‘Dark, twisted relationship’: Alexander Skarsgard’s Viking gig with Nicole Kidman

Alexander Skarsgard’s ‘dysfunctional’ reunion with Nicole Kidman brings dark overtones to a Viking epic, despite their ‘complete trust’.

For some actors, the pinnacle is Shakespeare. For Alexander Skarsgard, it’s Vikings.

As it turns out, the two aren’t that far apart in the Swedish actor’s new revenge epic The Northman.

The film begins with the young Prince Amleth witnessing the murder of his father, the Viking King Aurvandil, by his uncle. He escapes and vows to avenge his father, save his mother and kill his uncle.

Sound familiar? The ancient Scandinavian legend of Amleth was a direct inspiration for Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

When the star of Big Little Lies and True Blood rows his way onto screen aboard an authentic longship as the grown Amleth, we’re witnessing a boyhood Viking dream come true.

“Growing up in Sweden it’s literally in your DNA,” Skarsgard says.

“You’re surrounded by rune stones, so you don’t really think much about it. It wasn’t until I moved to the States 20 years ago that I realised how fascinated people were by Viking culture.

“People kept asking me about what its like growing up in Sweden and what our relationship to our ancestors and that legacy is.”

Alexander Skarsgard in The Northman. Picture:: Aidan Monaghan/Focus Features, LLC

Turning that culture into an epic worthy of the legends has been a 10-year voyage for him.

“I’d never seen a movie that felt like, ‘This is the quintessential Viking movie’,” he says. “I’d never seen an accurate, truthful depiction that captured the essence of the Vikings, of who they were and their belief system.

“There were a couple from the ’50s and ’60s - one with Kirk Douglas - but they’re very old.

“The dream was, maybe we can make a Viking movie that is slightly more updated but also less anachronistic and more truthful to what that world looked like.”

When he met the director of acclaimed films The Witch and The Lighthouse, Skarsgard’s ship was finally set to sail: “No one is more adamant on 100 per cent truthful depiction of an era than Robert Eggers.”

After a pandemic-enforced delay, The Northman began filming in Ireland and Iceland in the second half of 2020 with a cast that included Nicole Kidman.

If you thought Skarsgard and Kidman’s relationship as husband and wife in Big Little Lies was complex and violent, their reunion in The Northman takes it to a whole new level.

Alexander Skarsgard, winner of Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie and actor Nicole Kidman, winner of Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie, both for Big Little Lies, after the 24th Screen Actors’ Guild Awards in 2018. Picture: Getty Images

“We sure can pick ’em, can’t we?” Skarsgard laughs.

Kidman plays Amleth’s mother, Queen Gudrun.

Having last seen her being kidnapped by his murderous uncle, Amleth’s rescue mission many years later does not go as he might hope.

While Skarsgard jokes that they should probably look for a “sweet romantic comedy” to do together next time, his bond with the Aussie Oscar-winner was forged in darkness.

“It’s another very dark, twisted, dysfunctional relationship. But that’s kind of where you wanna go with someone like Nicole, because she’s so tremendous to work with,” he says. “That relationship on Big Little Lies demanded complete trust between us, ’cos it was so tough to shoot those scenes. I can’t imagine a better partner on that journey, and again on The Northman.”

After a luxury gig playing a ruthless tech chief executive in HBO hit Succession, flying into the freezing temperatures and endless mud of The Northman set was a shock to his system.

Ethan Hawke, who plays Amleth’s father, has compared the shoot to that of the infamously catastrophe-plagued movie Apocalypse Now.

“We didn’t try to kill each other,” Skarsgard laughs.

“We didn’t go into the heart of darkness, but it was a very immersive, visceral experience. It’s a brutal Viking film, so I can’t complain that I was in pain or cold.

“In many ways it was helpful to be out there in the elements, waiting around in real mud and rolling around on hilltops in Iceland rather than on a cushy temperature-controlled sound stage.”

Battling the elements, and intense fight scenes shot by one camera in long single takes – requiring the actors to go again and again until they got it right – was key to finding the berserker rage that drives Skarsgard’s Viking warrior.

Alexander Skarsgård,,as Amleth, and Anya Taylor-Joy, as Olga, in The Northman. Picture: Aidan Monaghan/Focus Features, LLC.

“I knew going in that it would be physically and mentally very challenging,” he says.

“When you’re that fatigued and exhausted, your inhibitions are gone and it’s easier to access that inner beast and let all that primal rage out.”

Still, the 45-year-old also admits to being “a bit surprised” at just how much rage came out.

“I’m super mellow, in general. I’ve lived in the States for many years, but I’m still very Swedish in terms of my mentality and my temper. Amleth is definitely not mellow.”

The Northman relied on the input of archaeologists and historians to ensure an accurate depiction of not only how Vikings lived – the longships and longhouses were built exactly as they would have been in the 10th century – but also the mythology in which they believed.

This gritty world of lava and blood is also filled with mystics, magic and visions of Valkyries riding toward Valhalla.

And when you’re in need of a mystical Scandinavian being, there’s only person to call: Bjork.

The Icelandic music icon makes her first film appearance in more than 20 years as a mysterious seeress who reminds the marauding Amleth of his vow of vengeance.

Skarsgard’s time working with Bjork was suitably supernatural.

“It’s a pivotal scene for my character, and it was an absolutely magical night. We shot it in this burnt-out barn with no roof, and as Bjork gave her monologue, right behind her head was this massive full moon … it was absolutely perfect.”

Of course, the greatest hero in Norse mythology is the god of thunder, Thor.

Revered by Viking warriors as a fierce champion and protector a thousand years ago, nowadays he’s best known as a Marvel superhero.

Skarsgard’s father Stellan may have co-starred in the early Thor and Avengers films, but are Scandinavians really okay with Thor being co-opted by an Aussie?

The younger Skarsgard laughs, then graciously grants Chris Hemsworth his blessing.

“Chris is a tremendous Thor. I really enjoy those films, especially the one that Taika directed (Thor: Ragnarok). It was one of, if not my favourite of all the Marvel movies.

“It’s funny, irreverent, out there and crazy.” 

The Northman opens April 21