Alexander Skarsgård talks transforming for ‘Wicker’ alongside Olivia Colman

Alexander Skarsgård, who plays the wicker man in the film, told ABC News that he was “overwhelmed” by the reaction to the trailer when it came out.

“People really respond to this world that our writer-directors had created,” Skarsgård said. “That is definitely something you don’t take for granted when you make an indie film. I’ve never experienced this kind of a reaction to a trailer before.”

In the film, Skarsgård transforms into a man made entirely out of wicker. His look was created out of prosthetics by a team at Wētā Workshop, which used digital sculpting software and 3D printing technology.

Skarsgård said that it wasn’t until two weeks before filming began that he was able to try the costume on.

He said that transforming into wicker man for the first time was an “extraordinary moment.”

“It definitely helped me find the physicality of the character and playing around with the movements,” he said. “The face plate was glued to my face so that it would move with my facial movements. And it was great that we had a little time before we started filming because I had to exaggerate all the facial movements so that it would read on the mask.”

He added, “That was great that we had a little bit of time to kind of perfect that and work on the physicality of the character.”

The film is based on Ursula Wills-Jones’s 2008 short story The Wicker Husband, a modern literary fable. The film is centered around the fisherwoman, who rejects the village’s societal structures.

Colman said what drew her to playing the fisherwoman was her journey and that she was “gripped when the script arrived.”

“I was like, oh my God, it’s totally different. I love her,” Colman said. “I love who she is and she’s fragile and strong and she’s everything — she’s the whole gamut of human emotions.”

The Oscar winner continued, “I loved that she looks like she has strong armor at the beginning, but she just doesn’t — she’s same as all people. It’s terrifying to give yourself to love but she does it and I loved the relationship and that they really sort of put a little grenade amongst the people in the village. It’s really satisfying.”

“It’s social commentary about love and relationships and our communities, but done in a very light way and I just hope people laugh and cry and have a think about what their life is like and just enjoy it,” she added. “It’s really beautiful, I keep hearing the phrase handcrafted film, it really is that.”

Also starring in the film are Elizabeth Debicki, Richard E. Grant, Nabhaan Rizwan, Marli Siu, Gustav Lindh and Máté Mészáros.

Wicker arrives in theaters on Oct. 23.

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