The Many Faces Of Stellan Skarsgård

This week, Lars Von Trier's Nymphomaniac will be released (or unleashed, perhaps a better word here) in the United States. In that film, Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) tells a stranger the story of her life. The patient listener is Seligman, played by Stellan Skarsgård, and in this role he proves once again what a great and reliable actor he is.

While easily recognizable, few international stars can claim to be as average-looking as Stellan Skarsgård does, and this quality makes him versatile. His acting prowess is formidable: he can radiate an icy cold or a soothing warmth at will. And he is always totally believable, whether he is a knowledgeable professor, a nice neighbour, a boorish laborer, an emotionless assassin, or an arrogant prick.

So once again I'm going to use a gallery of eight shots of one of my favorite thespians to make a quiz. Click through the images and guess which eight productions they're from. No competition, no prizes, just for fun, try to see how far you get without using IMDB.

And I'll post the answers next Thursday (earlier if someone has all eight of them right).

And here he is in Nymphomaniac, his latest collaboration with Lars Von Trier. Needless to say this shot isn't part of the quiz yet, but all others are. So have a good cycle through them all, and see how many you get!

Quiz picture #1: Cold.

Quiz picture #2: Warm.

Quiz picture #3: Vile (this one may be rather difficult...)

Quiz picture #4: Bland (until...).

Quiz picture #5: Annoyed.

Quiz picture #6: Happy.

Quiz picture #7: Incredulous.

And, finally, quiz picture number eight: Arrogant!