Oscar award-winning actress Alicia Vikander has been climbing cliffs in Cape Town on the set of her new film, a reboot of the popular film Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, an experience that has left her drenched but happy.
Shooting began in January at a quarry on a Paarl wine estate‚ and continued until the end of April on specially built sets in Epping and at Cape Town Film Studios‚ where an outdoor water tank was built to mimic a Hong Kong fishing harbour.
In the movie‚ expected to be one of 2018’s biggest when it is released on March 16‚ Alicia’s character works as a bicycle messenger in London when a clue leads her to embark on a search for her presumed-dead archaeologist father‚ played by Dominic West.
Speaking to US magazine Entertainment Weekly about her character, made famous by the 90's video game series, Alicia said : “She has all the fierce‚ tough‚ curious‚ intelligent traits but we’ve stripped away all of her experience. This is the beginning.”
She admitted that starting from the beginning of the Lara Croft story was a major drawcard. “I was surprised that my mum knew what Tomb Raider was. That’s due to the fact that Angelina Jolie made Lara Croft such an icon. But this is a beautiful way of showing a very loved character from more angles
“I have mostly done dramas and indie films in my career but I don’t know how many times I’ve watched big adventure films like Indiana Jones or The Mummy. I love to get embraced in all those big journeys‚ and to do an action role has always been a child’s dream of mine,” she said.
Alicia said her background as a dancer prepared her for the challenges posed by director Roar Uthaug. “I spent my last two days of shooting in a tank and that was my 16th total day being fully drenched or submerged in the water‚” she said.
Roar said that fans can look forward to seeing a different heroine to that played by Angelina Jolie in 2001.
“We see Lara as a young woman‚ smart and capable but largely unfocused‚ and follow her on a dangerous journey that will push her to her limits in every sense and allow her to hone the skills she needs to ultimately become who she was meant to be. What's different about this Tomb Raider movie is that it's an origin story for the big screen‚ focusing not only on Lara's strength and physical accomplishments but also her humanity.
I think people can identify with her [Lara] for lots of different reasons‚ but for me I very much see her as a model for many young women. She's trying to carve out her place in the world and connect her future with her past. She also has a fantastic mix of traits — tough‚ smart‚ vulnerable‚ plus she's kick ass!”, Roar added.
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