I keep forgetting that Alexander Skarsgard has a big summer movie coming out. Do you think that bodes well, that I keep forgetting about Tarzan? Warner Bros kept pouring money into Tarzan, hoping that they could somehow re-launch this franchise and have it be some huge tentpole film. And I’m not sure it’s going to happen for Warner Bros, but I do hope that we see more of Skarsgard in the coming months. He’s currently in Austin for SXSW to promote War on Everyone, and he chatted with E! News about how he got his insane Tarzan body. It involved chicken cutlets and tears.
On swinging from tree to tree: “It didn’t look very good. I’m not very good at that stuff.” He admits a trapeze artist with 20 years of experience did most of the “crazy stuff” in the film. “I took off and did a little bit of it and then I sat in my chair with my coffee. He did the amazing stuff and then I came back and did the landing.”
His Tarzan body: “I obviously had a very, very good trainer. I basically had him and a nutritionist. I’ve never done anything like this before, this extreme. I was just really nervous. It was a big challenge and I didn’t know how my body would respond to the training and diet.” His routine for several months before and while shooting included “a lot of chicken cutlets and crunches,” Skarsgård said with a laugh.
His trainer gave him one cheat day: “He was like, ‘Alex, let’s go for lunch,’ and we went to this Italian restaurant in Notting Hill and sat down and he was like, ‘Order what you want. I started crying. He was like, ‘Have pasta,’ and I had it and then he was like, ‘Are you still hungry?’ I was like, ‘Yeah!’ He was like, ‘Have a pizza then, have some tiramisu.’ It was the best meal of my life.”
I can totally imagine crying with joy if someone told me I could have pasta after months of chicken and crunches. I also think it’s interesting that Alex is being pretty open about his lack of stunt work in the film. While no one really thought Alex would be doing ALL of his own stunts, I have to think that he probably did look pretty awkward swinging from fake ropes. Usually, movie stars try to pretend that they’re doing as much stunt work as possible, but Alex isn’t playing that game.
Here’s a pic of Alex at SXSW:
Photos courtesy of Getty, Warner Bros. & WENN.
If you denied yourself air, sleep or water to such a dangerous point for work, people would think you were nuts. But as long as it’s food, and you look better at the end of it, we admire him. It’s sort of sick.
Okay but to be fair, there is a lot more room to change your eating habits for certain goals than you’d have with sleep or water. I honestly don’t believe he starved himself. He looks like he ate a lot but mostly boring … I mean healthy food. He didn’t go Christian Bale on us.
I do appreciate that he also doesn’t go Natalie Portman on us with the stuntwork. Why do I keep forgetting that I like this guy so much?
Air, sleep and water are biological necessities. Food is also necessary to survival, but the processed foods that are readily available today are a far cry from what we actually need to survive (and some would argue do in fact work against our survival). In Alex’s case, he’s not denying himself food. I’m a gym rat (for mental health purposes, not to maintain any type of physique), so I’ve known a lot of people who do the same thing to build and maintain that kind of muscle. They eat. A lot. In fact, to maintain that kind of muscle mass, you have to consume way more calories than an average person needs. You just have to get them in specific ways. Lean meats, steamed veggies. NO CARBS. So he’s not denying himself food, just denying himself certain foods. The best ones. Personally, I believe food is life’s greatest pleasure, so I could never do anything like that.
However, I do see your point when it comes to many actresses who do actually deny themselves to the point of starvation to maintain a certain size.
How about the eating habits of the women he dates? How much do they cry thinking about food?
Is he forcing them not to eat? Does he kidnapp those women and lock them up in the basement ad starve them?
Oh come on, really? You make it sound like they’re on their last leg, begging people for food. They’re adults. If it bothers you so much, that probably says more about you than him or them.
If you admire Kate Bosworth and Alexa Chung that’s great. They’re the ultimate thinspo for lots of women. I just find it bizarre that a healthy and strong man like Skarsgard who understands food deprevation is attracted to women who are living that lifestyle.
@bammer
lol at that mental gymnastics you just pulled
I wasn’t aware that I only had two choices, admiration or condemnation. I don’t judge them based on their appearance, I don’t know their lives. But if you feel the need, go ahead. You seem quite invested.
I am cosigning what littlenissnaughty has to say. I do agree that the aesthetic standards for women in the film, music and fashion enable and/or trigger eating disorders. That said I have girlfriends who are very slender from a combination of having a small frame and fast metabolism. They’ve been told by everyone from strangers on the street to friends at parties that they need eat to more or that they have an ED. They don’t and can’t gain weight so the judgemental attitudes just make them feel bad. If you’re concerned about someone having an ED body policing is the worst way to express your concerns.
I want slender women to celebrated as a standard of beauty alongside curvy women, plus sized women, petite women etc… I want trans women of all shapes and sizes to be seen as beautiful alongside cisgendered women. I want beauty standards to not be Eurocentric so women of colour feel beautiful. Basically what I want is an inclusive, diverse standard of beauty for women in the western world!
This has nothing to do with the article so I hope you can indulge my passionate rant.
lol
I cry tears of joy when someone offers me tiramisu, too.
Haha!
Thanks for the laugh!
I needed it ☺️
I don’t know if it’s worth it lol. Can’t they just use CGI to put some fake abs on him ha ha?
I think recognizing someone else work (his stunt) is not only fair (cough cough Natalie Portman, cough cough) but even right.
And no: I don’t think we need a Tarzan movie.
it impresses me how quickly a body responds to diet and exercise. However intense, this is probably the healthiest and best shape he’s ever been in in his life. I do not consider this dangerous or torturous. It’s a big change to break life-long habits, but it’s a good thing not a bad thing. He is getting lots of protein and being thoroughly hydrated. He just misses the good ole stuff. I would love to have a trainer and a dietician working with me but paid for by someone else. Hell yeah!!
This exactly. I did a similar diet to his a month ago or so. I was eating every 2 hrs, so I certainly wasn’t starving…but God, did I miss pasta. I had a cheat day with 2 pieces of pizza and nothing in my life has ever tasted so good.
I will never get his appeal. I just look at him and… meh.
Oh if only I could personally tell him it was so worth it
Damn he looks good
Hmmm, I’ve always thought he was vaguely attractive, and a decent guy, but never really gave him much notice until now, and it wasn’t the ripped muscles that have captured my attention. If a guy who is playing one of the most macho stereotypes in modern cinema can freely admit he’s rubbish at performing the iconic Tarzan move and cried over pasta and tiramisu I may have to give him another look.
Edit- Margot Robbie is Jane, so I may actually be interested in this movie now.
Good for him for telling the truth about the stunt work. Personally, I must admit I don’t really follow him or his carecer, but this website has made me like him. He seems like a cool, talented, hard-working guy.
My boyfriend is so hot!! I love how he is all studly an buff for me!!😝
Just commenting to say I want more Alex posts
I just wanted to say that I cry tears of joy every time I see Alexander. He is SO HOT and definitely one of my favorites.
I am here for Alex and his authentic, no bullshit and goofy self.
His usual fit body is impressive as it is, I just don’t get why every time actors have to look extra heroic they have to go for the veiny, shiny, “swole” look. It makes me think of something else. And I am severely disturbed by how many people equate “looking Hollywood fit” with “healthy”. This level of ripped cannot be maintained for long periods of time and it’s as damaging as starvation. Ask fitness models if the changes they make to be in top shape for competitions can be sustainable as a lifestyle. It’s not.
Personally, I hope Alex doesn’t have to bulk up and slim down every two years in case there are sequels. It’s a crap deal in the long run.
I think that people don’t understand that he is not depriving himself of food. He is just eating a tonne of protein and small amounts of carbohydrates at specific times. He’s basically following the diet that many body builders follow before they do a show. He is probably eating close to 7 to 9 times a day but all protein. It really is a difficult diet. To get abdominal muscle definition it takes A LOT of dedication.
I just love him. Lovely inside and out. Plus, he’s so good to his fans. Can’t wait for this movie, and for the love of Sweden, yessssss, more Alex posts, please!
Alexander, I would like to tell you (in person) what an amazing job you’ve done with this transformation, and reward you thoroughly for it. I can be reached without haste on…..