Stellan Skarsgård Borrowed a Girlfriend’s Clothes to Dress in Drag at 15 and Was ‘Flabbergasted’ by How Men Treated Him

Stellan Skarsgård’s first experience with drag came during his teenage years — and it left him “flabbergasted.”

The Swedish actor, 74, donned a wig and red lip for a W magazine photo shoot published in January. In a new interview with The New York Times published Feb. 4, he reflected on the experience and revealed that it came nearly six decades after the very first time he dressed in drag.

Skarsgård recalled that the look — a curly wig, bold makeup and Dolce & Gabbana slip dress — was the “idea” of W magazine, not him. He just “went for it,” said the Sentimental Value actor.

“I’ve seen my son do it with success,” the father of eight added, seemingly referring to when his eldest child, actor Alexander Skarsgard, showed up to the 2015 premiere of The Diary of the Teenage Girl in full drag. “And I dressed the first time in drag when I was 15 years old.”

Asked for context on that, he explained, “No, no, I just borrowed a girlfriend’s clothes, and I put socks in the bra and put on makeup and went out.”

“I was flabbergasted over how young men were treating me — the notice you got and the eyes and everything,” the actor continued. “It was a very different experience. So I know that it can be seductive and also objectifying to be a woman.”

The conversation arose after the Mamma Mia! actor explained his familiarity with wigs, given his theater background, and said he has never felt typecast as an actor.

“I mean, the last four projects I’ve done, I look completely different,” he told The New York Times. “From the fat guy in Dune to the wigs in Andor and this one [Gustav Borg in Sentimental Value].”

“I come from theater, so you’re used to wigs and doing several different characters, especially when you start out,” added Stellan. “There’s a childish satisfaction of becoming an invented person.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The star received a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his turn as Borg in the Joachim Trier-directed film. In the Feb. 4 interview, he revealed that navigating awards season is “a role like any,” but “not the kind of role I normally like.”

Stellan has already taken home one major award for his emotional performance in Sentimental Value, in which he stars alongside fellow Oscar nominees Renate Reinsve, Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas and Elle Fanning.

He won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor on Jan. 11. In his acceptance speech, he joked that he thought he might be “too old” to snag the award, and highlighted his wife, Megan Everett-Skarsgård.

“I’ve got to thank my wife. She’s been amazing — a sort of brutal support, a tough lover and very educational,” he said. “And also, my children have been very educational. I’m playing a father who is a bad father. My children have really taught me what a bad father is.”