-My first guest is an Emmy and Golden Globe-winning actor
who you can see in the big new film, "Godzilla vs. Kong,"
which is in theaters and on HBO Max on March 31st.
Please welcome Alexander Skarsgard!
[ Cheers and applause ]
Ah, that's what -- that's what I'm talking about.
Look at you, stud.
Thank you so much for being here.
It's been a while since last you were on the show,
and I was reading that you've been really dedicating
the past few months to drawing and artwork.
-Sounds kind of pretentious, but in the beginning
of the lockdown a year ago, I wanted to stay creative
and not just stare into the wall.
-Yeah. -So I started drawing.
And I hadn't done much of that before.
But I got really into it. Went deep down the rabbit hole.
In the beginning, it was mostly like croquis stuff
and rough drawings, but then --
-Croquis? Is that, like, a style of drawing?
-Yeah. Yeah, and it evolved into
more portrait mode and more detailed drawing.
I got into the -- kind of the geometry behind it
to get the proportions right, and I've probably spent
a couple of thousand hours now just drawing.
-Wow. -It's like Malcolm Gladwell's
theory that -- Well, I don't know if --
10,000 hours you spend on something.
-Yeah, you become a master.
-I haven't reached that level quite, but it's been,
you know, a good part of the past year
just drawing portraits
and still life and basically everything.
-Do you have any drawings nearby that you could maybe show us?
I'd love to see a couple.
-Yeah. Uh...
[ Chuckles ]
It's a bit embarrassing.
I haven't shown a lot of people this
'cause I've been so isolated, but, um, yeah.
[ Laughter ]
So... this is...my mom's dog.
[ Laughter and applause ]
-Okay. Wow.
-Yeah, that's my mom's dog. -Amazing.
-And when I drew it, it was actually just standing.
But I wanted it to be more kinetic and have more life.
[ Laughter ] -Yeah, of course!
So you added -- [ Laughter ]
'Cause the dog -- So, the dog was standing
when you saw it, but yet you wanted to add
a little movement to it. Yeah.
-Creative freedom. Creative freedom.
-No, no, absolutely. That's what I meant to say.
-Yeah. Congratulations. Any others?
-Well, yeah. Part of the training was also
kind of to draw reproductions of the old classics.
And so I have...
Michelangelo. -Oh, of course.
Okay, well... [ Laughter ]
Okay. That's right. [ Laughter ]
No, you're right. That angle is correct.
-And I -- basically, when I drew this,
I don't even remember doing it.
Like, I put pen to paper, and then I kind of zoned out,
and then -- -At what point do you zone out?
-Well, basically when I put pen to paper on this one,
I don't even remember drawing it.
And then I looked up, and I was like, "Wow."
-Wow. [ Laughter ]
That's exactly what I would do.
-I wasn't even religious before I started doing this,
But then I was like, I saw God.
-[ Laughing ] Oh, my gosh.
Yeah, of course. -And I don't even know
if I did it or, like, the hand of God --
it was drawn by the hand of God. -Honestly, Alexander...
-And then I took a stab at the most classic of them all,
the most classic masterpiece, "Mona Lisa."
[ Laughter ]
-Yeah, that's -- That's actually not bad.
[ Cheers and applause ]
-I -- -It's not --
I'm not quite happy with the enigmatic smile.
I'm working on that.
-Yeah, no, I think you nailed it perfect.
I have a lot of -- I have a lot of questions.
I look at that, and I have a lot of questions,
just like the real work of art.
-Do you really? -Yep.
-Thanks, man!
-Yeah, congratulations. Yeah.
-Thank you, man.
-Buddy, I always love having you on the show.
Congrats on "Godzilla vs. Kong."
'Cause people are saying right now it's on track
to become the biggest box office since the pandemic started.
And I'm excited about it.
Can you set it up a little bit?
Like, why is Godzilla fighting King Kong?
-Um... Well, in the last
Godzilla movie, that one is called
"Godzilla: King of the Monsters,"
and the outcome is kind of in the title.
By the end of the movie, he is the king.
And he's the apex predator on the planet, and everyone agrees.
And then, in this movie, Kong basically shows up.
'Cause he wasn't in "King of Monsters,"
and Kong is like,
"Hold my banana while I spank this lizard."
-Yep. Yep, yep, yep.
"Hold my banana while I spank this lizard," yeah.
-That's not metaphorically --
-That was the original tagline of the movie.
But they didn't use it.
But without giving away spoilers,
Tariq and I have a bet.
And Godzilla versus Kong, you have to make a bet.
Do you have a preference? Who are you betting on,
and did you have a preference, like, growing up?
-Wait. So, Jimmy, who did you bet on?
-I bet on Kong.
King Kong, by the way.
-So, not me, basically.
-Well, this is before I talked to you.
-Right.
It is Godzilla versus Kong versus Alexander Skarsgard.
-Yes! And that I would take the bet.
-The great titan.
-I would take Alexander Skarsgard
all the time. Every single time.
That's the king. [ Cheers and applause ]
You're the king of all man!
I want to show everyone a clip.
Here's King Kong fighting off Godzilla
in "Godzilla vs. Kong." Take a look at this.
♪♪
[ Roaring ]
[ Screaming ]
[ Roaring ]
♪♪
Yo! That's what I'm talking about!
That is what I'm talking about, buddy.
I love it. Thank you so much for coming on the show.
Every single time, you're one of my faves.
Alexander Skarsgard, everybody. -Ah, thank you.
-"Godzilla vs. Kong" is in theaters
and streaming on HBO Max, starting March 31st.