Kirsten Dunst and Alexander Skarsgard would make a very handsome couple, as they do in the new film, “Melancholia.” The pair play bride and groom on their wedding day, both desperate to connect to the momentous occasion but failing miserably.
The epic film, which covers everything from this gorgeous wedding to the apocalypse, was directed by controversial auteur Lars Von Trier. Often getting himself into trouble with the media for his remarks – most recently about Nazis at this year’s Cannes film festival — Von Trier has also been known to be quite difficult with the talent, famously causing singer Bjork to flee the set of “Dancer in the Dark” due to his erratic behavior.
In an exclusive interview, Metro sat down with the co-stars of his latest work to find out what their on-set experience was like.
Director Lars Von Trier is notorious for controversial directing techniques. Was there anything unorthodox he did while on set?
Dunst: I think it’s going to be taken out of context if I were to say what I wanted to say. I mean, Lars could be a little pervy sometimes but I think that’s just because he’s Danish.
Skarsgard: I’m Swedish but I’m not offended at all. … [To Dunst] That’s why he likes you so much, because you bite back and he loves that. He does like provoking, but in a funny way. He wants to see emotions and what people will do. So he will be, like, at a very formal dinner, and he will stand up and say, “I am going to masturbate now” and he will see if he can get a reaction. So, he is just curious.
Dunst: It becomes super normal though. After, like, two dinners.
Skarsgard: Yeah, you can jerk off now, Lars.
Why does he always direct films that are supposedly about him but star women?
Dunst: He has a lot of women around him. Well, for the first dinner I had with him, he was shaking. I didn’t know his story, and I didn’t know if it was medication. I asked, “Lars, are you OK?” I get nervous about him all the time. He will rile me up. He wants to know that he is cared for. And I think he feels more comfortable working with women primarily.
Skarsgard: Then again, I don’t think he understands women. He is trying to figure them out, and so he writes amazing parts for them, because that is kind of like his process of trying to understand them.
Dunst: Well, that is a male’s perspective and you have the female’s perspective.
Skarsgard talks ‘True Blood’
What he wants to see in Season 5: “I would love to have some flashbacks with Pam and Eric, to see how he turned her into a vampire. I always loved the relationship between Eric and Pam. It’s so dysfunctional and weird.”
Which supernatural being could beat his character, Eric Northman, in a fight: “A fairy would have a better chance than a werewolf.”
Does he ever wish his character interacted more with, say, Jason Stackhouse?
“Guys like Sam [Trammell], we have one scene in four years. It’s weird because we are on the same show and we see each other at premieres or at Comic-Con. But yeah, I would love to work more with them. Those are great guys, so I would love to work with them.
