When a Swedish actor who's spent decades playing everyone from math geniuses to Marvel scientists decides to weigh in on geopolitics, you listen. Stellan Skarsgård, speaking at the European Film Awards, delivered a scathing assessment of Donald Trump's renewed interest in acquiring Greenland—and he didn't bother with diplomatic niceties.
"What's happening is absurd," Skarsgård told Deadline, referencing Trump's latest territorial ambitions. "It's a little man who got megalomania, and he's trying to take the world. He took Venezuela, suddenly, and that's for Chevron. He'll take Greenland for minerals. He's a criminal."
The 73-year-old Skarsgård, whose career spans everything from 'Good Will Hunting' to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, was promoting his latest film 'Sentimental Value,' directed by Norwegian filmmaker Joachim Trier. But the conversation quickly shifted to Trump's January declarations about "not ruling out" military force to take control of Greenland—a self-governing territory of Denmark with significant strategic and mineral value.
Skarsgård's comments represent more than one actor's political opinions. They signal a broader European creative community response to Trump's second term—a response characterized by alarm rather than the bemused condescension that marked his first presidency. The difference? Experience. European filmmakers watched Trump 1.0; they're not underestimating Trump 2.0.
The Greenland situation is particularly sensitive in Scandinavia, where Denmark, Norway, and Sweden maintain close cultural and political ties. Trump's suggestion that he might forcibly acquire Danish territory didn't land as political theater—it landed as threat. And Skarsgård, a respected voice in Nordic cinema, articulated what many in the European film industry have been saying privately: this isn't normal, and it shouldn't be normalized.
"It's a little man who got megalomania" is the kind of line that would get a screenwriter fired for being too on-the-nose. But Skarsgård's delivery—matter-of-fact, almost weary—suggests he's past caring about diplomatic language. At 73, having worked with everyone from Lars von Trier to Denis Villeneuve, he's earned the right to speak plainly.
The timing matters. The European Film Awards platform gave Skarsgård international reach at a moment when Trump's foreign policy proclamations are generating genuine concern across Europe. The entertainment industry—particularly European cinema, which operates outside Hollywood's commercial constraints—has become an unexpected forum for geopolitical criticism.
Skarsgård's reference to Venezuela and Chevron points to a more sophisticated critique than typical celebrity political commentary. He's not just reacting emotionally; he's connecting dots between resource extraction, corporate interests, and territorial aggression. It's the kind of analysis you'd expect from someone who's spent decades interpreting complex characters and narratives.
Whether 'Sentimental Value' will find U.S. distribution remains unclear—the film is currently making the European festival circuit. But Skarsgård's comments will certainly travel faster than any theatrical release, offering a reminder that international cinema voices carry weight beyond box office returns.
The European film community has always maintained a different relationship with politics than Hollywood—more direct, less concerned with market implications. Skarsgård's willingness to call Trump a criminal on the record reflects that tradition. It also reflects something darker: a growing sense that this isn't about left versus right anymore, but about defending basic international norms.
In Hollywood, nobody knows anything—except that when a 73-year-old Swedish actor starts talking about "criminal megalomania," the rest of Europe's creative class is probably thinking the same thing.
