Alexander Skarsgård

Inspired by the Norse legend of Amleth, the film is a bloody Viking revenge drama that, to describe in professional critics terms, totally f**king rocks. I ...

Was True Blood a good show? Skip the collared shirt and throw on a fine knit sweater. Still polished but a bit more relaxed. pic.twitter.com/f5QRcKL8Pl April 21, 2022 This week sees the release of The Northman, the newest film from director Robert Eggers. Inspired by the Norse legend of Amleth, the film is a bloody Viking revenge drama that, to describe in professional critics terms, totally f**king rocks. He’s been trying to make a Viking themed movie since 2011, so this is a big career moment for him.

Alexander Skarsgård went through quite the body transformation for The Northman, and there's actually a pretty important reason why.

Alexander Skarsgård was already known to be a towering figure, standing at around 6’4. While he’s typically playing tall and dominating characters and was super ripped in Tarzan, he was still, overall, seen as tall and lean. Explaining even further, Alexander Skarsgård says that he was thrilled to be getting started transforming into the Viking berserker for The Northman, and that gaining muscle mass for the role was incredibly important to pull the character off. As proof of this, Skarsgård relays that his character isn’t entirely human, and has the spirit of a bear wolf.

The path to Alexander Skarsgård's role of Amleth, a Viking warrior prince bent on revenge in The Northman, was set long ago. The actor told Vanity Fair that ...

They built out a makeshift training facility in the actor's garage, which led to using versatile training tools like battle ropes (which Lygbäck admits aren't typically in his training repertoire), landmines, and more in lieu of machines and super heavy weights. For more, the trainer offers a complete program on his app. So I knew that Alex needed not only to look the part, but move the part," Lygbäck said. "So we needed him to move and be agile like a wolf, and we need him to look like a bear." "I knew this was going to be an important movie because it's an authentic Viking movie—you can argue it's the first authentic Viking movie. Thankfully, Skarsgård is no stranger to molding his body for a film, having shredded down to play the title role in 2016's The Legend of Tarzan. He turned to the same man to build up his Northman body: fellow Swede Magnus Lygdbäck.

Alexander Skarsgård's trainer for The Northman, Magnus Lygdback, exclusively revealed to E! News what the actor did to transform and how you too can achieve ...

"If they want to do a program, especially this Northman program, just know that it is for everyone. He never complains," Magnus said of Alexander. "As long as I get my client to show up and bring it every time, that's all that matters." For Magnus, "mental aspect is everything" when it comes to transformations, which was why he was so pleased to work with someone who was so dedicated to training. "The answer starts with one step." And while Alexander was already "in great shape" before his training, Magnus noted that his program "is for everyone" who is determined. "You don't have to be scared of something that's going to make you healthier and look better," he told E! News in an exclusive interview.

During the process of helping Alexander Skarsgård transform his physique for The Legend of Tarzan, celebrity trainer Magnus Lygdback and the actor.

Before I say yes to a project, I try to do research on who I’m working with and I always have a conversation with them before I say yes. If that’s the case, I’m not going to say yes to that because every single job, I need to know that they understand and they’re willing to put in the work. I started with him in December and started traveling to Vancouver where he was filming The Stand, and I started building him up, and then we traveled to Northern Ireland. I got him in really good shape, and then the pandemic hit. I do want to know who I’m working with and see if it’s someone who wants me because I’ve done a good job in the past. I always say you have to figure out what type of brain you have in front of you, what makes them tick and how do you push them the right way and not the wrong way — how do you communicate with them. We started filming in September. It turned out really great because he was in even better shape than in March. It’s hard to say how much time we had to prep because it was two training cycles. He flew back to Sweden, and I flew back to LA. All of the gyms were closed, and he was isolated on some island with his family. During the process of helping Alexander Skarsgård transform his physique for The Legend of Tarzan, celebrity trainer Magnus Lygdback and the actor established a friendship and bond that is still strong to this day. We made sure to do some extra accessory work on the shoulders. They already had ideas on what they wanted the character to look like when they got to work that December. We had a big buildup cycle, in which I made sure he was on a calorie surplus every day so that he wasn’t losing body fat because he’s normally lean. The project was The Northman. Directed by Robert Eggers, the film centers around a young Viking prince on his quest to avenge his father’s death.