TRANSCRIPT Bullseye with Jesse Thorn: Alexander Skarsgård

[00:00:00]

Transition: Gentle, trilling music with a steady drumbeat plays under the dialogue.

Promo: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

Music: “Huddle Formation” from the album Thunder, Lightning, Strike by The Go! Team—a fast, upbeat, peppy song. Music plays as Jesse speaks, then fades out.

Jesse Thorn: It’s Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. So, there’s a new show I want to tell you about. It’s called Murderbot, on Apple TV+. It’s a science fiction show. The title might have given you a clue there. Is it also an action show? Yes, there is some action. Is it a drama? Eh, not so much. Murderbot asks the following questions about robots: what if you take a super deadly security robot—something like the Terminator from the Terminator—and you make that robot self-aware and able to do whatever it wants? And what if that robot—well, it didn’t wanna take over the universe, or enslave humanity, or ascend to some new semi spiritual plane of consciousness, or whatever? Maybe it just wants everybody to be cool about the whole thing, so it can watch soap operas inside its robot head. Murderbot not only asks and answers that question, dear listener, it is also funny and weird. And yes, occasionally violent.

Starring as the titular Murderbot is my guest, Alexander Skarsgård. If you’ve seen him in anything, you already know this, but Alexander Skarsgård is impossibly handsome. He comes from a family of actors—Swedish film and stage royalty, including his father, Stellan Skarsgård. Like you might expect for an impossibly beautiful Swede, Alexander got his start in the film Zoolander. He’s since gone on to star in Big Little Lies, The Northman, and Succession—the lattermost of which he earned a Golden Globe and two Emmy nominations for.

Let’s kick things off with a clip from Murderbot. This takes place early on in the program. Murderbot wasn’t born Murderbot. Originally, its name was just Security Unit Robot, or SEC Unit, with a random number. In this scene from the show, the robot has just realized it can grant itself free will. So, it does, and then it decides to go for a rebrand.

 

Transition: A whooshing sound.

Clip:

Music: Suspenseful orchestral music.

(Sci-fi beeping.)

Murderbot (Murderbot): I just isolated an admin password, and I was gonna try to use it to crack the final core encryption. Okay. Patching the code…

(A cybernetic swell; the music turns inspiring.)

Hoooly (censor beep)! It worked! IT WORKED! Okay. (Chortles.) What do I do now? Maybe kill all these idiots and take a Starship to a distant galaxy! What can I call myself? Security Unit 238776431 just doesn’t have the right ring to it. How about Freedom Units or Rogue-bot! (Muttering to itself.) No. That sucks. Maybe Murder…bot? Murderbot!

Transition: A whooshing sound.

 

Jesse Thorn: Alexander Skarsgård, welcome to Bullseye. It’s nice to have you on the show.

Alexander Skarsgård: It’s a pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me.

Jesse Thorn: I really enjoyed watching Murderbot. I wasn’t quite sure what I was expecting. And indeed, having fully watched it, I’m not quite sure what I watched. But maybe you could describe how you figured out the kind of show it was from looking at it on a page.

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah, I still feel like you feel right now, like I also don’t know what the show is about, what we did. (Laughs.) It was definitely something quite different from what I expected. I wasn’t familiar with Martha Wells’s—the novellas, The Murderbot Diaries, before Chris and Paul Weitz—the showrunners—reached out about just over two years ago. And when I heard the title of it and that it was gonna be a sci-fi action adventure, I think I expected a very different character than the Murderbot you meet when you start reading the script or the novella. ‘Cause it is a very socially awkward android who prefers to watch space soap operas to fighting or getting into action. And I think I expected a way more self-confident, assertive, tough guy.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when I started reading it. ‘Cause it took a very different twist and turn than I anticipated.

[00:05:00]

Jesse Thorn: I mean, I feel like I have seen a lot of films and television shows that are in the vein of Star Trek or the Terminator movies, in that they’re very sincere and direct. I’ve seen certainly some wonderful parodies in the vein of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy or Galaxy Quest. You know, which is a pretty grounded parody.

Alexander Skarsgård: Or Space Balls.

Jesse Thorn: Yeah. And this, while very funny, is not particularly parodic. (Chuckling.) It’s just what if a sci-fi television program was about someone that was very uncomfortable?

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah! I kind of fell in love with the character from the very beginning. It was— When we created the look of the character, we also wanted to kind of juxtapose that with this socially awkward android that Murderbot is. So, we wanted Murderbot to kind of look like someone who could beat you up and who would look a bit imposing. ‘Cause that would play nicely with, again, setting up a character and a look of a character that takes the audience in a very different direction. So, I was really fascinated by that aspect of it.

And again, it’s not a—(laughs) I don’t know what this show is!

(Jesse laughs.)

But it’s—like I said, it’s not a broad comedy/satirical sci-fi show, but we’re playing it very straight, and Murderbot is incredibly earnest and very deadpan, and I think a lot of the comedy derives from the awkward situations and interactions.

Jesse Thorn: And it’s also very much from the perspective of Murderbot. Who, by the way, gives himself that name after figuring out that he can gain a certain kind of autonomy; he changes his name from XML2794673, or whatever, to Murderbot kind of as a goof. But the whole story is him trying to figure out what the world is and who he is in a way that is very sweet, despite the fact that it is interspersed with pretty intense, brutal violence. (Laughs.)

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah, and I wanted that discovery to be like a reluctant journey. Murderbot doesn’t approach its humanity with curiosity or a sense of exploration; I think it’s kind of forced to— When it has hacked its governor modules, it’s gained autonomy/independence, it is—in a way—forced to reckon with its own humanity or confronted in a way. And I like the resistance there, that these things—these feelings—start to bubble up. But it’s incredibly uncomfortable for Murderbot. It prefers not to deal with that. It was in a way better when those elements were hidden.

Because Murderbot, again, is an android. So, it’s a combination of artificial super intelligence and organic components. But again, the organic components have been very kind of in the shadows until now. And then they start come bubbling up, in a way. And Murderbot learns a lot about itself through observing the team, the humans it’s been assigned to protect, but maybe even more so by watching The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon—the show within the show, the space soap opera,

Jesse Thorn: (Giggling.) It primarily is interested in spacing out so that it can watch television inside its head.

Alexander Skarsgård: A very relatable character, you know? (Chuckles.)

Jesse Thorn: But I mean, it is a sort of dissociation that has its appeal, right? Like, he has lost his ability to dissociate from the world by simply accepting that he has no autonomy, right? Like, in a previous life that he doesn’t quite remember, he could just do whatever anyone said. Because that’s what he does; because his brain is controlled by software that makes him do that.

(Alexander agrees.)

When he gains his autonomy, he has to deal with the fact that that means he has to make choices. (Chuckling.) So, the appeal of dissociating by watching soap operas inside his own brain is very exciting.

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah, and I think it’s initially— Again, when Murderbot first hacks its governor module and gains autonomy, or free will if you believe in the concept of free will—again, it names itself Murderbot, and it talks through the inner monologue, the voiceover, about these epic adventures that it’s gonna go on.

[00:10:00]

But it realizes that if it goes rogue now, the company that owns it will realize it’s rogue and they’re gonna hunt it down and put it in an acid bath. So, it decides to wait for the right moment to escape. Meanwhile, it’s off on another assignment, again, with these space hippies—this new group of humans. And while it’s—in the beginning, it’s waiting for the right moment to take off and, again, become Murderbot, start the next epic adventure. An adventure where, like you said, for the first time, it has agency. But then it kind of starts to procrastinate. And in hacking its govern module, it has also been able to tap into the entertainment satellites. So, it’s downloaded over 7,000 hours of media since then—primarily this show, The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.

And in that regard, I think it’s quite relatable. It’s got these great ambitions and plans… but they can wait till tomorrow. It’s just gonna watch a few more episodes of this great show, and then it’s gonna start the next chapter of its life.

Jesse Thorn: It also is constantly wrestling with the question of, “I think I could just murder everyone here, and then go on a murdering spree. I am a Murderbot, right? Should I do that?! I don’t know!” And the sort of innocence of the question, “Should I just murder everything here?” is very unique to this program.

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah, in the beginning it has—it’s not a hatred towards humanity or these specific humans, it’s just kind of indifference. It feels that, well, if they are an obstacle, then I gotta eliminate that obstacle.

Jesse Thorn: We’ve got more with Alexander Skarsgård in just a minute. After the break, we will talk about the time he went to a big, fancy award show without any pants on. In real life! Not a dream! Just underwears… and a coat, and a shirt, and a tie, and socks, and shoes, but no pants! It’s Bullseye from MaximumFun.org and NPR.

 

Transition: Thumpy synth with light vocalizations.

Jesse Thorn: Welcome back to Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. My guest is Alexander Skarsgård. He’s, of course, the Emmy nominated actor you’ve seen on Succession and Big Little Lies. He’s currently starring on the science fiction action show, Murderbot, which is streaming now on Apple TV+. Murderbot tells the story of a deadly android played by Skarsgård. The android somehow grants itself self-awareness and autonomy, and it would really love it if everyone didn’t make such a big deal about that. It’s a great show. Really funny.

Also. Did you know that Alexander Skarsgård is handsome? Maybe even more handsome than I!? Jesse Thorn, handsome public radio host!? Well, you can see for yourself on the Bullseye YouTube page. We’re posting all of our new interviews there in full video. A lot of fun there. Smash that like and subscribe button, as they say. Okay, let’s get back into my conversation with Alexander Skarsgård.

I wanna ask you a little bit about your life. You’re Swedish, and you lived in the United States for a long time, but these days you live mostly in Sweden. Right?

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah, after 20 years here, I moved back to Stockholm two years ago.

Jesse Thorn: Why did you move back?

Alexander Skarsgård: It was a process over a couple years. I got an apartment in Stockholm maybe five years ago. I come from a big family, and a couple of my brothers started having kids. So, again, I’m the only one who left Sweden. My parents and all my siblings are, and have always been, based in Stockholm. And when my brother started having kids, I started feeling that coming home for Christmas and a couple weeks over the summer just wasn’t enough. I missed being around my family, and I missed seeing them regularly. I missed—yeah, I missed being around them. So, then I got an apartment in Södermalm, this neighborhood in South Stockholm where I grew up and where my family still is, and that just felt good.

I hadn’t had a place in Sweden. I slept on my dad’s futon for the past like 15 years when I was there. So, this was the first time I actually like—since I was in my early 20s—that I had my own apartment in Stockholm. And it felt like coming home, ’cause that’s what it was.

Jesse Thorn: I know you had visited, you know, regularly when you were living in the United States, but what was it like for you to move back to your home country decades later? Was it what you wanted it to be or expected it to be? Or was it different?

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah, it felt like coming home—not only in a literal sense, but actually like also in my heart. I really felt like a sigh of relief almost. It was just—it felt like, “Oh, this is where I belong.” And I loved living in New York. And I lived in LA for many years, and I loved that as well. And some of my favorite people are in New York and LA.

[00:15:00]

And there are definitely moments where I miss living here. But there was something special about coming home and walking the streets I grew up on and having memories on each street corner. I spent a couple of months in Texas when I was a kid, but it’s not like when I walk around New York City, I have childhood memories. But that was something when I came home, walking around Södermalm. I was like, “Oh yeah. This is where me and my buddy did that when we were seven years old. And like I remember like climbing that wall when I was nine. And this happened there.” And like everywhere, it just feels so alive with history in a way, for me.

Jesse Thorn: You mentioned that you come from a big family. You’re the oldest of six or seven, and then you have a couple of half siblings as well? Is that—am I remembering that right?

Alexander Skarsgård: I have no idea, but it sounds about right. Yeah.

Jesse Thorn: (Laughs.) You lost count at point?

Alexander Skarsgård: (Chuckling.) Yeah, I gave up. No, we’re—Mom and Dad had six, and then I have two half-brothers on my dad’s side. So, we’re eight in total.

Jesse Thorn: And everyone was around all the time?

Alexander Skarsgård: I have a brother who is 13. So, it’s quite a gap. So, it wasn’t like eight of us in the in the household at the same time. Not even the six of us that have the same parents. Like, I was in the military when Walter, the youngest, was born. So, I was already kind of out of the nest. Still a big family. It was a lot of us, but it wasn’t like—never eight kids in the household at the same time.

Jesse Thorn: Alex, I have two half siblings who I love very much. But when I had one child—I have three now—when I had one child, I was like, “Oh my god, there’s so many people in this house.” (Laughs.) I was like, “Ah! I just wanna read a book! There’s a new New Yorker that just came. Can everyone please be quiet for Dad?!”

Alexander Skarsgård: I am almost the opposite. I freak out if it’s like empty, if it’s quiet. I’m so used to like chaos. Because it wasn’t only that we were a lot of siblings; the extended family is very tight. So, my mom’s older brother, who’s also my dad’s best friend, lived in the apartment above us. And my grandparents lived across the street, and my aunt lived a block away, and my uncle lived a block away in the different direction. So, it was like 30 family members within a two-block radius. So—and we would get together pretty much every night of the week. So, like it was just like people would come in and out constantly. So, it was like—yeah, a very loud, busy environment to grow up in.

Jesse Thorn: Was your dad being an actor unusual in that family, or typical in that family?

Alexander Skarsgård: In our family, it was not unusual. Most people were doing something creative, like author, painter, musician, actor, pretty much everyone.

Jesse Thorn: Did you think that seemed like a good idea when you were a teenager, or did you think you wanted something else?

Alexander Skarsgård: No, it seemed like a terrible idea. ‘Cause they were all… they were very eccentric and weird. Like, I think aspects of their personalities that I admire and love today, I didn’t love and admire when I was a teenager. Like, at least like a young teenager. I wanted desperately to just like fit in and be normal and be from a normal family and not a family of eccentric artists and, you know, a dad who wears a caftan and drinks wine at 10 o’clock in the morning and like is dancing in the living room, you know, when I have friends over.

And it’s just like—yeah, I felt like a bit like Murderbot on the show when it’s watching the humans dance and make out and do weird human things.

(Jesse chuckles.)

I was like, “This is, uh—what is happening?”

Jesse Thorn: It’s funny, because—you know, here in the United States, the dad that you are describing having had is a dad that would have driven a Saab. That’s who drove Saabs in the United States.

Alexander Skarsgård: That is true. I haven’t thought of that. But of course, here in the states, a Saab driver would be the guy in the caftan, right? Like—(laughs).

Jesse Thorn: I mean, they might have driven a Volvo station wagon.

(Alexander agrees through laughter.)

You had also had the odd experience of becoming a famous actor in your adolescence. In the context of Sweden, you were on a very popular television show as like a 12/13-year-old. And celebrity in a Northern European country is a very different kind of thing from celebrity in the United States or global celebrity, but it can’t have been all that comfortable for you as a kid.

Alexander Skarsgård: No, it wasn’t. And it actually wasn’t even a television show.

[00:20:00]

It was like a one-off, 50-minute television movie, like a short film. But this was back in the 1900s when we only had two channels in Sweden and way before (annunciating for emphasis) the internet. So, if something was on, people watched it no matter what it was, really. So, it was called Hunden som log, The Smiling Dog. And it definitely changed things a bit for me. ‘Cause suddenly I was recognized, and I felt scrutinized, and it made me a bit uncomfortable. I didn’t like it.

Jesse Thorn: It’s Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. I’m talking with actor Alexander Skarsgård. He’s starring in the new TV show Murderbot.

Sometimes when I watch television award shows—you know, there’s that red carpet, and I’ll see—you know, I’ll be like, “Oh, here’s Colin Firth,” and he’s dressed in Tom Ford with beautiful broad lapels. And you know, here’s someone else wearing Tom Brown. And it’s like, “Ohhh, his pants are a little short! That’s pretty saucy.” And then Alexander Skarsgård is there, and he’s dressed like an evil karate nun.

(Alexander laughs.)

I did see a picture of you dressed as what appeared to be an evil karate nun. You look like a million dollars, by the way. You look tremendous. I understand it was runway Calvin Klein.

Alexander Skarsgård: (Still cackling.) Evil Karate nun!

Jesse Thorn: Yeah, yeah! Oh no, it was like a shoulder to ankle drape.

Alexander Skarsgård: Can you write that movie for me?

Jesse Thorn: (Chuckles.) Um, do you enjoy showing up to something in something spectacular rather than something modest?

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah! Because I have a very limited wardrobe, privately. So—and I wear the same thing pretty much every day, and it’s very monochromatic and quite boring in general. So, I quite enjoy throwing on an evil nun outfit for a few hours here and there or doing something to have some fun when you’re actually gonna go to an event like that. Yeah.

Jesse Thorn: That is very Swedish of you, to have that modest everyday wardrobe. When I was in Stockholm, I was struck by—

Alexander Skarsgård: The conformity?

Jesse Thorn: The—but it’s an intensely tasteful conformity. So, when I was, you know, in a fancy neighborhood in Stockholm, the men were wearing very beautiful suits. It was not—you know, no one looked sloppy. Everyone looked like a million dollars, but it was gray and blue. You know? Gray and blue. (Chuckles.) And white.

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah. Yeah, it—I know, but it’s tasteful, but whose taste is it? ‘Cause they all look the same. So, then it makes you feel like, well, clearly someone says, “Hey guys, this is what we’re gonna wear this spring,” and then everyone looks that way. We need a bit more karate nuns in Sweden.

(They laugh.)

I’m doing what I can to change things back home.

Jesse Thorn: What’s something that you’ve worn to an event that you’re particularly fond of in retrospect?

Alexander Skarsgård: I really like—I wore no pants to an event, and that was really nice.

Jesse Thorn: What was the event?

Alexander Skarsgård: I think it was the MTV Movie Awards. And then Sabrina Wu, who plays Pin-Lee on Murderbot, paid homage to that by wearing the same outfit to the premier in New York. When I wore the Karate Nun outfit, Sabrina wore tuxedo top, no pants, shoes, and garters. So, I was very honored that Sabrina did that.

Jesse Thorn: I can understand why you wore the garters. It would be embarrassing to be wearing no pants and have your socks sag.

Alexander Skarsgård: Come on! Exactly. Gotta keep it classy.

Jesse Thorn: I have a computer in front of me, (typing noises) so I’m just typing in “Alexander Skarsgård, no pants”.

Alexander Skarsgård: Oh, be careful!

Jesse Thorn: Gonna class up my search history forever.

(Alexander stammers and laughs.)

Yeah, look at this. And it’s not a generous coat, either. I mean, this is a—(giggling) this is a slim silhouette and a short-at-the-hips, here.

(Alexander confirms.)

This is a high-traveling—yeah, there’s a high-traveling leg thing. Does that make sense? A high-traveling leg thing? There’s a lot between the garters and the bottom of your shirt and coat. There’s more distance than (inaudible).

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah. And then I’m wearing Jack McBrayer’s tighty-whities.

Jesse Thorn: Ohhh! What a legend, Jack McBrayer.

Alexander Skarsgård: Yeah, legend.

Jesse Thorn: We’ve got a lot more to get into with Alexander Skarsgård after the break. Stay with us. It’s Bullseye from MaximumFun.org and NPR.

 

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(Music ends.)

 

Transition: Thumpy synth with a syncopated beat.

Jesse Thorn: It’s Bullseye. I’m Jesse Thorn. I’m talking with actor Alexander Skarsgård. He’s starring in the new TV show Murderbot.

You served in the Navy when you were a teenager.

(Alexander confirms.)

Was that a compulsory service, and could you have just become a rural schoolteacher for a year or something like that instead?

Alexander Skarsgård: It was the cusp of late ‘90s, so it was the end of the Cold War, and Russia would never again be a threat to anyone. So, we didn’t really need a military. But it was technically still mandatory, but it was—again—on the cusp. It was quite easy to get out of it, military service. I opted in. I knew I didn’t wanna be an actor. Again, I came from this like Bohemian hippie family, and my way to rebel against that was to join the military, I guess. (Chuckles.) So, yeah, I joined this unit in the Archipelago outside of Stockholm for a year and a half.

Jesse Thorn: Why did you choose the Navy?

Alexander Skarsgård: They basically recruited me. I was walking through this square in Stockholm, and they had these like recruiters out there with pamphlets, and it looked like the coolest thing ever. It was like this unit where you got to wear a really cool hat, and you got to paddle a canoe and swim and dive and run and do cool things on islands. And it looked like some Rambo stuff. So, I was like, “That’s what I’m gonna do!” And I hated it.

Jesse Thorn: My father volunteered for the Navy at about the same age as you. And what I remember him telling me is that when he got to basic training, the first night he was in the barracks or whatever; and he said he realized he had made the worst mistake of his life, that it was the wrong place for him to be.

Alexander Skarsgård: For me, it was like—I exaggerated when I said I hated it, but I think it’s different if you serve in the US military. Because—and again, this was like in the late ‘90s—serving the Swedish military in the late ‘90s, you know that you’re not gonna get sent somewhere where someone’s gonna shoot at you or you’re gonna have to shoot at someone. So, in a way, it was a very kind of selfish endeavor. I wanted to pretend to be James Bond for a year and a half. And this was like a really cool unit. So, we were part of the Navy, but we were land-based—or like, our job was to, from the small islands of the archipelago, protect the vessels in the archipelago. So, it was kind of a lot of like small units running around on the islands doing, you know, ops and stuff that was cool to a 19-year-old.

In hindsight, I’m glad I did it. I think it was a good experience for me. But at the time, yeah, it was definitely—I can’t say I loved it, but I didn’t join for any like patriotic reasons or because I love guns. Like, far from it. It was just like I had no idea what I wanted to do. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. And then I get this pamphlet in my hand. I was like, “Oh, this could be fun,” and it’s something people in my family didn’t really do. So, then I was like, “Well, then I’m gonna go do that!” That was how I motivated that decision.

Jesse Thorn: Do you think that living in the neighborhood that you grew up in with your wife and several children in your house and other members of your family around you—do you think that you’re able to give your kids the good parts of the childhood that you had?

Alexander Skarsgård: Oh. (Poignant pause.) I hope so. I think… I think it’s quite different from when I was a kid. Those elements that I found embarrassing when I was 13—I loved them when I was younger, it was just like those awkward years when— And I don’t think I was very unique as a teenager in that regard, where I think it’s just imperative to fit in and be normal, and you don’t want your parents to be embarrassing. But what I loved about it and what I want to remember from that and bring forward to the next generation is it was a household filled with love and a lot of respect. And that was really cool when I was a kid, how Dad and his parents—and dad still does this to his grandkids, where he listens to kids. And that’s not—he like really meets them on their level in a way.

[00:30:00]

But it’s like he’s really intrigued by a 3-year-old and what the 3-year-old has to say. It’s never like tap on the head and be like, (pleasantly dismissive) “Oh, that’s very sweet little buddy! Now off you go to play.”

He’s like, “Alright, cool. Well, why do you think that?” And I know that my grandfather did that to my dad when he was a kid. And I think that’s really admirable and something I try to remember to kind of really like respect and listen to your kids.

Jesse Thorn: Do you ever wear a caftan?

Alexander Skarsgård: (Chuckles.) In a very weak moment, I bought one. And then I tried it on. I saw my father. And that—as much as I love him, (wistfully) I do not want to become him.

(They chuckle.)

So, I took it off.

Jesse Thorn: Alexander Skarsgård, thank you so much for your time. It was so nice to get to talk to you, and I enjoyed Murderbot so much. So, uh—

Alexander Skarsgård: I really appreciate that. I’ve enjoyed this conversation. Thank you so much.

Jesse Thorn: Alexander Skarsgård. You can watch Murderbot now on Apple TV+. It’s great.

Transition: Bright, upbeat synth.

Jesse Thorn: That’s the end of another episode of Bullseye. Bullseye is created in the homes of me and the staff of Maximum Fun—as well as at Maximum Fun HQ, overlooking beautiful MacArthur Park in Los Angeles, California. Guess where I went? I went to the zoo this weekend. You know what’s great? The zoo. They got a bunch of different animals there. I saw like an adolescent gorilla chasing around a squirrel. It was the best.

Our show is produced by speaking into microphones. Our senior producer is Kevin Ferguson. Our producers, Jesus Ambrosio and Richard Robey. Our production fellow at Maximum Fun is Hannah Moroz. Our video producer is Daniel Speer. We get booking help from Mara Davis. Our interstitial music comes from our friend Dan Wally, also known as DJW. You can find his music at DJWsounds.bandcamp.com. Our theme music, written and recorded by The Go! Team. It’s called “Huddle Formation”. Thanks to The Go! Team. Thanks to their label, Memphis Industries. Special thanks this week to Jacob Derwin at Technica House in New York City for recording our interview with Alexander Skarsgård this week.

You can follow Bullseye on Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, where you’ll find video from just about all our interviews—including the ones you heard this week. And I think that’s about it. Just remember, all great radio hosts have a signature signoff.

Promo: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn is a production of MaximumFun.org and is distributed by NPR.

(Music fades out.)

 

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