Stellan Skarsgard thought his son Alexander Skarsgard's decision to join the military was done to "provoke" him.

The Sentimental Value star - who has Alexander, 49, Gustaf, 44, Sam, 43, Bill, 35, Eija, 33, and Valter, 29 - with his first wife My Skarsgard as well as Ossian, 16, and Kolbjorn, 13, with his second wife Megan Everett - has seen most of his kids follow in his footsteps and while the Pillion actor began his screen career when he was 13, he then let it take a back seat so he could pursue a naval career.

However, Alexander insisted he didn't do so as a deliberate "act of rebellion", though he was keen to forge his own path.

In a discussion for Variety's Actors on Actors series, Stellan asked his son: "You went into the military -- did you do that in opposition to me, to provoke me?"

He replied: "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."

Stellan admitted: "I felt f*****."

The 74-year-old star's candid admission won praise from his son because the Big Little Lies star "never felt" his dad's hurt.

He said: "You're a tremendous actor, Father, because I never felt that."

Stellan noted he has always been proud to not interfere in his children's decisions.

He said: "But being a military evader like me, it felt like, 'Oh, wow.'

"I also knew that all you eight kids have different ways of approaching everything. Maybe I'm lazy, but I think it's best to let you do it on your own."

Alexander landed his first role when he was just seven years old thanks to "straight-up nepotism" after actor-director Allan Edwall visited their family home, and he had never been interested in being an actor.

He said: "He probably just asked you... I don't even think I auditioned for it.

"I didn't want to be an actor. I'm still trying to figure it out -- what do I do when I grow up?"

And Alexander longed to have a "normal" family with a briefcase-toting dad.

He said: "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."