The more and more we see of Alicia Vikander’s portrayal of the iconic Lara Croft from the Tomb Raider reboot from a few years ago, the more we are convinced she was born to play the character. Portraying a much younger Croft has its set of challenges, especially for such a beloved franchise such as this. Vikander recently opened up about what it was like to play such an important character, even talking about what connects all of the different versions of our favourite archaeologist.
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In a recent interview with Game Informer, Vikander got real about all of the different renditions of Lara Croft: the original, the reboot (younger), Angelina Jolie’s character, and now hers. Here’s what she told them:
“I think it’s a wonderful character that has been with us for like 22 years. She’s become a great role model and I love the fact that she’s been able to take such a big place as a female character in the gaming world and in cinema. I think there’s definitely room for this character to evolve, and it felt like it came out in ’96, and I think it reflects a strong woman with the same kind of essence still as a smart, very curious, feisty, vulnerable woman. It’s almost like she has changed due to how society has changed, she has become more a woman of now, of the time.”
She also talked a little bit about her personal philosophy regarding Croft and how she needed to be portrayed:
“It’s probably the biggest nerve I’ve had of taking on this part, which has also been my inspiration, of wanting to give people who love this character and who have been following her for all these years to feel like it’s the essence of her. Then I think, I know myself, you do want to get something new. It’s like, “Why another film?” You want to see a new perspective and I love that it was an origin story, that this is much more of a girl set in a reality maybe even closer to our world. I was 20 when I came to London with my roommates. I enjoyed that she was a very physical being and showed ways that were plausible that she became the kind of survivor that she turns out to be in the film. I love that we got to see the sort of steps of her becoming the action hero we know her to be. If you have a character that you love, if you get the chance to see them grow up in a coming-of-age story, then you get so many more levels and perspectives of the character that you love.”
The upcoming Tomb Raider film will be releasing in theaters worldwide on March 16th. To read the full interview, including talking about the comparisons between her character and Indiana Jones, check out our pals over at Game Informer here.
