Alexander Skarsgård Shares How He Prepared His Body For 'The Northman'

Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård has opened up about how he worked on his body for his upcoming movie, "The Northman," noting that studios "spoil" actors by making sure they have everything they need to prepare for their roles.

"When you're an actor, you're spoiled," Skarsgård told Empire in an interview published Wednesday. "You have a lot of help. The studio will get you the best trainer and the best nutritionist and the best plan."

Despite this, according to the 45-year-old actor, celebs still need to exert some effort to maintain their bodies.

"They organize everything. So you don't really have to do much. They tell you what to do and when to do it," the actor explained, before adding, "Of course, you've got to put in some work yourself."

He went on to share his experience working on the action-adventure movie, which is set to premiere Friday.

"But for The Northman, I was very excited about finally making the movie after years of pre-production, and planning, and talking to Rob [Robert Eggers] about the character and the story," he said.

The actor then disclosed that the team talked about his character in "loose terms" for many months and years before he began preparing for and filming the movie. However, the actor felt everything was "very real" on the first day of his training.

"I was incredibly excited and motivated to actually start that journey, putting on some weight. It felt important," he said. "My character's name, when he's a berserker at the beginning of movie, is 'Bjorn Ulfur', which means Bear Wolf."

Skarsgård also teased one of the scenes in the movie in which he transforms into a "hybrid of a wolf and a bear."

"I'm a bit too lean for that character, so it was important to have a bit more bulk and be slightly more bearlike in my posture and size," he explained.

"The Northman" follows a prince named Amleth whose father gets killed by his uncle. The same person also abducts his mother. After two decades, the prince goes on a journey to save his mom and kill his uncle as revenge.

Besides Skarsgård, who plays Amleth, the movie also stars Anya Taylor-Joy, Nicole Kidman, Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke.

Skarsgård will also appear in the horror sci-fi movie "Infinity Pool," which was announced in June 2021.