Gustaf Skarsgård

Gustaf Skarsgård was born into a European acting dynasty. His father is famous Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgård, his godfather is Hollywood actor Peter Stormare and three of his five siblings -- including his older brother Alexander, best known for his role in "True Blood" -- are also thespians.

After making his film debut in a small role in a movie starring his father in 1989, Gustaf graduated to more significant parts on Swedish TV as soon as he entered his teens. By 2002, his talent had matured sufficiently to be cast in the lead role in the successful Swedish supernatural drama "The Invisible," which was later subject to a Hollywood remake.

This was the beginning of a slew of major roles for Gustaf in Swedish movies, including the Oscar-nominated drama "Evil" (2003), before he made his Hollywood debut in 2010 with a role in Peter Weir's "The Way Back" before going on to star in The History Channel's popular series "Vikings" in 2013.

Rather than court the international stardom that his family members have achieved, Gustaf has preferred to work primarily in the land of his birth even as his worldwide profile has risen.

Although Gustaf appeared to hail from the glamorous world of awards-laden international cinema, his early years were deceptively humble. He was born in Stockholm in 1980, at which time his father Stellan was already an acclaimed stage and screen actor in their native Sweden, but not yet internationally renowned.

His mother My was a physician, and Gustaf was raised alongside his five siblings in a working-class Swedish neighbourhood because his parents wanted their children to have as normal an upbringing as possible, unaffected by fame. Nevertheless, Gustaf made his film debut at the age of 8, alongside his father in the Swedish thriller "Täcknamn Coq Rouge" in 1989. Gustaf made his TV debut five years later with a role on the Swedish family drama "Min vän Percys magiska gymnastikskor."

Gustaf refined his acting abilities with a number of appearances on Swedish TV and the occasional role in short films, but his major breakthrough came when he won the lead role in 2002's "The Invisible." Gustaf played Niklas, a quiet young teenager who is attacked by bullies in a secluded wood and left for dead. Returning to school the next day, seemingly unharmed, Niklas finds that no-one can see him.

The film was such a popular and critical success in Europe that "Batman" screenwriter David S. Goyer helmed an English-language remake in 2007. The following year Gustaf demonstrated his range by playing a dramatically different role in Mikael Håfström's Oscar-nominated drama "Evil."

Set in a Swedish boarding school during the 1950s, Gustaf played one of the school's bullying prefects who made other pupils' lives hellish. Gustav made an indelible impression as the aristocratic, cravat-wearing bully Otto, who emptied slop buckets over other pupil's beds and was prone to bouts of near-psychopathic rage and murderous violence.

"Evil" was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2004 and as a result was widely seen across Europe and North America. Rather than capitalize on his newfound international status, Gustav remained in Sweden for the next few years, taking lead roles in such varied projects as family comedy "Kidz in da Hood" (2006), gritty urban thriller "Iskariot" (2008) and medieval action adventure "Arn: The Knight Templar" (2007) in which Gustaf again appeared with his father Stellan.

"Arn" was so popular in Sweden that it spawned a TV series in 2010, in which Gustaf had a starring role. That year also marked his Hollywood debut, when he appeared alongside Colin Farrell and Ed Harris in Peter Weir's first movie in seven years, "The Way Home."

Gustav played a Latvian priest in this sombre drama, which was based on the true story of a group of prisoners who escaped from a Gulag camp in Siberia and walked all the way to India and freedom. Also in 2010, Gustaf was nominated for a Guldbagge, the Swedish equivalent of an Academy Award, for his starring role in "Patrick, Age 1.5" in which he played a one half of a gay couple who adopt a child they think is a toddler, only to discover their new son is a 15 year-old boy who hates homosexuals.

In 2012, Gustaf starred in "Kon-Tiki," based on Thor Heyerdahl's legendary 4,300 mile crossing of the Pacific on a wooden raft. The Norwegian drama was nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar in 2013. The very same year, Gustaf's international profile was elevated even further when he co-starred in the recurring role of Floki in The History Channel's popular action series "Vikings."