Stellan Skarsgard doesn’t think it is possible to be a “good parent to a kid” because they will always have something to complain about.
Stellan Skarsgard doesn’t think it is possible to be a “good parent to a kid”.
The 74-year-old actor – who has Alexander, 49, Gustaf, 44, Sam, 43, Bill, 35, Eija, 33, and Valter, 29, with his first wife My Skarsgard as well as Ossian, 16, and Kolbjorn, 13, with his second wife Megan Everett – admitted one of his kids has compared him to Gustav, the egocentric director and absent father he plays in his new movie Sentimental Value.
Insisted he wasn’t offended that the role was written with him in mind, Stellan told The Independent: “It’s never an insult, because I don’t play myself usually. I don’t think they can know my personality.
“And I never thought of Gustav as being like me in any way. Our situations are similar, but it’s totally different. Or at least, I thought so until my son saw the film and said to me, ‘You recognise yourself?’ I said, no!
“But of course, they see things that I don’t see – but you can never satisfy a kid. You can never be a good parent to a kid, because truthfully, they have things to complain about because we’re only human – and they’re not perfect either. So you’ve got to live with it.”
However, Stellan has a good relationship with his children but admitted he wasn’t always a “present” father when they were younger.
He said: “I realised more that maybe I wasn’t totally present when my kids were growing up. But I have eight kids – it’s f****** impossible…
“I have been very tolerant to my kids, and they have to be tolerant of me, too. I’ve let them go and do whatever they want, and they can let me go and do whatever I want.”
And the Dune actor admitted he wouldn’t have been happy as a dad standing on the sidelines watching his kids play sport.
He said: “It would be so boring. I would die.”
The Mamma Mia star previously insisted he refuses to give advice to his children.
He explained to People magazine: “I haven’t given them any advice at all because it is very dangerous to do.
“Because if they listen to my advice and they’re successful, it’s because of me, and if they listen to my advice and they’re not successful, it’s my fault. So it’s a lose-lose situation.”
Stellan Skarsgard: You can never be a good parent
