The Wall StreetJournal: Why did you want to be a part of the fragrance?
Alexander Skarsgard: Its my first kind of campaign. This felt like the right one because of a combination of things. First of all, Calvin is a great house. I was very flattered. Creatively, it felt interesting. I worked with [French art director and director of the short film] Fabien Baron, who is arguably one of the greatest art directors of our time and hes behind all of their legendary campaigns. Ive also worked with Lara Stone. Peter Lindbergh shot us two years ago together for Vogue and she is so greatso greatso much fun to work with and laid back and no ego, just very cool girl.
Are you a fragrance kind of guy? Do you like wearing it?
Yeah, I do. I think the trick is in moderation. I think whats very sexy is we all have our personal scent, kind of like our fingerprint, so unique. The trick is not to overpower that. You want the marriage between your scent and the fragrance. That creates something very sensual to me. As a young teenager I made the mistake of going all in and it was like a cloud. I was going to this disco when I was 13, like a school dance, and I just discovered fragrances. I had five different bottles and I thought they all smelled great so I figured that combining them was a great idea. I ended up alone, in a corner of the dance. People were 50 feet away because I was just a cloud of perfume walking around. I learned the hard way that less is more.
How do you wear it now?
One spray of the fragrance, thats kind of it. Wrists [dabbing his wrists] and then bottom of my ears I do that [moved one wrist to one ear]and then like that [moved other wrist to his other ear].
Your character on True Blood was redeemed in an unexpected way this season. Did you like the twist?
AS: It was an interesting direction that Bill went to the dark side and not [Skarsgards character] Eric because Bill has always been this southern gentleman and kind of the good, sweet guy and Eric has been the darker one of the two. Instead of doing the obvious easy choice, instead of letting Eric go even darker and turn to some sort of villain again, if he ever was, and its cool that he now has to protect Sookie and that Bill has gone bat **** crazy.
How does shooting True Blood compare to this Calvin Klein short film?
This was different on one level because theres no dialogue. That was a cool challenge of telling a story with no words. But thats what I love about this job. One day you are covered in blood shooting True Blood and the next day you are doing this. I just wrapped this film in Vancouver called Hidden about a family in a bomb shelter. So from this to like dirty bomb shelter with rats and smoke and soot and fire, thats what so great about this job.
You seem drawn to dark places.
I know. I need to talk to my shrink about that. I dont know what that is about. Whats wrong with me?
This is a great segue into the Christian Grey rumors. Are you interested in that part?
I havent read the script. I dont think there is a script out yet.
Have you read the books?
No, are they good?
Uh, theyre something.
I like something.
Theyre really graphic. The S&M world is laid out for all to read about. Does that appeal to you?
I havent read the books. I know how tremendously successful they are and how people are obsessed, so of course Im flattered if some people out there wants to see me do that. But its difficult to say. Step one is always read the script for me. I get the script, I read it and then I feel something or I dont. You either connect and you feel like this is a character that you want to spend a couple of months with or you dont. Or you feel like Im going to learn something about myself in working on creating this character. Or youre not challenged by it. Or youre not intrigued. So its so difficult to say before having read the script whether you are interested in it or not.
These press junkets must be like Groundhog Day - poor guy. Don't worry Skars if you are ever fortunate enough to meet us, we'll soon comfort you 
He's having a baby now called Alexander John. 
You really make me :giggles: there's nothing wrong with your Swedish Mafia skills - you'll totally bowl them over 
