Rotterdam Film Festival: Skarsgard In The Flesh!

Oh, sorry no… not that one.  It was this one!  Here’s what happened.

The other day my friend Genevieve asked if I wanted to get together in town today and maybe see a movie.  When we realized that all the theaters in town aren’t showing regular films because of the Rotterdam International Film Festival, she asked if I wanted to do that instead.  I was all for it as I’d gone last year and really enjoyed it.

We both sort of forgot about it and today decided last minute to go have some lunch and check out one of the films.  It was easy to decide which one we were going to because there were only a few options during the time we were available.

We ended up choosing a film called Kongen av Bastøy (King of Devil’s Island) and it was SO good!  Here’s a trailer:

It was quite dark and gloomy and very violent in spots but it had both myself and Genevieve on the edge of our seats the entire time.  I think the fact that it’s a true story made it a bit more difficult to watch as you know that these things actually happened to the children who were sent there.  Stellan Skarsgård played his role of the Governor to perfection, allowing us to see how vile and cowardly he was while still giving us glimpses of his humanity.  There were times when you really think he is a good guy in a difficult position, but then he quickly proves you wrong.

That’s one thing that tells me if I really love a movie, or an actor.  If I hate a character, like truly despise them to the point of still hating the actor a little bit when I look at them afterwards?  I know they’ve done a damn good job.

After the film was over the director, Marius Holst and Stellan Skarsgård came out for a Q&A.  They gave some insight into the film and discussed what actually took place on the island over the years.  It was really interesting to learn some history about the place, what prompted him to do the movie, how he chose the actors to play the children and all the other info he had to share.

I was so excited when I saw him walk in though!  I mean how often do you just happen to end up in the same room with a movie star?  … and he IS a movie star!

You know what I was thinking the whole time?

OMG!!! I can’t believe I’m in the same room with the guy who made Alexander Skarsgård!!!

As we were walking out he was right next to me.  Like, I could have easily reached out and touched him he was so close.  I SO wanted to ask if I could get a photo with him but I didn’t want to be THAT person.  Everyone else was acting all cool and like it was no big deal… they are film festival people, they are above squealing when a movie star is near.  I didn’t want to be the person at the fancy dinner who licks my plate, ya know?

I so wish I had now… damn me and my desire to fit in!  If I had gotten to take my photos with him, we probably would have done that arms around each other thing like people do for photos.  Which means I would have touched him.  He’s probably touched his son at some point in the recent past, so by my calculations… that means I would have touched Eric Northman by proxy!!

What? 

Oh shut up, it’s closer than any of you will ever get!