Alexander Skarsgård has 'learned a lot' during his directorial debut

Alexander Skarsgård has "learned a lot" by making his directorial debut.

The 46-year-old actor is known for starring in 'Zoolander' and 'The Northman' but has stepped behind the camera for the first time as he helms feature film 'The Pack' - which he stars in alongside Florence Pugh - but admitted he struggled with the business side of the industry.

He said: "It’s been interesting being on this side of the casting process. I’ve learned a lot. Sometimes it’s quite disheartening in terms of people’s value, and some of those conversations are a bit — with financiers and everything, it’s like when you start to understand that model of foreign territories. So if someone’s value and someone you think is amazing and you think would mean a lot for financing doesn’t, and then someone, the opposite, means a lot and you don’t get why. So it is that, like Brandon [Cronenberg] said, I think you’re gonna have to make a lot of compromises, but you’ve got to choose your battles."

The 'Battleship' star went on to add that when it comes to the casting process , he must have "chemistry" with his co-stars and despite dipping his toe into the world of directing, he is happy to be "just an actor."

He told Collider: "When it comes to casting, obviously, it’s crucial for me to do it with the actors I want to work with and find that chemistry and that group, otherwise, it’s not worth it for me. I’m pretty content being 'just an actor', so it’s not that I feel like I have to segue into directing. I was high on painkillers and had hubris and thought I could direct this for a second, and maybe that was a mistake, but we’ll see. "