Skarsgård Trained Eight Months for The Northman

By The Backlot

@backlotfriends

A Viking warrior wearing a wolf pelt headdress roars into the rain and firelight in The Northman.

Alexander Skarsgård trained six days a week for eight months, eating 3,700 calories a day, to get ready for The Northman. That included a shutdown that lasted five months when COVID hit one week before shooting was supposed to start. He kept training through all of it. The goal was specific: look like a bear, but move like a wolf.

The film is worth what he put in. Neil Price, the Viking archaeologist at Uppsala University, called it the most historically accurate Viking film ever made. The henbane initiation ritual is documented history. The berserker trances are real. The portrayal of Vikings as slavers is real.

If it's been sitting in your Backlot list, clear it this week.

Quick Facts

Skarsgård Trained Eight Months for The Northman

DirectorRobert Eggers

CastAlexander Skarsgård, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Ethan Hawke, Anya Taylor-Joy

GenreAction, Adventure, Fantasy

Release2022-04-07

Runtime137 min

Rated7.0/10

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Skarsgård trained eight months and ate 3,700 calories a day just to look like a bear but move like a wolf. The Northman is in your list for a reason. #Backlot

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Skarsgård trained 8 months and ate 3,700 calories a day for The Northman. The leading Viking archaeologist called it the most accurate Viking film ever made. #Backlot