Stellan Skarsgård’s emotional stroke recovery and 'Sentimental Value' success, as told by Bill Skarsgård
Bill Skarsgård is saluting his dad Stellan’s career climb since a stroke — and he doesn’t downplay how hard-won it’s been.
On the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Bill Skarsgård opened up about watching his father, Stellan Skarsgård, power through a major health scare and deliver a standout turn in the film Sentimental Value. He called the project a personal high point for his dad after a difficult stretch and said the response to the movie made the comeback feel especially sweet.
“It was just great to see my dad after, he suffered a stroke, to have that kind of victory lap and a mountain that he climbed back from and reaching that level of success is great,” he said.
Stellan has said he suffered a stroke in 2022, between his work on Denis Villeneuve ’s Dune and the Star Wars drama Andor , a period that changed how he worked on set. In Sentimental Value, he plays Gustav Borg — a performance that drew wide praise and, for Bill, symbolized how far his dad had come.
Working through recovery
At the Los Angeles premiere of Sentimental Value, Stellan told PEOPLE that while he’s doing well, memorizing dialogue has been difficult since the stroke, so he now relies on an earpiece feeding him lines as he performs.
“So he has to say his lines very fast and very neutral and on top of my coworker’s lines,” Skarsgård said. “So it’s a little special work, but it works.”
He added that there wasn’t much time to ease into the new setup because of the shooting schedule. Even so, he not only starred in Sentimental Value — he also served as an executive producer — and the film’s reception suggested the adjustment paid off on screen.