Alexander Skarsgård Explains How True Blood Prepared Him for Murderbot

From Chris and Paul Weitz, the minds behind About A Boy and American Pie, comes a new Apple TV+ sci-fi comedy riff on the future of androids in Murderbot. The show starring Alexander Skarsgård adds another cold and ruthless killer to the actor’s resume of heartless roles, but with one hiccup. This Murderbot just doesn’t get the appeal of its job: to murder. “All it ends up doing is procrastinating,” Skarsgård told Vanity Fair about the concept based on The Murderbot Diaries from author Martha Wells.

“It just doesn’t get humans at all,” Skarsgård explained. “It’s not a deep hatred, it’s just zero amount of curiosity. It’s confused by humans and wants to get away from them.”

Which, let’s be real, is relatable content if you too get hyper-fixated on the eternal search for meaning. And it’s not the first time Skarsgård has portrayed an eternally searching but inhuman character. On HBO’s True Blood, the actor played the playfully charming and chilling vampire Eric Northman, who he likened to Murderbot for this reason: “They are observing humanity from a similar distance,”

Recently, Skarsgård made a cameo reprising the role of Eric on What We Do in the Shadows‘ final season. He’s so unserious, and poking fun at his heartthrob vampire past is why we love when he plays against type. He continued to compare the two roles.

“Eric used to be human, so in a way he can relate, even though it’s been a millennium. But he also finds them incredibly silly and petty and just… insignificant. Murderbot has organic components, so there are human components there. I think it can also understand or feel something. There’s something about being an outsider, and observing humanity from a slight distance, and being a bit confused and perplexed by it.”

But the similarities end there. “The big difference is, Eric reveled in being a troublemaker and stirred the pot—while Murderbot is the opposite. Murderbot definitely doesn’t want to step into the center of things. Murderbot wants to blend into the background and just be left alone to watch its TV shows.”

Both are still in the package of Alexander Skarsgård so would it be okay if, you know, we got Murderbot in the streets, vampire in the sheets?

Murderbot premieres on Apple TV+ May 16.

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