Alexander Skarsgard Had A Pretty Unexpected Encounter With Greta Thunberg

Alexander Skarsgård is no stranger to the world of environmentalism. Skarsgård starred alongside Elliott Page in the "The East," a 2013 film depicting a secret agent's infiltration of an anarchist environmentalist group that targets corporations causing pollution, per IMDb. Speaking to Shock Ya!, Skarsgård spoke of the film's message of holding large corporations accountable. "They buy all the lobbyists so they buy power in a way," the actor put it, adding, "That's just a reality of our system, which is dangerous."

Life later imitated art for the Swedish-born thespian. In 2015, Skarsgård and "30 Rock" alum Jack McBrayer, along with activist Andy Bichlbaum, filmed the Funny or Die series, "Jack and Alex Save The Arctic," to raise support for the environmental campaign of the same name. Save The Arctic is described by Greenpeace as an effort to enact the Global Ocean Treaty, which hopes to stop corporations from drilling for oil in the Arctic and causing a drop in sea ice volume. A Greenpeace member since his teenage years (per Esquire), Skarsgård embarked on a nine-day journey sailing to the Arctic with McBrayer and Bichlbaum that was documented for the campaign.

Little did Skarsgård know back then that in 2022 he would end up endangering the life of another climate change activist, Greta Thunberg.

It was almost a case of Swede-on-Swede violence. Alexander Skarsgård described how he almost wounded fellow Swede and environmental activist Greta Thunberg in an April interview with The Times. Riding his bicycle (how green of him!) through a protest-stricken street in Stockholm, Sweden, Skarsgård recalled, "I nearly ran over Greta Thunberg. She's how we sell our country now. And I almost hit her with my bike." Playing Viking prince Amleth in April's Robert Eggers epic, "The Northman," Skarsgård also jokingly compared his famous Swedish contemporary to the Vikings. "Greta is like a modern-day Viking — and, like Greta, the Vikings refused to fly," the actor mused.

Thunberg, TIME's "Person of the Year 2019," and Skarsgård aren't the only Swedes raised to consciously care about their carbon footprint. According to NBC News, the Swedish public school system has incorporated everything from ecology to conservation into their core curriculum since 1969. However, other Swedish teens don't get to bump elbows with A-listers like Thunberg has since her rise to fame in activism. In November 2019, Thunberg casually hung out with like-minded environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio, who praised the young change maker. "It was an honor to spend time with Greta," DiCaprio wrote on Instagram. For Thunberg, Hollywood shout-outs are just another step on her mission for environmental change.