Sam Skarsgard: the Skarsgård who became a doctor
Samuel Kristoffer Ymer Skarsgård is a Swedish physician and the third child of the actor Stellan Skarsgård and the doctor My Skarsgård. He was born in Stockholm in June 1982. Of six siblings, he is the only one who followed his mother into medicine rather than his father into film.
His name is written Sam Skarsgard as often as Skarsgård, since the Swedish å drops out of most search boxes. Both refer to the same person.
He has never given an interview. What is known about his work comes from his brother Alexander, who has talked about it publicly.
Sam Skarsgard: quick facts
| Detail | What’s documented |
|---|---|
| Full name | Samuel Kristoffer Ymer Skarsgård |
| Born | June 1982, Stockholm |
| Profession | Physician, intensive care |
| Parents | Stellan Skarsgård and My Skarsgård |
| Siblings | Alexander, Gustaf, Bill, Eija, Valter |
| Half-brothers | Ossian and Kolbjörn |
| Early film work | Assistant production manager on two shorts |
| Public statements | None |
The Pat Metheny problem
Two separate biography sites currently list Sam Skarsgård’s spouse as Pat Metheny.
Pat Metheny is the American jazz guitarist. He was born in Missouri in 1954, has won twenty Grammy Awards, and is a man. One of the sites even links helpfully to his biography page from Sam’s.
This is not a small slip. It is a database field filled in wrong and then copied, and it has been sitting on pages about a working Swedish doctor for years without anyone noticing. If a page tells you a Stockholm physician is married to a jazz guitarist from Kansas City, it is safe to assume nothing else on that page was checked either.
His actual marital status is not documented anywhere reliable.
What his brother said about him
Alexander Skarsgård has spoken about Sam’s work more than once. In 2017 he described it simply, saying his brother works at an ICU so he, on a daily basis, saves lives.
He has made the same point about Sam and their mother together. The two of them save lives for a living, while the rest of the family pretends to do things on camera.
That is the extent of the reliable record on his career. He works in intensive care at a hospital in Stockholm. No employer is named in any source, and this page will not name one either. Physicians are entitled to work without their name attached to a specific ward on a search result.
The film credits, which are real but small
He is not entirely absent from the industry.
He is credited as an assistant production manager on two Swedish short films: Att döda ett barn in 2003 and Skuggvärld in 2005.
The first is worth knowing about. Att döda ett barn is an adaptation of Stig Dagerman’s short story, one of the most widely read pieces of Swedish prose of the twentieth century. Alexander Skarsgård co-directed it. So the doctor brother worked production on the actor brother’s early directing effort.
Several pages also credit Sam with acting in Jim & Piraterna Blom, the 1987 family film his father appeared in. He would have been five at the time, so it is possible.
Treat it carefully, though. When researching his sister Eija, I found the same film credited to her by a major site. She was born in 1992, five years after it came out. The pattern suggests these pages attach the family’s credits to whichever sibling they happen to be writing about.
[VERIFY: whether Sam appears in Jim & Piraterna Blom — his mother My Skarsgård is separately documented as having a role in it, and the credit may have migrated]
The family
Stellan Skarsgård married My Skarsgård in 1975 and they divorced in 2007. They had six children: Alexander, Gustaf, Sam, Bill, Eija and Valter. Stellan married the producer and screenwriter Megan Everett in 2009 and has two further sons, Ossian and Kolbjörn. Eight children in total.
My Skarsgård is a physician, which is the detail that makes Sam’s career make sense. Wikipedia’s entries on Alexander and Valter both identify her that way, with citations.
Four of Sam’s brothers act, as does one half-brother. His sister Eija works as a casting director. He is the outlier twice over: not in front of the camera, and not behind it either.
What isn’t verified about Sam Skarsgard
- His exact birth date. June 1982 is well supported. One page gives 5 June with no source.
- His marital status. See above. The spouse field on two sites names a jazz musician.
- His height and weight. One page gives 196cm, another 6’4″, which is 193cm. One also gives a weight that would be severely underweight at either height. All invented.
- A net worth. Published figures include $5 million and $400,000. That is an order of magnitude apart, for a salaried doctor.
- His employer. Not named anywhere, and it should stay that way.
- His medical school or specialty training. Nothing documented.
One page also files him under the category “physicists.” He is a physician. The two words are not interchangeable, and neither is the profession.
Frequently asked questions
Who is Sam Skarsgard?
A Swedish physician and the third child of actor Stellan Skarsgård, born in Stockholm in June 1982.
Is he an actor like his brothers?
No. He works in intensive care medicine. He has two early production credits on short films.
Why did he not go into acting?
His mother, My Skarsgård, is a physician. He is the only one of the six siblings who followed her instead of their father.
Is Sam Skarsgard married to Pat Metheny?
No. That is a database error on two biography sites. Metheny is an American jazz guitarist.
How many Skarsgård siblings are there?
Eight in total: six from Stellan’s first marriage and two from his second.
Where does he work?
An intensive care unit at a hospital in Stockholm. No employer has been publicly named.
What is Sam Skarsgard’s net worth?
Unknown. Published figures range from $400,000 to $5 million with no sourcing.
Conclusion
There is a version of this page that treats him as the Skarsgård who missed out. One site says his career choice made him the least popular sibling.
The available facts point the other way. He took the harder degree and went into the branch of medicine with the worst hours and the highest stakes. He has said nothing publicly in forty-plus years, while four brothers, a sister and a father built careers on being looked at. His most famous brother’s summary of what he does is nine words long, and it is the best line anyone has written about this family.
JacksonPadilla is a writer at Around Celebrities, covering celebrity families, relationships, biographies, and the stories behind the stars. With a focus on clear and engaging storytelling, Kole helps readers discover the people and connections beyond the spotlight.
