Alexander Skarsgård, star of award-winning Big Little Lies and Tarzan, talks candidly to ELLE UK about the double standard in Hollywood, how his career has impacted his relationships, and why he avoids social media.

On gender bias in the film industry:

'There is a double standard [in the film industry]. I notice that with actress friends of mine. And it's disgusting. It's not a problem that's specific to Hollywood.

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'I think you see this in many professions, where men in power think they're entitled. So these women are very brave to talk about it, and I do believe it will fundamentally change things.'

On being a pro-woman:

'I'm 100 per cent feminist. Sweden is very progressive. In terms of equal rights, I think it's ahead of most countries.'

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On how appearing on TV from the age of 13 affected his relationships:

'To have people talk about you and say, "Well this is who Alex is…" when I had no idea myself, it just f*cked with my self-confidence. Because if a girl looked at me or seemed interested, I thought she was only interested because she had seen me in the movie.

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'It made me feel worthless. I wanted girls in school to like me because I was funny or cute or interesting – that's what you want isn't it? When you're 13? And I guess when you're 40 as well…'

On choosing to not have a presence on social media:

'Sometimes I think it's good to be bored, because that's when your mind wanders; creativity is born this way.

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'But we don't allow for those moments anymore, because if there are three seconds of downtime, you are on your phone or you're checking your Insta-feed or Twitter.'

Mute launches on Netflix in February. Read the full interview in the March issue of ELLE UK, on sale 7 February.

For more exclusive content visit www.ELLEUK.com.