Stellan Skarsgård, father of eight, says no parent is without flaws as he plays a distant father in Sentimental value.
“You can never be a good parent to a child because, honestly, they have things to complain about because we’re only human,” he says. The independent. ‘And they’re not perfect either. So you have to live with it.’
The Andor star further reflects, “I realized more that maybe I wasn’t fully present when my kids were growing up. But I have eight kids – it’s fucking impossible.”
But the veteran actor adds that he gives his children a free hand to pursue their interests. “I’ve been very tolerant of my children, and they have to be tolerant of me too. I’ve let them go and do what they want, and they can let me go and do what I want.”
His reflection comes when he shares in the same interview that he thought he was different from what he portrays on screen: Gustav Borg, a self-centered director whose relationship with his daughters is limited after being separated from their mother.
“I never thought Gustav looked like me in any way,” he says. “Our situations are similar, but it’s completely different.”
However, one of his sons, whom he did not name, gave him a reality check. “My son saw the movie and said to me, ‘Do you recognize yourself?'”
‘I said no! But of course they see things that I don’t see, but you can never please a child.’
Sentimental value is playing in cinemas.
