"Viking Vampire"

It may be his current role as enigmatic Viking vampire Eric Northman in HBO’s True Blood that has raised his international profile, but Alexander Skarsgård has long been an established star in his native Sweden. Son of renowned actor Stellan Skarsgård, Alexander made his own screen debut at just seven years of age, and went on to become a popular child star. Unnerved by his growing celebrity, he turned his back on acting at the age of thirteen to pursue other interests. He studied Political Science, served in the Swedish Marines, and was contemplating a return to school to study architecture when the acting bug finally bit him once more. Since then he has accumulated over fifteen international film and television credits, not to mention been voted Sweden’s sexiest man no fewer than five times. Eat your heart out, George Clooney!

He made his Hollywood debut with a small role in the movie Zoolander (2001), but it was in the acclaimed mini-series Generation Kill (2007) that he really made his mark. Shrugging off initial doubts about his casting, he completely dropped his Swedish accent to convincingly portray real life US Marine Sgt Brad ‘Iceman’ Colbert, earning widespread critical praise and no doubt bringing him to the attention of the True Blood casting bods.

With a strong pedigree and obvious talent already in his favor, Alexander’s growing legion of female fans will also be pleased to learn that this is one thespian who isn’t exactly precious when it comes to taking his clothes off. As well as a joking insistence that he should have nude scenes written into all his contracts, he has also claimed that he will pose as a Playgirl centerfold in exchange for “a chicken burrito and a pint of strawberry ice cream.”

So with True Blood returning this month for its second season, shall this sexy Swede be putting his money where his mouth is and giving us Eric Northman in the buff? We can only wait and see. In the meantime, does anybody have a good recipe for a chicken burrito?