Alexander Skarsgård on thriving and surviving on the 'borderline insane' shoot of The Northman

Alexander Skarsgård may not have known what he was getting into when he signed up for acclaimed indie auteur Robert Eggers' The Northman, the director's first foray into the blood-soaked revenge saga genre of cinema.

In The Northman, Skarsgård plays Amleth, a deposed ninth-century warrior-prince out for true blood (this time sans fangs... at least his own) after his father (Ethan Hawke) is murdered and his mother (Nicole Kidman) abducted by, of all people, his uncle (Claes Bang) when he was just a wee Viking babe. What follows is a life of village-pillaging and the gnawing need to give his uncle a piece of his mind — and sword.

Though Skarsgård is no stranger to big-budget action fare, his director was, which actually worked out in everyone's favor... eventually.

"It was definitely physically and mentally challenging, I think for everyone in front of and behind camera," Skarsgård tells EW. "Rob had made two movies, quiet intimate movies. If you look at The Lighthouse — two dudes in a lighthouse. And then suddenly, you have a big action-adventure film. No one had told Rob how to make a big action-adventure film in a conventional way. So it was like, 'Well, we're still going to shoot on film, one camera, one long continued shot, even if it's a big raid of a village with hundreds of extras and stuntmen and the actors and chickens and horses.'"

The Godzilla vs. Kong star goes on to explain that movies "are shot in a specific way, basically like a music video," where every action scene "will have a gazillion cuts and different angles." Eggers, however, opted for "a big set-piece with that intensity ... just like following the character" through the mayhem. It proved both an exhausting and inspiring experience.

"It's an undertaking that is almost borderline insane," Skarsgård says. "But I also really thrive on that, the madness of that and the possibility of shooting a big action scene like that in a way that could potentially feel more immersive than all the other action movies."

He continues, "Again, it demanded a lot of everyone. We had to plan it meticulously and work on the choreography, the relationship between the camera and us, the pacing of it, so we get the right fluidity. Because if we were a split second too fast, we were not in frame. A split second too slow, we were also not in frame. So it was about finding that. But I think everyone thought this was an absolutely insane idea, but also, it triggered everyone. Everyone got really excited about telling a story in this way."

Eggers' method of shooting The Northman really helped Skarsgård tap into the adrenaline needed to convey Amthel's bloodthirsty Viking vengeance and for the actor, it was unlike any experience he's had on a film set. The chickens and the horses, however, could not be reached for comment.

The Northman hits theaters April 22.

With reporting by Nick Romano.

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