Alexander Skarsgard has fond memories of his Wicker co-star Olivia Colman’s joy at seeing him in costume for the first time on set.
Alexander Skarsgard will “never forget” wearing full costume on the set of Wicker for the first time.
The 50-year-old actor plays the Wicker Husband – who begins an unlikely romance with a fisherwoman (Olivia Colman) – in the new film and recalled his concerns about the costume being eased by the Oscar-winner’s ecstatic reaction to the look.
Alexander told Variety: “If it doesn’t quite work, it looks like a horror film because it looks like you cut someone’s face off and glued it onto your own, and that wasn’t quite the tone we wanted to go for here.
“So, it was a lot of anticipation and excitement and a lot of nerves because it was like, ‘Oh s***! If it doesn’t work, then we’re kind of screwed.'”
Reflecting on his co-star’s response, the Big Little Lies actor added: “It was an incredible day that I’ll never forget. Putting it on and then it helped me find the physicality of the character and then stepping out of the trailer and having Olivia outside going (gasps).
“You can see how intricate and how beautiful the work was, and the fact that once it was glued on to my face, it actually moved with my movements. It’s even better than we imagined.”
Colman, 52, explained how she knew Wicker was “going to work” once she saw Skarsgard in costume.
She said: “It was amazing because we’d all been looking at images for 18 months or so, and then to see it in the flesh, it was amazing.
“That (feeling) of, ‘Oh my god, it’s going to work!'”
Wicker’s trailer was innuendo-laden but Alexander claims there is a deeper meaning to the flick.
The Swedish actor said: “It’s not just a slapstick or sex comedy.
“They did an amazing job with this, and I hope and think and believe that people will go on this journey, be excited with all the twists and turns.”
Wicker has been directed by Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson and Skarsgard was pleased that the duo had “complete control” over the picture.
The Succession actor said: “The fact that they did have complete control and they could have the freedom to make their own movie the way they wanted to make, without lots of chefs in the kitchen or with lots of nervous financiers being like, ‘Well, are we sure this is going to work?’
“It was really exciting to be part of that journey. Like we’re making something quite unique here. There’s freedom in that.”
Alexander Skarsgard recalls ‘incredible’ experience of wearing Wicker costume for first time
