is like, what do you do?

[Pash]

No, I. I knew you didn't know.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Well, you know what? Sounds pretty cool. Let's get it up to 301, baby.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, Pashi, thanks for wearing the flag of surrender. Josh is wearing a white T shirt. All right, listen up. Here we go.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Yes.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Hey, hey.

[Pash]

IPad108. Is your name on your thing? Have you gone through 108 iPads.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, I smash one a week. Basically.

[Seth Meyers]

That is a big sticking point in my marriage because I am on, like, my AirPods are like AirPod 11. It drives my wife crazy that I'm on my 11th pair of AirPods.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I just heard. I just listened to your interview on Talk Easy the other day, Seth, and. And you reveal that you smash a lot of things.

[Seth Meyers]

I do. I kind of am a smasher. I'm an old school smasher. I'm glad. I'm glad that was your takeaway, by the way.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Not even. You're not even impressed by my 107 smack iPad. Come on.

[Seth Meyers]

How are you, Fred?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I'm pretty good. I'm pretty good.

[Seth Meyers]

It's great to see you.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, you too. It's been a couple of years.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. You look like you're on the set of a film noir.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Well, that. My life is. My life is a film noir. I'm actually back home after a couple of weeks or two months of traveling, basically. So I just got back home a few days ago.

[Seth Meyers]

And when you say home, do you mean Los Angeles?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I mean Stockholm.

[Seth Meyers]

That's what. Okay. That was kind of hopeful just based on the time we're doing this.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

All right.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm way happier.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Are you guys. I'm so sorry about the timing of this. Are you guys.

[Pash]

No, no.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm on Dream for Me.

[Pash]

I'm California. But it's fine. You're not. You're not the earliest we've ever done. And sometimes we do it for. Yeah, for New Yorkers.

[Seth Meyers]

So how far away do you live from where you grew up?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Right now I live about four. Three blocks. Four blocks from the apartment in which I grew up. And my two brothers and their families now reside in that apartment. So we still have it. We've had that apartment in the family since 1980.

[Pash]

Wow.

[Seth Meyers]

Did you have a sense when you were growing up that you would be living this close? Did you love it that much, or was this a path that you're surprised?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, I was very eager to get out of there. Not only the apartment, but Stockholm, Sweden. I was adamant about leaving, so I left for. Well, first the military when I was 18, and then when I was 20, I moved to Elites, and then New York and then la, and then back to New York. And I was gone for over 20 years. And for most of those two decades, I. I loved going back to visit. But Stockholm. But I didn't. I. No, I never really anticipated moving back. So a few years ago.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it's one of the most Stunning cities I've ever been in. I mean, I can understand when you live there, it maybe doesn't feel that way, but I've been lucky enough to go a few times, and I am very taken aback by the beauty of Stockholm.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I think I needed two decades away to appreciate that. You know, growing up there. I don't. It didn't really. I didn't really see the beauty of it or. But. But yeah, like my. Like I said, two of my brothers, they divided my childhood apartment into. Or our childhood apartment into two apartments. So Gus, his wife and two kids live in one part of the apartment, and Sam, his wife and two kids live in the other part. And my dad and his wife and my two brothers live a block away. My other, my sister lives a block away. So everyone is kind of. I'm the furthest away. But again, when I left, I was the only one who moved to the States. I was the only everyone that was kind of like, stayed in Stockholm. My dad works abroad a lot, obviously, but he always had Stockholm as a base. So I was the only one away from the.

[Seth Meyers]

I like that you're the black sheep because you live four blocks away.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

The outcast.

[Seth Meyers]

So you're the oldest of your siblings and you have, it seems like a great many.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you have. Is it all. Do you have only one sister? Is it all boys and one sister?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I don't know. I think we're about half a dozen boys. No, we're more than that. We're seven boys and one girl.

[Seth Meyers]

Wow. Wow.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

How do you think she perceives her upbringing based on how that broke down statistically?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Well, I do know that she was. So she's number five in the order. And I know when my mom was pregnant with number six, she was very little, but even as a two, three year old, she was really concerned that it would be a girl because she loved being the only girl. So I was, like, not excited about the prospect of sharing that attention with another girl. But then when she found out that it was she was gonna have a baby brother, she was very pleased. So she's. She's quite happy about being the only girl. Very good.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm glad she, in the end got what she wanted.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Well, yeah, yeah. She had a tendency to always get what she wanted when she was a kid.

[Seth Meyers]

Were you guys, I would imagine, a fairly chaotic home growing up with that many kids running around.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. It was also a very large extended family. My mother's brother, who's also my dad's best friend, lived with his family in the apartment above us in the same apartment building. And then my grandma and grandpa lived across the street in another apartment building. And our apartment was kind of the epicenter of our universe. So everyone kind of gathered most nights of the week in our apartment. And it was a very kind of lively bohemian household. Most of my uncles and aunts are in the arts. Artists or musicians, composers, painters. So it was very. A lot of very weird, eccentric people. Um, lovely. But. But it was mayhem at home. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Did you know it was eccentric compared to your other friends or were you in an artist?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Oh, yeah, yeah. No, I was. I hated it. I was devastated.

[Pash]

You couldn't wait to get to your military service?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I couldn't wait, exactly. I. No, I mean, I was not. When I was little, it didn't really bother me. I really loved having my cousins upstairs and like, being able to run, you know. It was. Having a big family was fun. When. When I was a kid, when I was entering my teenage years, it got. I want it to be normal. I wanted to be from a normal family. I wanted my parents to have two and a half kids, you know, like, you know, not eight. And I wanted specifically my dad, who's the most bohemian out of my parents, but I just wanted him to have like a normal job at an office in a cubic and wear a gray suit and drive a gray sob. And because I remember, like, specifically that I. In. I. I want to mention that, like, the connotations of driving a Saab in Sweden is very different from in the States. Yeah, I know. This in the States is kind of like a very little bougie. Yeah. In Sweden, Saab and Volvo. Most people like, especially when I was a kid, like 8 out of 10 cars were either a Saab or a Volvo. It was very much like every person.

[Seth Meyers]

Look like a Ford Taurus.

[Pash]

Honda Civic. Yeah, yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

It was just like no one would react. It was very, like, nondescript. Nothing special about it.

[Seth Meyers]

What did he drive?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

My dream. Well, for many years we didn't have a car at all. And then we had a Fiat Uno. No, sorry. Fiat Panda.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. That's a little. That's a kind of little. By the way, based on what my memory of a Fiat Panda is, that is not a very functional car for a family of 25 or whatever you wear.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

You should Google Image that bad boy. A Fiat panda from the mid-80s. It was.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, God.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

It's kind of retro cool today, I guess, but when you're 13.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

And you drive around that. It looks like a miniature Truck.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Or like, it's a very. Looks like. It almost looks like East European, like a Trabant or something from the 80s. It's very boxy. And, yeah, it definitely doesn't look like a sob.

[Seth Meyers]

I feel like when an Italian car company names it after an Asian bear, that's just their way of saying, like, we haven't put a lot of thought into this. Did you. Was your dad well known in Sweden? I mean, I think we kind of got to know him. Maybe, if my timeline's right, like, maybe late 90s, he was famous here. But, like, what about your upbringing?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Sorry, I digress here. But when you said, like, Italian carmaker naming it after an Asian animal. There was Also, in the 80s or early 90s, you know, Hyundai, they made a model called Hyundai Fitta. F I T T A and F I T T A in Swedish means vagina. And I guess the Swedish market is very. Is very small, so no one bothered checking.

[Seth Meyers]

Sure.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. And it's actually not. It's fitness is not. It's actually more. Can I curse on the show, please?

[Pash]

Yeah, sure.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. It's. It's basically.

[Pash]

Yeah, okay.

[Seth Meyers]

We didn't know it was going to be that one. So.

[Pash]

It's slang. It's harsh slang.

[Seth Meyers]

It's the worst one.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So it's. It's not Hyundai vagina, it's Hyundai. It didn't sell very well in Sweden.

[Pash]

I imagine there must have been some, like, rebellious youths who really wanted to.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Get their hands on that.

[Seth Meyers]

They never have disposable income to get a car.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

The rebellion.

[Seth Meyers]

I want to believe that even today at Hyundai, in, like, the marketing department, somebody gives a speech about the Fitta.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

The Fitta.

[Seth Meyers]

And, like, we could never, like, you, like, triple check. Triple check.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We don't want another incident. Yeah. A debacle.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. Again, if you make this mistake, you're the fitter. That's what they say. You're the. You're the fitter. Don't be the fitter. Don't be the dumb fitter.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, sorry, you were saying something about.

[Seth Meyers]

No, but I also want to applaud. I want to applaud the digression. That was a worthwhile digression. So thank you.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Oh, thank you. Much appreciated.

[Seth Meyers]

Thank you for your instincts.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Much appreciated.

[Seth Meyers]

Hey, we're going to take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors. Support for family trips comes from Airbnb. Hey, Pashi.

[Pash]

Hey, Sufi. There are a lot of holidays.

[Seth Meyers]

Name three, since you're so confident.

[Pash]

Well, Flag Day, Arbor Day, New Year's Eve. Which one of those do you think is a good one to go hang out with friends for?

[Seth Meyers]

I would do New Year's Eve. Unless your friends are trees, in which case, Arbor Day.

[Pash]

Okay, good call.

[Seth Meyers]

Yep.

[Pash]

I love New Year's Eve. I used to always sort of just chase parties for New Year's Eve. I always wanted to find, like, the hottest thing that was going on.

[Seth Meyers]

You were a party chaser. You were like. We used to say you were like those people in Twisters, but for parties.

[Pash]

Yeah, that was me. And sometimes there would be two parties happening at the same time, like in the most recent Twisters movie, and you sort of feel pulled between them. But, you know, maybe 10 years ago, 15 years ago, me and my friends figured out a better thing to do is to get an Airbnb, go outside the city, you know, go somewhere else, go to a cool little town, and then just be with each other. And it is. It has been the best. And we, you know, for years and years now, have been getting little cabins and little mountain towns stone's throw away from Los Angeles. And now is kind of the good time to start looking at booking your New Year's Eve Airbnb.

[Seth Meyers]

This is important because people like Pasche are already on it.

[Pash]

Well, I mean, when you're not on it early and then you're not finding the perfect thing for you and your buddies, you feel like you've really dropped the ball. So don't drop the ball this year. Get on Airbnb. You can find just amazing stuff to create some great memories and be with your friends. And that's where the real party is.

[Seth Meyers]

And the other thing is for these memories to be made for people like Pashi, people like you have to put your home on Airbnb. As a host, your home could be worth more than you think. Find out how much [e-mail] Host support comes from Beam. What's up, Bashi? What's up, Sufi Bashi? I don't need to tell you my kids are out of school. Less time, you know, for me to do my own thing. More chaos.

[Pash]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

And, you know, one of the things I'd like more time to do is, you know, go shopping, make sure I'm getting them healthy food. But our routines are off, our meals are on the go, and that makes it almost impossible for me to make sure my little ones are getting all the vitamins they need every day. That is why I'm excited to introduce you, Pashi. And just you. If other people want to overhear this, that's fine, but I'm telling you, Pashi.

[Pash]

Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

Beam Kids all in one super powder. We've tried a lot of different supplements and I will tell you that some have greens but no probiotics. Another has vitamins but no fiber. Beam Kids is packed with over 40 essential nutrients including greens, fruits, vitamins, pre and probiotics. Literally everything kids need for healthy growth, strong immune systems and steady energy throughout the day. It's pediatrician formulated, third party tested and co created by Olympic gold medalist and mom, Shawn Johnson. They've launched a brand new chocolate chip cookie flavor that tastes like dessert and works like a multivitamin. My picky eater asks for seconds of greens. Let that sink in. And now the perfect time to try it because Beam is offering an exclusive deal for our listeners. For a limited time, you can get up to 35% off plus two free gifts. When you go to shopbeam.com trips and use code T RIPS at checkout. That's shop b e a m.com trips and use code trips for up to 35% off and get two free gifts. Seriously, less stress for parents, better nutrition for kids. No more arguing over vegetables. Get yourself some Beam Kids super powder and have one less thing to worry about this summer. Here we go.

[Pash]

Yeah. Was your father well known or was he traveling internationally a lot when you were growing up?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, he was, when I was up until I was like a teenager, he was primarily a stage actor in Stockholm and he was a well known stage actor. He worked at the Royal Dramatic Theater in Stockholm with Ingmar Bergman. So he's like, he worked with the big gorillas on the big stage. But again, it was in Sweden, so it's quite limited reach and it didn't really affect me because my 12 year old friends didn't go to the National Royal Dramatic Theater to watch a Bergman play.

[Seth Meyers]

Right.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So no one, none of my friends really knew who he was, which I really loved. But then when I was in my late teens, he did something called, he played a character named Hamilton. Not the musical Hamilton, but it's the Swedish equivalent of 007. It's like agent. Yeah. So it's like an action, a very famous action spy basically. And that then that was definitely something more action driven. So that was definitely something people my age would watch. And that then it got a little. Yeah, I was a little uncomfortable with that because then people in my school would like, hey, you're a dad. That got a little bit uncomfortable. But he actually didn't, he didn't start working we spent a summer in Texas when I was 8. Dad did a movie called Noon Wine with Fred Ward. And that was after that. He didn't. That was after that. He didn't work in the States for another, like almost 10 years. So he was primarily in Sweden. And then occasionally movies.

[Seth Meyers]

Were you the kind of family that would go on vacations when he wasn't working? And if so, we're. I know there's that real, like sort of island culture in Sweden. Were you one of those families?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yes, we. So there's an archipelago outside of Stockholm with thousands of small islands. But then further south in Sweden, there are two big islands, one called Gotland and one called. And we have a family home on which going back like 100 years. So five generations of Skarsgards. Actually our surname is from that island, from Skorre, which an old Viking back in the day. So we would go down there and spend the whole summer on, basically. And then occasionally we would Eurorail take the train down to Italy a couple of times when I was a kid as well.

[Seth Meyers]

How long is that trip to get down to Italy?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We would do it over like, it was like the journey was part of the adventure. So we would sleep on the trains, take a night train to Hamburg and then. And have a day there and then, you know, work our way like InterRail style. You know, it's all. You know, all these cities are connected. So you.

[Seth Meyers]

Like.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We would work our way down maybe three, four days down to Italy and then. And then back up.

[Pash]

What would you. How long would you stay in Italy? Or would you just tap it and then turn around?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, no, we. We. Probably a week, but it was kind of. When I was. At the time, it was in 47 of us. It was mom, dad and my. Myself and my. And Gus and Sam, my two brothers. So we were lean and mean. It was only five of us. We could fit into one compartment, you.

[Pash]

Know, and would you be going to the mountains or would you be more on the coast?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Travel over the Alps, which is a beautiful train ride, highly recommended to your listeners. And back then. I haven't done it in 30 years, but I remember back then they had a really nice, like, dining car. You could sit and eat a nice lunch overlooking the Alps. And as you like, driving through the mountains, it was stunning. So it was like a combination of, like, a little bit of adventure, which is super fun for us kids, and then a few days on the beach in Italy, which was also quite nice. And yeah, so we did that a bunch of times.

[Seth Meyers]

Do You. I picture when you're traveling with a larger group as the family sort of is busting at the seams, you're sort of a bohemian theater family. Were you. Do you feel like you were well behaved as a group?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I mean, it was definitely like herding cats because there's a lot of us and taking off in different directions. I think, like, we were having a blast. But in hindsight, it must have been a nightmare for mom and dad. You know, you're at the train station in Berlin, and you got 19 kids running around in different directions. You know, I.

[Seth Meyers]

Again, we've established that I smash things, so I'm not judging. But was your. Were your parents temperamental on vacations, or did they keep their cool?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I think it was very stressful for my mother because dad had a more chill attitude towards it all, and it was like, you know, we'll make it. We got four minutes till the train departs. It's probably fine.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, that type.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

And she's like, we don't know where our children are. Where are our kids? He's like, it's fine.

[Pash]

Did you have to become a parent figure because you were the oldest to some of your younger siblings?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I mean, I want to say yes, because it would make me seem like a better human being than I actually am, but probably not. I don't think I helped out very much.

[Seth Meyers]

Okay.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No.

[Seth Meyers]

Do you. Based on proximity now, do you guys go on. Do you go on adult vacations with your family and your nieces and nephews?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We. Yeah, we do. We. We celebrate. So my parents are divorced, but are still very tight, and my dad and Megan, his wife, live a block away from my mom and actually got a country house on one of the islands in the archipelago outside of Stockholm, a block like 100 yards away from my mom's country house. So it's. It's beautiful. It is like a big extended family. And again, they, after 35 years of marriage, decided that they were better as. As best friends than partners. So we do with the extended family now with kids and grandkids, go on trips. We went to Sri Lanka a few years ago, Bali a couple years before that, where we rent a big house, because I think there's just between the siblings and the grandkids now, and mom and dad and Megan. I think we're 25 or 26 now. So it's. It's a. It's a platoon of people traveling.

[Seth Meyers]

I'm always excited when I meet someone who's closer with their family than my wife is with Hers.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Are they tight?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, they're really tight. We like have a. We. We like built a house next to their house, so.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Oh. Oh.

[Seth Meyers]

And I kind of knew when I met her, like that would be the deal, you know, she never hid from me, like how codependent it was, which I appreciate.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, and I'm just. We're building a small cabin in the woods on one of the. So this is not a little geography lesson here for curious Americans. So Airland is like one of the two big islands down in southern Sweden, so. But mom lives permanently in the Stockholm archipelago. Again, there's like 20,000 plus small islands outside of Stockholm and she lives out there permanently now. Dad and Megan have a house out there, like a weekend home. And this is like, you can drive to some of the islands. Some of the islands are the size of a table and some are big. We can drive on them. And we're on an island that you can, you can drive to. And we're having a small cabin built in the woods on the same island. So like a three minute walk from mom and dad's place. So to kind of be close together. So we often do holidays like Christmas, Thanksgiving together out there on the island and then, then every other. Every three years maybe we'll go somewhere like Sri Lanka or Bali or. Or South Africa a few years ago. But it's. Yeah, it's lovely. But it's obviously like a logistical nightmare with 25 people and toddlers and teenagers and finding stuff to do for everyone and. But we often just rent a house together and then like, as long as there's like a beach and cocktails, everyone's pretty happy. Or a pool and cocktails, everyone's happy.

[Pash]

How do you figure out bedrooms in a situation like that? Do you flex and say, like. Well, I mean, I'm used to a certain level of comfort at this point in my life. I've had some success. I need one of the nicer bedrooms, but with 25, I imagine you get what you get.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I try to be very magnanimous and I feel so good about myself when I go, like, you know what, sis, you should. No, you should take the master bedroom. I'm fine back here. I'll take this little room facing the, you know, the street. It's all right. And then I feel disgustingly good about myself. Like, I'm such a good.

[Pash]

Well, that's good. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

So I just want to help me picture 20,000 islands. Like, how many of them can you drive to? And how many, like, do people have to take Boats to some of them, if they have houses on them or is it all. Is there?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Let me, let me.

[Pash]

Seth doesn't know how islands work.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, no, so.

[Seth Meyers]

So surrounded by water.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Right.

[Seth Meyers]

Okay.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

How many can you drive to? So a couple of them have bridges, a couple of them have carries.

[Seth Meyers]

Coco heard about those.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So our, our island is called Y and you drive about an hour north of Stockholm or central Stockholm where we're based. And then it's a five minute car ferry and then the island is the size of Manhattan. So but mostly, you know, pine trees, but it's a big island with, with you know, grocery stores and you can, you know, and you know, villages and stuff. But. And some, again, some of the islands, especially further out in the archipelago, you have to take a private boat to get to. And. But there's also great boat service like ferries, small, smaller ferries from central Stockholm. They can do a day trip out to the islands. And again, for anyone visiting Stockholm, that is if you're there for more than a few hours, you should definitely get on one of the Vaxholms. Botana Vaxholm is one of the islands out there and just go out and jump on a boat. You can sit and have a nice lunch and then cruise through the islands because it's pretty stunning out there.

[Seth Meyers]

It's amazing.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I think the, the U.S. equivalent would probably be up in Maine in terms of the topography and what it looks like out there. Lots of pine trees and islands. Yeah, it's quite a special place when.

[Pash]

You would go to sort of the family house on the island.

[Seth Meyers]

Say the name of the island. Pash. He keeps saying them. So repeat it.

[Pash]

Well, I was going to ask if Skaru, was he a good guy?

[Seth Meyers]

Nice job.

[Pash]

Was Skaru a good guy? That Viking that you were named after, is there a lot of history on him?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So Skars Gord. Skor means. Gord means farm. So Skor is farm. That's our last name. And all I know is that he was exceptionally handsome. Yeah. And in a very, very benevolent king.

[Pash]

Oh, that's not what you always expect to hear about a Viking.

[Seth Meyers]

No, no, but that's why also like kind of the farming Viking.

[Pash]

Right.

[Seth Meyers]

He was like, I'd love to just get back to the garden.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

That's why he didn't go down in the history books as like, you know, some of the most famous, famous Vikings because he wasn't out raping and pillaging.

[Pash]

Yeah, More of it. More of a pillager than a pillager.

[Seth Meyers]

Nice job. Yeah. He had a bottle episode on Vikings that everybody said was the worst one.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, it was just him sitting around like asking everyone for consensus and what do you guys want to do? Mike? Guys, we need to treat women better, with respect.

[Seth Meyers]

Also. This is their stuff. I don't think we can just take it.

[Pash]

So when you would go out to this house on the island, would you spend your whole summers there or would you.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, pretty much.

[Pash]

What would you do out there? Like, if as a, as a kid, how would you entertain yourself? Would you all be together with like a group of your siblings? Or would you go off on your own and just run through the pine forest? Or swimming? Like, what are activities that keep you busy?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Well, when I was a kid, we didn't have the place in the Stockholm archipelago. We only had. We got the place in the archipelago when I was 19. So I don't really have up until then we would always. Airline is about a five hour drive from Stockholm. So that was a place where we would like pack up our Fiat Panda and then drive down and you know, after, you know, and then spend two months down there. But we wouldn't go down.

[Seth Meyers]

You would take like the size of the Panda. It would take like five trips, right? Somebody go, then come back, pick up another two trips.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, they would cram it into it. And both mom and dad were like chain smokers. So they would sit up front and just like smoke in that small. With three kids in the back seat and 45 bags and two big dogs. And then we would like set camp and be down there for two months. But that was part of the reason they got the place in the Stockholm market Pelican. Because you can actually go out there. It's an hour away from central Stockholm. So you can go out there on a weekend or, you know, so. But yeah, what do you do out there? It's. You hang out. You go swimming or kayaking or you have a little boat.

[Seth Meyers]

Were your brothers a good hang? Were they a part of your. Like, did you guys do a lot of stuff together?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. And so again, growing up in Sturaroa, this village on Erland, that Stuart is where my parents met. So like I mentioned earlier, like in the apartment above our apartment, Mom's older brother Johan lived and still lives. And dad and Johan became best friends because they were kids. And our grandparents had houses in the same village on Erland. So that's how they met and were like summer buddies. And then mom was five years younger and then classic case of like suddenly one summer and she was always like annoying little kid. And then suddenly One summer, dad showed up and his best friend's annoying little kid was suddenly like 18 and very pretty. And that's how that story started.

[Seth Meyers]

Right. I think one of the takeaways of this pod is if you're waiting for an apartment in Stockholm to open up, keep waiting. Since everybody in your story is like, still lives. Still lives in the place. I mean, sometimes they move out, but then they split it in two and give it to the their children.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. But so we have again, because both on my mom's side, on my dad's side, strong like roots in this village from going five generations back. That means there's like 200 cousins, you know, and aunts and uncles, and everyone is there. Most people live in Stockholm, but go down for the summer, so it was always a good hang, no matter what age you were. Like, you'd have tons of relatives and fun people to hang out with down there.

[Seth Meyers]

I know this isn't a family trip, but it is very unique that we're talking to somebody who has been to the South Pole. And so if you don't mind, I'd love to dig into that journey of yours. So this was a charitable trip that you took?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

It was, yes. With this British charity called Walking with the Wounded. Yeah, we skied to the south pole with 21 soldiers now.

[Seth Meyers]

So when you. What's the first thing you do? Like, where do you fly to to begin your trip to the South Pole?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So we flew down to. Well, I was. We flew down to Cape Town and then took a cargo plane from Cape Town to this Russian based on the coast of Antarctica. And then we trained there for a week, had some amazing Indian food.

[Seth Meyers]

Oh, yeah, they say that's the place.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

To get it if you want some great dal, go down to Antarctica.

[Seth Meyers]

Russia, you gotta go to the Russian.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Base in Antarctica because we were out training.

[Seth Meyers]

That's like the Fiat Panda. I would say that's a Fiat Panda of food.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

But we stumbled upon an Indian research station because we had a week of training on the coast and we're out one day and yeah, just stumbled upon this Indian research station. And they were very generous and hospitable and invited us in for a great Indian lunch in classic, like Bollywood music video movie was playing in the background and fully decked out research station. And then after that. So a week later, we flew up to the plateau, the 97th, 87th degree. And then we skied for about three weeks on the ice to the South Pole. Wow.

[Pash]

Hey, we're going to Take a quick break and hear from some of our sponsors.

[Seth Meyers]

Support comes from Visit Baltimore Pashi Sufi Baltimore. Can I tell you about it?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Please.

[Seth Meyers]

Because it's often overlooked, but it definitely belongs on your vacation radar as a rising star in the US you can forget your usual big cities where you end up lost in a crowd. Instead experience the charm of Baltimore. It's known as what?

[Pash]

Pasci Charm City.

[Seth Meyers]

We have talked a lot about fun that grown ups can have in Baltimore. But now kids. Everybody likes to take family trips with kids. Yeah. And if you're looking for a wild day out in Baltimore, Maryland Zoo. Home to over 1500 animals and before you ask, no, a thousand of them are not bugs. That sometimes a lot of these lesser zoos will trick you and then you find out it's mostly bugs. These guys, they got playful penguins, towering giraffes, roaring lions. You can feed, explore and get closer than ever. Then dive into adventure at based on the setup of dive into the adventure. What do you think I'm talking about Pasha? The National Aquarium A mustache seas since 1981. You could touch stingrays, explore glowing reefs and come face to face with sharks and even dolphins. Science gets seriously fun at the Maryland Science center located in Baltimore's inner harbor. Three floors of hands on exhibits where you can walk with full size dinosaurs, splash around in the kids room, explore the human body or launch into space in the planetarium. There's an IMAX theater. Love an IMAX theater. The the one problem with my IMAX theater with my kids.

[Pash]

What's that?

[Seth Meyers]

Axel's his eyes. So weird. 3D glasses don't work.

[Pash]

Oh no.

[Seth Meyers]

I know it's a bummer, but he's still going to live a full life. And if you're ready for a day of high seas adventure, climb aboard the fearless pirate ship with urban pirates and let your kids live out their pirate dreams. Complete with treasure hunts, pirate games, dancing and blasting water cannons on a real family as adventure cruise. I will tell you that of everything when I mentioned these to my kids, they were most excited about the fearless pirate ship.

[Pash]

Absolutely. Well, they're. Yeah, they are a group of little scallywags.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, exactly. I was like do you want to go see dinosaur bones? And they were like we want a pillage plan your visit today baltimore.org Baltimore is just a quick drive or train ride from New York, Philly and DC. That's baltimore.org go to baltimore.org Baltimore slogan is you won't get it till you get here. Go to baltimore.org to plan your vacation or getaway. Today, support comes from Cayman Jack, America's number one margarita. What's up, Baji?

[Pash]

Hey, Sufi.

[Seth Meyers]

Summer's coming.

[Pash]

Oh yeah, it's coming.

[Seth Meyers]

I know what you like to drink in the summer.

[Pash]

A margarita. It just feels right.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it just feels right in the summer, kids. Good. All 12 months of the. But the summer is a good time to kick off your 12 months of margaritas. Cayman Jack brings the margarita taste, you know, from your favorite beach bar, wherever you are. No mixing, no fuss. Made with real blue agave nectar and lime juice, it's the premium margarita flavored experience that fits in your hand.

[Pash]

You know what I like about cracking a Cayman Jack souff?

[Seth Meyers]

What's that?

[Pash]

It's a transformative experience. It transports you to your margarita state of mind. That beachy tropical paradise where your legendary flavor dreams come true.

[Seth Meyers]

Perfect for days you're by the pool, house parties, or just hanging with your crew. It's available in a variety of flavors. A variety, I tell you.

[Pash]

Yeah. You live in New York, I'm out in la and we've already had some pretty hot days. And I've already had an occasion to be dipping in a buddy's pool. And I just love floating around in a pool with a Cayman Jack margarita. Sipping on that little music going. It feels like you're on vacation.

[Seth Meyers]

So crack into your margarita state of mind. Pick up Cayman Jack at your local store or visit caymanjack.com to find it near you. Please drink responsibly. Premium malt beverage with natural flavors. American vintage.

[Josh]

When you hear Lululemon, you probably think of Align yoga pants. Weightlessly soft like. Like you're wearing next to nothing. That's why you see them in class, at the grocery store and in the park. But did you know about skirts with built in liner shorts so you can still jump for the Frisbee and tanks and bodysuits with Align's iconic stretch, you won't want to take it off. And with endless style options, you don't have to shop in store or [e-mail].

[Seth Meyers]

Vintage Beverage Company, Chicago, Illinois. Here we go.

[Pash]

Are most Swedish people good on? I'm assuming these are cross country skis.

[Seth Meyers]

You're.

[Pash]

You're a good cross country skier or you're a very good cross country skier.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I'm a terrible cross country skier and I think when they invited me they assumed that like, oh, Alex, Swedish, of course you can ski. I. And, and most suites are pretty good skiers. Like most suites go up like during the, you know, winter Break or spring break up to Northern Sweden or down to the Alps to ski again. I come from a very bohemian family of not very sporty people. So we never did that as a kid. And then I, I kind of never really. I snow. It was snowboarding a little bit when I lived in California in Mammoth. But I, I've never skied in Sweden.

[Seth Meyers]

I like that. They were. There was a week of training. It was actually supposed to be an hour until they saw you on skis and they' like, I don't think we can leave yet. I think we got to do like a much. We have to give Alexander a full 7 days tutorials here and we gotta.

[Pash]

Find a place to get some good food because we're like, did we just.

[Seth Meyers]

Assume he could do it? Yeah, we just assumed he could do it.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

But that's kind of how I ended up on the trip. It was. I'd been to Greenland the year prior to that and then I was in New York. I was having dinner with some friends and a friend of a friend is an explorer and was going to be the main explorer of this mission, this trip to Antarctica or the South Pole. And he just asked like, hey, would you want to come? This is next month. And I was shooting True Blood in LA at the time and we were on hiatus so I had a bit of a break and I was like, well, it's not every day you get invited down to the South Pole. So I just said yes and obviously didn't tell him that I couldn't ski. But then, But I think what saved me was it's really flat. Like once you get up to the plateau, it's completely flat. So you're basically, and you're pulling these like heavy sleds behind you with all the gear and stuff. So you're basically walking very, very slowly. It's almost like snow boots. Like, you know, you're not really skiing so you don't really have to have much technique to.

[Seth Meyers]

I like, basically what I heard is like the good news is you didn't have to know how to ski because it was terrible. Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Because there's no skiing involved, basically. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

But like you gotta. If you want three weeks of just slowly walking in boots while you drag a heavy load, that that was it. How many, like how many hours a day were you moving?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We probably maybe nine, nine or ten.

[Seth Meyers]

Wow.

[Pash]

And then where do you sleep? Are there camps already set up or do you have to.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, we had, we brought tents with us and so we pulled all our gear and food and Everything. But it was interesting because it's like, once you're up there, there's no. It's not like nature programs from Antarctica where you see the whales and the cute penguins and all that. They're obviously on the coast. Like, once you're up on the plateau, there's 10,000ft of ice, so there's no life. There's no vegetation, and there's also, like, no sense of. I've been on a couple of longer hikes, and you always feel a sense of progress or, like, forward momentum. Like, you wake up in the morning and you look at the next peak, and you're like, all right, by sundown, we're going to reach that peak. And you feel like you're making some progress. But it's kind of weird when you're down in Antarctica because it's almost constantly. Again, we were there, the winter months, which is their summer. So it's like, daylight 24, 7 and almost always high pressure. So it's like sunshine and almost no clouds, no precipitation. And you're. It all looks the same. Like, you set out in the morning, and then you slowly walk for 10 hours, and then you're like, all right, this is where. Like, is this where we started 10 hours ago? Because it looks exactly the same.

[Seth Meyers]

Also, you're not. I would imagine there's nothing. Not only just day to day, but, like, at the end, did somebody just say, like, yep, this is it.

[Pash]

We're here?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, because. And that was. So for two and a half weeks, we saw nothing. Like, no humans, no animals, no vegetation, like, there. Absolutely nothing. I saw the ass of the guy in front of me for two and a half weeks, basically, as we were skiing.

[Seth Meyers]

You got to switch the asses.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I saw a lot of asses, to be honest with you. A lot of great asses. But once you start to get close to the actual South Pole, it's weird because it's like a massive edifice. It's like a big research station.

[Seth Meyers]

Okay.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So you kind of have this romantic notion of plants in the flag, like Amundsen or Scott or. We made it. But then the journey there is a very, like, isolated experience. But once you get there, there's like a big research station. So you walk in and there's like a yoga studio and a cantina and, like, you know, little greenhouse and, like, a basketball court and, like, 200 people working. So it's like, yeah, still a really cool experience to be, like, the southernmost humans on the planet.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. And then we had a couple of Icelandic Dudes with us and they had a portable sauna. So we set up the sauna on the South Pole and had a good steam and drank some Icelandic aqua wheat and celebrated and that was a delightful day.

[Seth Meyers]

Apologies for my ignorance. Do you then have to walk back or at that point do they let you like whatever the Uber equivalent is?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Oh, yeah, we. Well, if you're. If you're badass, then you. You got to make it. You turn around, then you ski back. But yeah, we ubered with the terrible surcharge.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah. Wait times are longer than usual.

[Pash]

Do they have like a big. What kind of vehicle are you sort of getting out of there on.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

On a really big old DC3 prop plane.

[Pash]

Oh, so you just fly out of the South Pole?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, they have a couple of like rugged, tough Canadian pilots flying back and forth.

[Seth Meyers]

Wow.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

From the station to the coast. But they only do that like seven or eight months out of the year. The summer months when it's completely dark. There's no, like, they shut down that you can't fly in and out. So those scientists and people working at the station are completely isolated. Those months, it's like pitch black, negative 50 and no way out. So. Great set for like a horror movie.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, yeah, that was that last true detective. I feel like that was in that world. And I was like, no, that's a good place. It's a good place for spooky stuff.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

It works.

[Seth Meyers]

Did you have. You traveled much? You have a three year old?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yes.

[Seth Meyers]

Is it. I mean, for work? Have they traveled and are they a good traveler?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, I did a show in Toronto last year and he came out a bunch of times. So like, we would schedule it in a way where I would have some breaks. I could go home because it was a long shoot. It was six months.

[Seth Meyers]

Is this Murderbot? Is that where you shot that?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, we shot Murderbot in Toronto. And. And he wasn't even two when it was one and a half when we started and turned two out there. So I, we. We just kind of had to figure out a way because obviously I didn't want to be away from him for five, six months. So I had a couple of breaks and then he came out and spent about two months out there with me. Out there? Yeah, yeah, yeah. He didn't like the robot, but yeah.

[Pash]

I could see that.

[Seth Meyers]

As robots shows go, I would say it's the least suited for kids.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Well. And then because I also have like.

[Pash]

He's pretty friendly.

[Seth Meyers]

I will say he is friendly. As Murderbots go, he's Weird.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

He's friendly, but he came to set to visit. And my character has these, like, gun ports, like in his arms or its arms, and. And my son did not like that. He was just. He couldn't say much at the time. He was about to turn two, so he didn't speak much, but he did say bort, Bort, which means away in Swedish. He was just away, away. Pacifist. What can I say?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, that's great. Again.

[Pash]

Yeah, well, he's a scars guard, so.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, he's a scars guard. He's a farming Viking. Did you. When you were. When you joined the military, did you travel? Or does the Swedish military stay in one place? Did you, like, go all over Sweden?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I was stationed in the archipelago, actually, outside of Stockholm, so we were primarily out there. We did a little winter training a bit further up north, but mostly on the islands.

[Seth Meyers]

How long was your military commitment?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

A year and a half.

[Seth Meyers]

Gotcha. And I'm going to assume it was an act of rebellion. And how did your parents respond when you gave them the news?

[Pash]

I don't think everybody does. Isn't it compulsory?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

No, it used to be okay. But I was on the cusp of, like, it was technically still compulsory, but you could get out of it. This was like late 90s, early 2000s, end of the Cold War. Everyone was like, it'll be peace forever. You know, Russia is our best friend.

[Seth Meyers]

So it was a fun run. We did all feel that way in the late 90s.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We had a good run, didn't we? Yeah. So they were dismantling military stations all around Sweden. And so I think I joined probably as an act of rebuke, rebellion, maybe, against my hippie, bohemian, pacifist family. And the reaction I got was a shrug.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, bohemians are good at that. Nobody can shrug like them.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

You try to pick up fight, you know, like, oh, yeah, what do you say now, dad? And he's like, oh, that's great. If you want to do that, go do that.

[Pash]

That's wonderful.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So, yeah, it was, um. No, but I actually. I joined just because I was 19. I didn't want to be an actor. I didn't really know what I wanted to study. And I. Classic, like, recruiter story. Like, I was walking through a park in Stockholm and they handed me this pamphlet and it looked badass. Like, you got to, like, you know. Yeah, you know, swim and dive and jump off ships and run around on islands as a small unit. And it was like counter terrorism, sabotage stuff. And I was like, hey, this sounds great. So I think it was a little bit of just like, I was growing up in Sotomam in South Stockholm, in the central park of this part of the city. Very, like, concrete jungle. I think I wanted a bit of an adventure for myself and just, like, do something different from what I was used to. And probably also a bit of rebelling against. Subconsciously rebelling against my dad and my extended bohemian family.

[Seth Meyers]

Such a good burn to not see it as an act of rebellion. Like, as a parent, that's the best thing you can do.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Oh, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

All right, well, good to know. Thanks for the update.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

This will sound like a brag until I finish this story, but I. I ran the first half of the Stockholm Marathon before.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Did you?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, I had. I overtrained.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

It's the best half.

[Seth Meyers]

It's the best half. Oh, my God. Everybody says after the first half, it's kind of redundant.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

You might as well quit.

[Pash]

The second half is the Archipelago.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So that's exactly.

[Seth Meyers]

I had. I had overtrained and had, like, it band issues. So I. I had a bad feeling that I wouldn't be able to, you know, that I was going to have an issue. But I ran the first half, and it is gorgeous. And it was like, my dream is sort of a rainy day, and it was like a perfect, like, running in the rain. I loved it. It was like a. It was a gray, wet day in Stockholm, having.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

How many years ago was this?

[Seth Meyers]

2015, I think.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

And. And. And it was also, I liked the anonymity of, like, running in a place where, you know, nobody would know who I was. And then at, like, mile 14, my knee buckled and I had to, like, literally lean against what I'm realizing now was a sob and leaning against a SOB in, like, so much pain. And, like, a Swedish kid ran by. He was like, hi, Seth Meyers. Sorry. I know he didn't sound like that, but that's my memory. But, like, immediately.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Step away from my Fiat Panda.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. I will give you a ride. Yeah. But it was still a special time. You were there, right? Pash. Did you come on that one?

[Pash]

Not for that one. But Seth did run the Helsinki marathon years earlier. And as part of that, we sort of went to a bunch of European cities and we went to Stockholm. That's the first time I went to Stockholm.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, the first half of the Helsinki marathon.

[Seth Meyers]

No, full one. I was doing fulls. I was doing full. It's. It's great. I think it's an accomplishment to do a half marathon, unless you were planning on doing a Full. In which case it's not as cool.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

100%. I mean, a 5K is an accomplishment. 5K is an accomplishment. Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

We had an interesting thing. Tell us if this would fit with how you feel as though your country perceives the rest of Scandinavia. We started in Copenhagen and we were talking to Danish people, and they're like, where are you going next? And we were like, we're going to Stockholm. And they're like, ugh, why are you going to Sweden? Real, real negative about their neighbor. And then when we were in Stockholm, we were like, where are they waiting at us? We're like, we're going to Helsinki. And they were like, ugh, why are you going? Like, nobody. Everybody thought they were making a mistake leaving.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Oh, really?

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. There was not a lot of love for their neighbors.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I don't know. I quite enjoy both Helzinke and Copenhagen.

[Seth Meyers]

We loved them all.

[Pash]

Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I think I know that Swedes, because Sweden is a small country, a small population, but comparatively to the other Scandinavian countries, the Nordic countries, it's the largest country with the largest population. And Stockholm is the biggest city in Scandinavia. So I know that a lot of other, like, well, Danes and Norwegians and Finns and think sweets are a bit cocky and.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Like, we're better than they are and that we're like, oh, oh, cute little Copenhagen. Cute little Helsinki. Well, we're from Stockholm, like, as if that's like a massive cosmopolitan city.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

So I think sweets can be a little obnoxious and annoying.

[Seth Meyers]

It's probably, like, how Philly and Boston feel about New York, you know, like, yeah, probably.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

Where they're closer than they want to admit.

[Pash]

The last time I was in Stockholm, we were in a taxi going to a museum. And our taxi driver's like, why are you going there? And I was like, I don't know.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We're.

[Pash]

We're tourists. And he was like, okay. He's like, I don't. What else are you doing? And I was like, well, we're going to go to this museum and we're, you know, going to go to this park. He's like, why are you going to do those things? I was like, what am I supposed to do?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

He should be a tour guide. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Pash]

I don't know. Maybe it is a Scandinavian thing, because my wife and I were hiking in Norway years ago, and we sort of got to one of these huts in the mountain. In the mountains. And the people were like, why are you here? You should be further north. And I'm like, I am exactly where you are. Like, why are you here? I'm doing exactly what you are doing.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Well, that's why Scandinavians are inherently depressed and very gloomy and everything is just kind of like. There's like a nice level of melancholy.

[Pash]

But they're also like. You also rank so high on those happiest countries.

[Seth Meyers]

I think that's the key.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Expectations. Really, really low, low expectations. That's. That's the key. You'll never be disappointed.

[Pash]

Yeah. On real quick, on that trip that. Where Seth ran the Helsinki marathon and we were in Stockholm, we stayed at a hotel that had the best breakfast. We think about it ever. Experience. We think about it all the time. It was a buffet. It was like the 101 item buffet. And it went until like one in the afternoon. You didn't have to wake up from like 8 to 10 to get this breakfast. And we went down every morning and we ate so many meatballs every morning. For breakfast.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Oh, for breakfast.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it was the breakfast.

[Pash]

It was the most.

[Seth Meyers]

It was the most breakfast meatballs I ever ate. The previous record had been zero.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah, because that's, that's more of a brunch thing. Normally on a breakfast spread in Sweden, you don't find meatballs. But. Yeah, but, but, but a big buffet style complimentary breakfast is, is a thing in Sweden. When you check into hotel in Sweden, you kind of expect that. So that's why sweets are a bit disappointed when they go to the States and breakfast is first not included.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

And it's also like a la carte. So you have to order like. No, you want the spread. You want to. You know, I think that's.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah, it's. I think that's a very special thing about a nice European hotel is like, we appreciate like, look, you're paying a lot of money to be here. The very least we could do is some like, bread, some cheese, some meatballs. Some meatballs. In a perfect world, it is so. It is so lovely to see you. As always. Thank you for your time. I also want to just shout out. I know we've talked about it before, but you once traveled to Wales to shoot an episode of documentary Now Soldiers of Illusion, which is, I mean, one of favorite things I've ever worked on. And you were so kind to do it and you're so wonderful in it and I highly recommend.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

That was one of my favorite experiences on a set. Honestly. Like, that was. We had so much fun. It was. I loved every second of it. So. No, thank you guys. And John Mulaney who wrote it? It's just so funny.

[Seth Meyers]

It's unbelievable.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I loved it. So thank you guys and have fun in Amsterdam next week.

[Seth Meyers]

See your friend Jack McBrayer.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

We're very excited he's coming out here. Actually, you know, he's my godfather.

[Seth Meyers]

Great. He's gonna vote. Go visit. Wonderful.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. He's gonna come here.

[Seth Meyers]

I bet he's never been there. He's never been to Amsterdam. So finally. It took a lot of friends to get Jack to go to Europe.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I know. I actually went to Greenland with him. That's for our next episode of your show. But, yeah, Jack and I went to.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, we want. You know what? Maybe we'll have Jack and you on together to talk about your adventures to Greenland.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah. Call me from Amsterdam. I'll be around. Okay, good.

[Seth Meyers]

Before you go, we have a speed round of questions that Josh is going to kick off.

[Pash]

Okay, here we go. You can only pick one of these. Is your ideal vacation relaxing, adventurous, or educational?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Adventurous.

[Pash]

What is your favorite means of transportation?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Train.

[Pash]

If you could take a vacation with any family, alive or dead, real or fictional, other than your own family, what family? Family. Would you like to take a vacation with?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

The Myers brothers.

[Seth Meyers]

Thank you. Call. We don't get that answer enough.

[Pash]

If you had to be stranded on a desert island with one member of your family, who would it be?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

My son.

[Seth Meyers]

Nice.

[Pash]

And you are? Stockholm is your hometown. You were born in Stockholm. Yeah. Or Stockholm's got to be your hometown. Would you recommend Stockholm as a vacation destination?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yes. If you include the archipelago, then for sure.

[Pash]

All right. I've been twice and I still haven't made the archipelago, but I love it. I love it.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

That and the first part of the Stockholm marathon. Highly recommend.

[Seth Meyers]

Highly recommend. Because it does. I will say, and I don't want to burn your city, but this is when you realize they're a little bit smaller than New York. It does kind of double back. I really do.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

It really does.

[Seth Meyers]

Yeah. I would have seen the same stuff.

[Pash]

And then Seth has our final questions.

[Seth Meyers]

Have you been to the Grand Canyon?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I have.

[Seth Meyers]

And was it worth.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Was too impressive? It looked fake.

[Seth Meyers]

Okay.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

I mean, the answer. Short answer is 100. Worth it if. Yeah. Go.

[Seth Meyers]

I. I don't know. You kind of hesitated. And so I think it's a pass for me.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

But no, but I couldn't comprehend the scale of it. I think that's.

[Seth Meyers]

Who wants a trip? They can't comprehend it. I want to go somewhere where?

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Yeah.

[Seth Meyers]

I don't want to feel like my brain's too small.

[Pash]

Yeah. The second half of the Stockholm marathon was going to blow Seth's mind, so he.

[Seth Meyers]

You know what? I want to see the world's biggest ball of yarn. Got it. What a pleasure, Alexander. It's always nice to meet you guys. We're jealous so much that you get to see Jack after. We get to see Jack. But have fun with him.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

Enjoy my leftovers. Okay.

[Seth Meyers]

Well, too. Bye, buddy.

[Alexander Skarsgård]

All right. Thanks, guys. Chill.

[E]

The star stars live on a block that is in Stockholm. After decades away, Alexander came home. Traveled the world Right back to where he's from. Everyone else was so content to stay. Now he lives just four blocks away. If you're looking for a place in their hood, there's one thing that should be well understood. No one's leaving, no one's moving out. Scars Guards don't give up apartments when they have children. They just work it out. They're flats. They will never part with apartments. Come out much quicker down in Antarctica. It's like so super bohemian. In the summer they go out of town. They hang in the archipelago. But then they'll be. They'll be back around. I promise you that they will never go. No one's leaving. No one's moving out. You won't be signing a new lease. They're committed. You can have no doubt they'll be out soon. Oh, yeah. Fitzmaugh, please. If you want to take that spot, you'll have to go through murder bots, which is something I don't recommend. No one's leaving. No one's moving out. Scars Guards never leave apartments.