I think it's relevant even though it occurred more than 100 years ago.
I liked that the story is constructed in a specific time and place, and has more to do with the background but through the eyes of Tarzan shows what these people did to the country. T: Is there a search for awareness of the Congolese oppression in history?Īlex: Although it is an action and adventure movie, most people do not know what happened in the Congo, about King Leopold II, about genocide, how it was for people, for animals and nature as well this is an opportunity to shed light on that.
He is a director who really cares about the characters, approaches the stories and the relationships between them from an intimate perspective and that is very important to me. It proves that you can make funny movies, adventure and action, and I am personally a fan of his previous work on British television.
T: This is the first film for Yates as director after "Harry Potter" How was it working with him?Īlex: I was very happy to hear that Yates was directing the film. It is always very interesting to see how and when those instincts emerge. I think it has to do with me and any human being on the planet, we all have this dichotomy between civilized man, or trying to be, and the beast that has animal instincts hovering at some point. T: Did you feel any identification with Tarzan?Īlex: The animal is still there and although Tarzan does not want it to appear, it slowly emerges when he returns to the jungle, that is when the beast comes out and becomes Tarzan. On the one hand this sophisticated character, a Victorian aristocrat, and on the other, an animal that was raised by apes. I started working from the script and from what I was excited about the character, and I automatically felt the duality between man and beast represented Tarzan. Once I started working on my idea of the character, I decided to stay away from the old Tarzan movies, I did not want to compare my character with that of the previous players because it is always better to create it from a blank canvas. Telam: There were many versions that we’ve met of Tarzan How did you differentiate your character from the previous ones?Īlexander Skarsgård: I tried not to copy. Though someone at Box Office Theory suggested that WB market it like they did LOT, just focus on Hunnam's abs.Įxcerpts from Alex's interviews while promoting LOT in Argentina: Watching some of the trailers being released at ComicCon I've enjoyed some of them very much. Looking at Box Office Mojo's list of foreign countries they're missing a few that it's been released in, like Sweden, so the actual numbers may be a little higher. The domestic box office is better than expected, but the overseas box office is less, I don't think it'll make 400 million, even with Germany and Japan opening next week. He did not get Taylor Kitsched, as many people where thinking/hoping. He did get some bad reviews, but overall I doubt that it's hurt his career. I think Alex is going do fine regarding the reception from LOT. Something a lot of the critics were unable to do with LOT. It was interesting to read the reviews of Secret Life and Ghostbusters because they got good reviews, but reading them a lot of the reviews were more along the line of 'it's got flaws but overlook them'.