The 2023 Sundance Film Festival is underway and among the attendees of this year’s iteration of the legendary event is Emmy winner Alexander Skarsgård. He made his way to Park City, Utah for the premiere of Brandon Cronenberg’s Infinity Pool which he stars in opposite X and Pearl star Mia Goth. While he was there, however, Collider’s own Perri Nemiroff had to ask about his exploits behind the camera with his project The Pack which was announced late last year. In a first for his career, Skarsgård is both starring in and directing the feature, which put him on the opposite side of the casting process for the very first time. Nemiroff asked him about that new experience and how his time as an actor informed his search for his cast.

The Pack technically won’t be Skarsgård’s first directing gig. He previously co-directed the short film To Kill a Child in 2003 based on the novella by Stig Dagerman, though that’s a far cry from this latest directing endeavor. As his first feature, the undertaking is much larger, but he’s also developing it with a purposeful casting process. “It’s an ensemble piece, so it’s obviously about finding the right group and the right chemistry, and my goal is to cast people I love and some of my close friends,” Skarsgård said. Already, he’ll share the screen with Florence Pugh when the film eventually reaches screens.

Stepping back behind the camera has given Skarsgård some insight into how difficult it is to fill out a cast, however. He elaborated on the difficulties of balancing cast and finance that he never really understood before, saying:

It’s been interesting being on this side of the casting process. I’ve learned a lot. Sometimes it’s quite disheartening in terms of people’s value, and some of those conversations are a bit — with financiers and everything, it’s like when you start to understand that model of foreign territories. So if someone’s value and someone you think is amazing and you think would mean a lot for financing doesn’t, and then someone, the opposite, means a lot and you don’t get why. So it is that, like Brandon [Cronenberg] said, I think you’re gonna have to make a lot of compromises, but you’ve got to choose your battles.

Image via Photagonist

RELATED: ‘Infinity Pool’ Teaser Presents Another Scream-Worthy Mia Goth Performance

After The Pack, Skarsgård Is Perfectly Content as Just an Actor
Don’t expect to see this become a new chapter for Skarsgård’s career, however. The Pack is more than likely a one-off for the actor as he’s more content being just that – an actor. It’s hard to blame him considering he’s put together a stellar resume across both TV and film including Succession, Big Little Lies, True Blood, The Northman, and much more. He’s far from done too with Eric Larue among other upcoming projects he has in the pipeline. Acting will remain his focus and The Pack is more an opportunity to try something new with people he enjoys and respects, as he explains:

When it comes to casting, obviously, it’s crucial for me to do it with the actors I want to work with and find that chemistry and that group, otherwise, it’s not worth it for me. I’m pretty content being “just an actor,” so it’s not that I feel like I have to segue into directing. I was high on painkillers and had hubris and thought I could direct this for a second, and maybe that was a mistake, but we’ll see. [Laughs]

While we don’t know much about The Pack at this point, it’s touted as a psychological thriller similar to Nightcrawler with that film’s producer Jennifer Fox and screenwriter Rose Gilroy attached. It follows a group of documentary filmmakers whose trek into the Alaskan wilderness to protect an endangered species of wolves turns foul when they uncover a horrible truth that threatens to destroy their work.

We’ll have more on The Pack has production gets underway and Skarsgård puts together his ensemble. Keep an eye out for our full interview with the star here on Collider and check out the trailer below for his Sundance film, Infinity Pool and watch part of the interview in the player above.

Special thanks to our 2023 partners at Sundance including presenting partner Saratoga Spring Water and supporting partners Marbl Toronto, EMFACE, Sommsation, Hendrick’s Gin, Stella Artois, mou Footwear, and the all-electric vehicle, Fisker Ocean.