In ‘Wicker,’ Skarsgard is paired with British star Olivia Colman, who portrays a fisherwoman alongside her attractive new husband in a medieval village steeped in patriarchy.
Alexander Skarsgard expresses his eagerness to step into the role of the fantastical husband crafted for a lonely woman in the charming romantic film Wicker.
However, when he finally put on the elaborate costume that sent social media into a buzz, the Swedish actor revealed that his first feelings were of “panic and claustrophobia.”
The ensemble “was somewhat cumbersome and warm, and it was rather snug against my face. I couldn’t really remove it throughout the day,” Skarsgard shared with AFP during an interview.
Wicker, which is currently showing in theaters across the US, draws inspiration from “The Wicker Husband,” a short tale by British writer Ursula Wills-Jones.
In this film, Skarsgard appears alongside British actress Olivia Colman, who portrays a fisherwoman living in a patriarchal medieval community, where individuals are identified by their occupations.
For the fisherwoman, this environment proves to be unwelcoming, as she faces exclusion due to her independence and the fact that she has no male support – not to mention she’s often associated with fishy odors. Consequently, she boldly requests the basket weaver (Peter Dinklage) to craft her a husband. A month later, Skarsgard’s character emerges – a tall, attractive, intricately woven dream partner.
His skills in domestic chores – along with his bedroom talents – quickly become the talk of the village. The local men harbor resentment as they struggle to compete, while the women experience jealousy.
“The movie can just be enjoyed at surface level, and it’s this fun spectacle,” stated Eleanor Wilson, who co-directed the film with her partner, Alex Huston Fischer.
“But underneath that, there’s a lot going on that does feel very modern and relatable to us,” she noted, adding that she doesn’t believe it would succeed as a fable set in the contemporary era.
With its medieval backdrop and eccentric characters, “you can just see it more clearly,” Huston Fischer remarked.
‘Passion’
Wilson revealed that the pair “fell in love” with the narrative from the onset.
“It just explored how envy can taint love, and how we all tend to measure ourselves against others,” she explained to AFP.
For Huston Fischer, the main objective was to create a visually stunning experience for audiences.
“We were curious to see what the wicker husband could look like,” he mentioned.
This responsibility was entrusted to Weta Workshop, the New Zealand effects studio famed for its work on the Lord of the Rings series and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey.
The characteristics of the wicker man’s face mirror Skarsgard’s own likeness; however, the actor indicated that the prosthetic made emotional expression challenging.
“I had to amplify all my facial expressions,” he said.
With the mask adhered to his face, “any nuances would be lost, so the slightest frown would be unnoticeable. We had to experiment with that,” Skarsgard explained.
He mentioned feeling like a “clown” during rehearsals, but Colman praised his attempts.
“He’s incredibly humble,” the Oscar-winning actress stated. “All credit to Alex because to convey that – the love, the nuances, the humor, and everything else – through essentially a basket is remarkable, and few could pull it off.”
The duo explained that production kicked off with the intimate scenes. Clips from those moments quickly went viral, leading even the popular Swedish furniture store IKEA to run clever ads touting some of its rattan items as being “crafted from husband material.”
“While there is undoubtedly a lot of passion and intensity, there’s also humor, a sense of warmth, and amusing, awkward moments within those scenes,” Skarsgard mentioned, referring to it as “a fitting way to commence the movie.”
