The Roar of Skarsgard
by Adriano Ercolani
June Edition Rivista del Cinematografo
"So I found the animal in me," says the Swedish actor, in his first starring role on the big screen. His Tarzan? Has a beastly and "physical side so strong he's afraid of himself "
It took a series as popular as True Blood to emerge definitively from the shadow of his father Stellan . At thirty-nine years old the Swedish stalwart Alexander Skarsgård is ready to impose himself on the big screen, after a series of art films such as Melancholia by Lars von Trier . Here's what the actor told us about the creation of Tarzan:
The first question is obvious : why a new Tarzan?
I'd wondered that myself . I didn't immediately climbed on board because there were so many adaptations to the cinema and I didn't understand the need to do another one . Then I read the first page of the script and I found Tarzan in London, who spoke with the Prime Minister! It was not what I expected, the character is back in England for a decade, he has become a sophisticated person . And, then he must go back into the jungle to fix things . If most of the previous film was about how to tame the animal side of the character, this film instead focuses on the contrary, how to unleash it again. John is afraid to go back and find out what he is capable , he is afraid of himself , Tarzan of the primordial state that it once was . It was a very exciting and unexpected trip .
We should not expect then the usual character?
If I had heard that the role would be only show muscles and chest I would not have accepted , but the idea of shooting a script so rich and to work with a talented director like David Yates had convinced me immediately . The point of view and the arc of the story are original . It was the only thing I could do was rest and see my friends for a beer on the fly very trying experience , both physically and mentally, we shot for almost eight months, on weekends . I saw only one football game in London , Arsenal - Manchester City . I would have liked to see the Leeds game , of which I am a fan . This was my whole social life .
The approach to the story is much more contemporary.
On the surface of course this is an entertainment film , but behind it there is the story of the exploitation of the Congo in the 1880s , under King Leopold II of Belgium . This was an abuse so grueling that caused a real genocide , about twenty million people died over the years . That's why John Clayton decided to go back when the character played by Samuel L. Jackson , George Washington Williams , puts him aware of the situation . The film is referred to as colonialism and slavery .
What has impressed you most of David Yates as director?
His open-mindedness . working with him was a very intimate experience , despite the enormity of the production , I had never participated in such a big project previously . David trusts the actors , he wants you to speak up if something does not work so you can clear it up together . It manages to create a very strong participatory experience . The cast feels they work with and not for him . The first day we were undecided whether to wear to John two pairs of pants of different shades of brown, and David turns to an assistant costume designer for twenty years and asks what do you prefer .not many directors would have done that.
It was not strange to recreate the African jungle in the suburbs of London?
When they told me that we shot most of the film in this industrial area north of the city I was afraid by the idea that it wouldn't be realistic. Then I got on the set and they had rebuilt a jungle of almost two hundred meters wide . Earth, flowers , bushes , mountains, even a river . There was even the same moisture that you can have in a real jungle . then of course we had also around the green screen , but the work of set designers and set designer was magnificent. I felt a bit ' ridiculous only when I turned the action scenes with animals, because they were all played on the computer .
He also shot the most acrobatic moments?
No, most of the action scenes was made by stuntman . I did a few of the moves , but not much. Usually I did the shots when I jumped and landed, everything in between is the work of stuntmen , who performed acrobatics while I maybe had a cappuccino.
What he finally learned entering the Tarzan role ?
That down deep we are all animals . What we need to do is try to work our nature in an orderly society , for the sake of living together .
Source: http://www.cinematografo.it/riviste/
Translation: My sketchy Italian (with a little assistance from Google translate)
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