Alexander Skarsgard was embarrassed by his "weird hippie" dad Stellan Skarsgard when he was a child.
The two actors opened up about their early years in a joint conversation for Variety and Stellan, 74, revealed his son once told him he wished his dad could have "a normal job and work with data and drive a Saab".
Stellan said: "You told me: 'Why can’t you have a normal job and work with data and drive a Saab, like everybody else does?'" and Alexander added: "And wear a suit, goddamit, instead of your weird hippie sarongs or nothing."
Alexander, 49, went on to admit he just wanted to "fit in" and felt embarrassed as a teenager when he wanted to bring friends over to the family home.
He explained: "My dream was for my family to be normal and fit in and be like everybody else’s family. For you to have a briefcase, that would’ve been fantastic, rather than a weird tote bag that you found in India.
"Most people in our family are artists - a lot of eccentric, big personalities that I loved. But the early teens, bringing friends over was always like: 'Oh, God', because I wanted it to be like everyone else’s household."
Alexander insisted he dreamed of having a "normal" job and had no intention of following his father into the acting business despite scoring a role in a film as a child.
He added: "I was very adamant - I was going to be in a cubicle, drive a Saab, and have that beautiful briefcase ... I did a television film when I was 13.
"It got a little bit of attention - enough to make me freak out. Not that I had pursued acting up until that point, but after that, I was like, I don’t want to do this at all. I didn’t act for another eight years."
Stellan went on to ask his son: "You failed trying to have a normal life?" and Alexander replied: "I think I did. Clearly, we’re sitting here with no briefcase."
Alexander started his career in the military before taking up acting and he admitted joining the armed forces was his response to growing up in a "bohemian" household.
He said: "Looking back, I don’t think it was an act of rebellion against you. But coming from a bohemian family, I was like, I want to find my own path.
"The most extreme contrast would be to go into the military. So it wasn’t a conscious: 'F*** you, Dad' thing."
