Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.
One of America's biggest heartthrobs today is a 6-foot-4-inch, blonde, blue-eyed actor from Sweden. Alexander Skarsgard plays a villainous vampire in the HBO series "True Blood," and starting today, you can see him take on a very different role in the new film "The East."
Skarsgard plays the charismatic leader of The East, a mysterious collective of anarchists who plot elaborate attacks they call jams. These jams are intended to give corporations who lie, cheat and pollute a taste of their own medicine.
For example, at a party thrown by the manufacturer of an anti-malarial drug known to make its users seriously ill, The East doses the champagne with large amounts of the medication. In this scene, Skarsgard's character Benji goes undercover as a member of high society named Edward.
Skarsgard joins the show to talk about his very first role in film, and what it was like to play an anarchist in "The East."