My role in 'The Kill Team' not of a stereotypical villain: Alexander Skarsgard

Alexander Skarsgard says he was excited about starring in the upcoming war drama "The Kill Team" as his character was not a "stereotypical villain".

The "Big Little Lies" actor features as Sergeant Deeks, an Army leader who leads recruits to kill civilians during the US invasion of Afghanistan.

"I got excited about playing Deeks. I thought it was a really fascinating character that was well written and wasn't the stereotypical villain," Skarsgard told Collider.

Led by Nat Wolff, the film is a big screen adaptation of the 2013 war documentary of the same name.

The story follows Andrew Briggman (Wolff), a young soldier who is morally conflicted under the direction of Deeks.

Skarsgard said it wasn't tough to get into the skin of the character, adding "which I should probably talk to a shrink about".

"It was more about shaping it and mapping out the trajectory of the manipulation of the young soldiers. That was something I was really excited about working on cause it's almost like a love story with jealousy," he added.

Directed by Dan Krauss, "The Kill Team" will release in the US last month.