Alexander Skarsgard interview.

Skarsgard's easygoing eagerness makes it impossible to begrudge his good looks. Tall, fine-featured and athletically built, he is spared from perfection only by a slight overbite, though even that has a page dedicated to it on Facebook.

As for the way he is dressed—white Calvin Klein shirt with Persol shades slung from its open neck, black Alexander Wang jeans, grey Converse high-tops—there is nothing to suggest it isn't cool, except the way Skarsgard wears it, which is as if no thought of cool went into it.

However, Skarsgard did put thought into his decision to become a spokesmodel. "I've never done anything like this before. I've had some opportunities, but they haven't felt right," he says. "This one—just everything felt right about it. Calvin Klein is such a great house. I was flattered."

Another reason for Skarsgard to participate in the Encounter campaign was the team working on it. He considers creative director Fabien Baron one of the best in the world. He had worked with photographer Steven Klein before, on a shoot for Interview magazine, and "had a blast."

The film noir style of the campaign was another motivation. "The way they pitched Encounter, it almost sounded like something out of the German Expressionist movement, like an old Fritz Lang movie like M or Metropolis."