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Alexander Skarsgård is beautiful when he goes on a feminist rant. “Sexism is a big problem in Hollywood,” says the actor who made a name for himself as the hot vampire Eric in the TV series True Blood, winning everyone over with his perfectly hewn jawline and Scandi swagger. “Boys can talk about sex and have sex in films and it’s cool but when girls do it they are just sluts. It’s so prudish and puritanical. Hollywood is difficult for women — people making films want super-hot, young girls, and then there are fewer great roles for women aged over 40.”

Skarsgård is here to help, wearing the modern superhero garb of a denim shirt and jeans by Acne, a label based in his native Sweden. We have met to discuss his new film, Diary of a Teenage Girl. Set in Seventies San Francisco, it is “a coming of age story” about 17-year-old Minnie (Londoner Bel Powley), who begins an affair with a man called Monroe (played by 38-year-old Skarsgård), who happens to be the boyfriend of her mother (Kristen Wiig).

The sex scenes in Diary have caused a ratings row. The British Board of Film Classification has given it an 18 certificate because it contains what it calls “strong sex” but the film’s writer and director, Mari Heller, calls the decision “disappointing”. Wahida Begum, from the film’s distributor, Vertigo Releasing, said: “The film has been viewed purely by men at the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) and they have missed the point of the film and its message.” Heller has said it was made “by women, for women of all ages”.

“Mari Heller doesn’t give a f**k about the status quo,” says Skarsgård, sipping loose-leaf tea. “Voices like hers might break the barrier [of sexism] — or shatter it at least. It isn’t a traditional Hollywood movie, and when we filmed it no one was making decisions based on what would be commercially successful.

Alexander Skarsgard - in pictures 6 show all Alexander Skarsgard - in pictures 1/6 Alexander Skarsgard starring opposite Brit Marling in The East (Picture: Alamy) ALAMY IMAGES 2/6 During filming The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Picture:Getty Images) Getty Images 3/6 Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker and Alexander Skarsgard pose for photographers during the world premiere Battleship (Picture: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP) AP 4/6 Starring as Eric in True Blood (Picture: Channel 4) Channel 4 5/6 Alexander Skarsgard attends The Diary of a Teenage Girl screening and Q&A at Sundance Sunset Cinemas (Picture: by Rob Latour/Invision/AP) 6/6 Alexander Skarsgard and Alexa Chung catching a flight at LAX (Picture: GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images) 1/6 Alexander Skarsgard starring opposite Brit Marling in The East (Picture: Alamy) ALAMY IMAGES 2/6 During filming The Diary of a Teenage Girl (Picture:Getty Images) Getty Images 3/6 Taylor Kitsch, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker and Alexander Skarsgard pose for photographers during the world premiere Battleship (Picture: Shizuo Kambayashi/AP) AP 4/6 Starring as Eric in True Blood (Picture: Channel 4) Channel 4 5/6 Alexander Skarsgard attends The Diary of a Teenage Girl screening and Q&A at Sundance Sunset Cinemas (Picture: by Rob Latour/Invision/AP) 6/6 Alexander Skarsgard and Alexa Chung catching a flight at LAX (Picture: GVK/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)

Skarsgård’s gentlemanly heroism extends to his love life. I have been given warnings from at least three publicists not to mention his relationship with model and presenter Alexa Chung. When I do break the rules and venture that she seems nice, he can’t resist a soppy smile. Later, when we discuss whether he would like to settle down, he says he “would like children”. Chung’s friends Pixie Geldof, Daisy Lowe and Douglas Booth like him and say they are looking forward to hanging out with “Alexa and Alex” at Soho Farmhouse this weekend.

At the moment he is staying in east London, which is “vibrant, fun, cool” (and Chung’s stomping ground) and is often at The Cat & Mutton pub on Broadway Market.

Does he feel protective of girlfriends who are getting attention because of who he is? “I do but the healthiest thing is not to dip into it, otherwise all the noise out there would drive me crazy. If you fall in love you figure it out and make it work.” “Alexa and Alex” went to Glastonbury together. Skarsgård says: “I’m not into Kanye West and not a good dancer but loved the Buzzcocks, one of my favourite bands of all time, and Perfume Genius.”

Skarsgård describes his accent as “kinda southern American” after 10 years based there and in LA but he grew up in Stockholm, or more specifically “So-Fo” (south of Folkungagatan). His mother is a doctor and he is the oldest of six children. The house was relaxed, and his father walked around naked a lot — presumably this is why he says “sex scenes are not embarrassing”.

Acting came naturally — his father is Stellan Skarsgård, of Mamma Mia! fame, but also lots of serious theatre and arthouse films. Lars von Trier cast them both in Melancholia. “My dad doesn’t care what we do as long as we are enjoying ourselves,” says the younger Skarsgård.

London has a crush on Sweden at the moment. Is it really the best place ever? Skarsgård starts with a qualifier: “I’m not saying everything in Sweden is perfect because it’s not. But it is interesting having grown up in a social democratic country such as Sweden, and then watching what’s going on in the US and the income disparity. The system in Sweden is great because you get free healthcare and free education; someone who doesn’t have a lot of money can become a doctor or lawyer. There’s good paternity and maternity leave — the US is probably the only civilised country in the world that doesn’t give parents anything. Sweden is a good country to raise a family in because there is an equality there I don’t feel in the States.”

He would “love” to do a Scandi drama and have a base there. “My family has been in So-Fo for ages and it’s very protective.” He’s still close to many of his childhood friends who are not in the industry, working instead as carpenters and doctors.

His brothers and sisters still live there, and he drew on his youngest sister’s experience while making Diary. “I remember what it was like being a young boy too. It’s confusing. You think about sex and you think, ‘Am I weird? What’s going on with my body and my mind?’ Then you think you are even more weird if there isn’t anything representing how you feel and what you are going through.”

Filming in San Francisco was “the best”. He knows Heller through a mutual friend, the 30 Rock comedian Jack McBrayer, and they had “really crazy parties at an old theatre in California where my friend lives”.

Skarsgård has recently finished a hardcore training regime, bulking up to play Tarzan. Is Hollywood as physically demanding for men? Skarsgård doesn’t buy it: “If you are a 65-year-old dude you can still be the leading man and have an onscreen romance with a 25-year-old and that’s fine — you’ll never see the reversal of that. It is much easier getting older as a male.”

After Tarzan, Skarsgård went to Iceland to film War on Everyone with John Michael McDonagh, the director of In Bruges and Calvary. He would like to come back and do theatre in London but the wilderness is also appealing. Last year he went to the South Pole with Prince Harry and Dominic West. “We were there for a month, completely isolated. You talk about everything — it’s a profound experience. We talked about how to stay grounded. I love to be disconnected like that.” He was still recognised, though — “some Russians in Antarctica had seen a movie I was in”.

Is all that travelling lonely? Skarsgård gestures at the room of people working on the film’s publicity. “Not at all. You see how many friends I have here?”

Next he is going off-grid to the Swedish archipelago. With Alexa? “You have to ask but I’m not saying anything,” he says. “Maybe settling down, maybe not...

“I want to catch up on reading. The last book I read was Noam Chomsky on anarchism; maybe I will become an anarchist.”

@SusannahButter

The Diary of a Teenage Girl is out in cinemas on August 7 from Vertigo Releasing