Alexander Skarsgård Rocks Olivia Colman Shirt and Skirt at ‘Wicker’ Premiere

Alexander Skarsgård has never been one for a boring suit-and-tie premiere, but he really outdid himself on Tuesday night. The 50-year-old actor walked the red carpet at the Los Angeles premiere of his new film Wicker — and he did it wearing a shirt with his co-star Olivia Colman’s face printed right on the front. Honestly? Iconic behavior.

The event, held at the Directors Guild of America, was a proper family affair too. His younger brother Bill Skarsgård showed up to cheer him on, just days after their dad, the legendary Stellan Skarsgård, did the same at a New York screening. When your whole family turns up for your movie, you know you’ve done something right.

And what a movie to turn up for. Wicker — which hits theaters this Friday, October 23 — is one of those films that sounds completely bonkers on paper and, if the trailer is anything to go by, looks absolutely delightful on screen. But let’s start with the fashion, because Alexander didn’t let anyone forget who they were there to see.

The Look: A Skirt, a Custom Shirt, and Zero Fear

For his latest red carpet appearance, Alexander rocked a pink and green skirt paired with a long-sleeved shirt bearing a printed photo of Olivia Colman’s face from the movie. Yes, really. The Oscar winner’s face, front and center, on his chest. It’s the kind of move that only works if you’re supremely confident — and Alexander, who’s spent two decades being effortlessly cool on every red carpet from Stockholm to Hollywood, clearly is.

The whole look was custom, designed by Chopa Valowena, and it walked that perfect line between high fashion and “I’m just here to have fun.” Which, when you think about it, is exactly the energy this movie seems to radiate.

He posed for photos alongside Olivia herself, who plays the Fisherwoman in the film, and co-star Elizabeth Debicki, who takes on the role of the Tailor’s Wife. The trio looked genuinely happy to be there — no stiff, duty-bound posing here, just three actors who clearly got along. The film’s writers and directors, Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, were also in attendance, and Elizabeth looked sharp in a Kallmeyer dress with Calzedonia tights, Manolo Blahnik shoes, and an Engelbert 1920 ring.

A Skarsgård Family Reunion on the Red Carpet

Here’s the part that might actually melt your heart more than any fashion moment. Bill Skarsgård — yes, Pennywise himself, all grown up and doing serious red-carpet support duty — posed for photos with his big brother throughout the night. The two of them together, laughing on the carpet, was a reminder that behind all the movie-star polish there’s a genuinely close family.

And this wasn’t even the first stop on the family support tour. Just days earlier, their father Stellan Skarsgård showed up at a New York screening of Wicker to back his eldest son. Stellan, for those keeping score, is Hollywood royalty in his own right — Andor, Dune, Good Will Hunting, Mamma Mia! — and the fact that he carved out time to be there says everything about how this family rolls.

The Skarsgårds are, at this point, basically an acting dynasty. Stellan has eight kids, and a startling number of them ended up in the business. Alexander is the eldest and the most established — Emmy winner, True Blood’s Eric Northman, The Northman’s vengeful Viking prince — while Bill has carved out his own lane as the face (and the red balloon) of a generation’s nightmares in It, then completely transformed into Count Orlok in Nosferatu. Different vibes, same talent. You love to see siblings who are actually happy for each other.

So What Is Wicker, Anyway?

Glad you asked, because the premise is a trip. Wicker is described as an audacious comedic fable about sex, marriage, and the absurdities of social convention. It tells the wholly original love story of an ostracized fisherwoman (Colman), who commissions a husband to be made for her by the local basketmaker — played by the great Peter Dinklage. Yes, a wicker husband. A man made of actual wicker.

Alexander plays that husband. And when he proves more spectacular than his wife ever imagined — with a soulful spirit and, per the official synopsis, “unique prowess” that awakens something inside her — well, let’s just say it sets off a wave of jealousy, fascination, and upheaval that threatens the very fabric of village life. There is a sentence in that synopsis that is doing an enormous amount of work, and I’ll leave it at that.

It sounds like the kind of film that could either be a masterpiece or a magnificent disaster, and honestly, that’s what makes it exciting. Colman has an almost supernatural ability to find the humanity in the strangest characters — she won an Oscar playing one of history’s most erratic queens in The Favourite and somehow made you root for her — and Dinklage brings instant gravitas to anything he touches. Put them together with Alexander, who’s at his best when he’s a little weird (Infinity Pool, anyone?), and you’ve got something that demands to be seen on the big screen.

Wicker arrives in theaters this Friday, October 23, and if early festival buzz is any indication, it might be the oddball standout of the fall season.

Alexander’s Got Range — and He Knows It

It is worth pausing to appreciate the sheer variety of Alexander Skarsgård’s recent choices. This is a man who spent seven seasons glowering seductively as a thousand-year-old vampire on True Blood, then pivoted to playing an abusive husband so chilling in Big Little Lies that it earned him an Emmy, a Golden Globe, and a Critics’ Choice Award in 2017. Then he went full feral as a Viking warrior in The Northman. Then he played a creepy tech CEO in Succession’s final season. Then he did a comedy about a killer robot in Murderbot.

And now he’s playing a wicker man who comes to life. The man has no fear. That’s not a career — that’s a dare.

It’s also a smart one. In an era when every other leading man is locked into a decade-long superhero contract, Alexander keeps zigzagging between blockbusters (Godzilla vs. Kong), arthouse provocations (Infinity Pool), prestige TV (Big Little Lies, The Stand), and now a surreal romantic comedy about a woman who orders a husband like it’s a piece of furniture. He is, in the best possible sense, unpredictable.

The Bottom Line

Tuesday night’s premiere had everything you want from a Hollywood event: a genuinely fun fashion moment (a skirt and an Olivia Colman face shirt — name a bolder red carpet look this month), real family warmth, and a movie that actually sounds interesting. The Skarsgård brothers showing up for each other is the kind of thing that reminds you the industry still has a heart. And with Wicker landing in theaters on October 23, audiences don’t have to wait long to find out whether a love story between a fisherwoman and her handwoven husband is the weird delight it sounds like.

One thing’s for sure: Alexander Skarsgård wore Olivia Colman’s face on a shirt, and it absolutely worked. Your move, every other actor promoting a film this fall.

Source: Just Jared