Alexander Skarsgård’s new film the northerner has a lot to offer, chief among them being an absolutely torn Skarsgård. Ever since we saw the actor in this role, people can’t stop talking about how crazy his physique is in the movie. Make no mistake, achieving such a massive height takes an incredible amount of work and discipline, which Skarsgård’s personal trainer Magnus Lygdbäck detailed to CinemaBlend in a recent interview.
In The Northerner, Alexander Skarsgård plays a Viking, so his training and diet were specific to achieving a physique one would sport as he made his way across Europe. As Lygdbäck put it, this was envisioned as “strong, but not too thin”. He went on to explain what one of Skarsgård’s toughest training days would be like:
I have to be honest, there are plenty of brutal days where you want to look like a Viking. They were all pretty tough but in a fair and balanced way. He was in a program divided into four, in four days he would work on the whole body. This meant that he could focus much more on each muscle group. On a leg day we would do over 200 reps on her legs. This is everything from goblet squats to leg presses, explosive movements, biometrics, skaters… so a combination of heavy exercises but also explosive exercises. And those days are hard, they are.
You can immediately rule me out of any training that is described as “explosive.” Magnus Lygdbäck took us through a typical warm-up that Skarsgård would do before a full day of shooting, and “explosive” movements are something he emphasized a lot. The agile and exaggerated movements prepare the actor for a day of physical activity like a viking, or as Lygdbäck put it, “a full day of ax swinging”.
Naturally, one would be curious to know how Alexander Skarsgård ate during this strict training regimen, so Lygdbäck gave us a hint on that too:
Protein in chicken, beef, fish, eggs. Rice, pasta as a source of carbohydrates, and then lots of good fats like avocado, fish oil, and vegetables. A ton of vegetables.
Well that sounds pretty standard! As mentioned, Magnus Lygdbäck did not want Alexander Skarsgård to get too thin, but his diet was closely monitored. Although any implication that you can look like Skarsgård while regularly eating pasta is pretty exciting.
the northerner sees a young man named Amleth witness the murder of his father, and once he grows up, he emerges as a torn Alexander Skarsgård, ready to exact revenge on the man who tore his family apart. There is certainly much more to acting than the actor’s looks, and Skarsgård succeeds in the role beyond being someone who he takes off his shirt.
the northerner comes from the mind of the visionary writer/director Robert Eggers from The lighthouse Y The witch. Check out our interview with him on the reel blend podcast. The movie is getting rave reviews from both critical Y fans alike. As for everything else coming our way this year, check out our 2022 release schedule. Capture the northerner in theaters for yourself on April 22!
