Bill Skarsgard Says He Feels "Kind of, Spent" on Villain Roles
Bill Skarsgard says he feels "kind of, spent" when it comes to playing villains. The actor made the remark on The Hollywood Reporter, which reported his comments from an appearance on Josh Horowitz's podcast Happy Sad Confused.
Skarsgard has built much of his screen reputation on menace. He played Pennywise the clown in It, and he appeared as an aristocratic antagonist in John Wick 4. He also played Keith in the 2022 horror film Barbarian, a role that The Hollywood Reporter covered in depth at the time.
So what would bring him back to the bad guy? He said a new villain would have to feel original to him, and it would need to be something he had not played before. He was also clear that he does not want to be stuck in one kind of part.
James Bond is the obvious big-screen villain conversation right now, and Skarsgard addressed it directly. He said he was not called about the franchise and was not thrown into the mix for the role. He also said he would not necessarily want to commit to leading the series for 10 or 15 years.
A one-off villain is a different proposition, and he said he would be interested in that. He pointed to Mads Mikkelsen and Javier Bardem as examples of actors who played a single Bond villain and left a mark on the series.
Denis Villeneuve is set to direct an upcoming Bond film, and the search for the actor who will play 007 continues. Deadline reported in October that Jack Lowden, Callum Turner and Josh O'Connor were among the actors expected to screen test for the part.
Skarsgard's next release is already in cinemas. He stars in Peter Berg's war film The Mosquito Bowl, which is playing in theatres now. The film is set to arrive on Netflix on 25 November, so audiences who prefer to stay at home will not have long to wait.
For fans, the remarks are a useful reminder that actors often choose their parts with an eye on what comes next. Skarsgard has not announced a new villain role, and nothing in his comments points to one. What he has offered is a clear list of what would tempt him back: something new, something he has not done, and a part that does not tie him down for years.
