There are a lot of Swedes in Hollywood in general. We have a tendency to know each other and help each other out.
I've always freelanced as an actor, and you always have to worry about the next paycheck. When I booked 'True Blood,' I promised myself I would take advantage of the fact that for the first time in my career, I could afford to turn down big money to go and do small, character-driven indies.
I don't really have a three-year plan or a five-year plan. I don't know what's next, and that's what I find quite exciting. I dig it.
I grew up in a very urban, bohemian family where everyone was a hippie or a pacifist. It was artistically and intellectually stimulating, but they were definitely not into outdoor sports or activities.
We are civilized human beings, but we're all animals deep down, and that creates a certain friction in all of us.
When you're in the public eye, we all feel like we're constantly observed, so we don't let things out. Anger, sadness, happiness - when does that come out? Maybe when you're in traffic, because you're in the safety of your little metallic bubble.
To me, when I watch movies, it's always fun to watch the bad cop or the bad guy.
In general, we are lazy as consumers and just want to label people as good guy, bad guy.
I'm not saying everything in Sweden is perfect, because it's not. But it is interesting having grown up in a social democratic country such as Sweden and then watching what's going on in the U.S. and the income disparity.
Sweden is a good country to raise a family in because there is an equality there I don't feel in the States.
To go from 'Generation Kill,' which is a very real, dark, gritty series, to 'True Blood,' which is flamboyant, crazy, way out there... I couldn't ask for two better jobs.
When people stare at you, and you read about yourself in papers - at 13, it just got very confusing. I thought that if this is what it's like to be famous, I don't like it one bit.
People don't know much about what's going on on the ground in Iraq: what you see in the media is heavily censored.
I don't really have any plans in terms of what I want to do - movies, television, theater - but I'd love to do a play in New York.
It's all about trying to find those projects where you get to enjoy yourself, because I think that's when you create as well: when you're genuinely excited about something. Then you're not just doing it because it's your job.
There was this sausage factory a block away from my childhood apartment. It didn't smell nice, like chorizo or something; it was pretty foul. Just nasty. But that smell reminds me so much of my childhood because every morning when I was going to school, I would smell that.
