‘Dune’ Actor, 74, Gives Health Update After Suffering Stroke

Stellan Skarsgård is proving nothing can slow him down — not even a stroke.

The beloved Mamma Mia and Dune star, 74, gave PEOPLE an exclusive update on his health while attending the Los Angeles premiere of Sentimental Value on November 5. It’s the first time in years the Swedish icon has opened up about how his 2022 stroke changed his life — and his work.

“I’m good,” Skarsgård said with a reassuring smile, though he admitted the recovery forced him to completely rethink how he performs. “I had one Dune left and one Andor left when I got the stroke,” he recalled. “I can’t memorize lines anymore.”

Now, the veteran actor uses an earpiece to feed him dialogue on set — a trick he says sounds easier than it is. “It sounds like, ‘Oh yeah, he just listens to his dialogue,’ but it’s not that simple,” Skarsgård explained. “The rhythm of the scene has to feel natural, so it’s a special kind of work.”

Even though he didn’t have much time to adjust — jumping straight into Dune: Part Two and Andor — he figured it out fast. “I had to learn quickly,” he said.

The father of eight previously called the experience “extremely frustrating,” telling Vulture that after the stroke, “I can’t come up with names or follow a thought all the way through.” Still, he chooses to focus on the bright side. “I’m alive. I can work,” he said.

And he’s doing plenty of that. Skarsgård stars in and executive produces Sentimental Value, where he plays a film director trying to reconnect with his estranged daughters — played by Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas — alongside Elle Fanning.

As he put it best: “I’m not afraid of dying. But I am afraid of not being capable of living.”

Sentimental Value hits theaters November 7.