It’s Alexander Skarsgård, but not as you know him. Find out the heartthrob, who played a womanizing vampire in True Blood, transformed his waif-like physique to play the lead role in The Legend Of Tarzan, which opens on July 1.
In his exclusive interview in the June issue of Muscle & Fitness, Skarsgård explains how he worked with celebrity trainer Magnus Lygdback to re-sculpt his 6’4” frame.
“I wanted to have a bit more weight but not get too big,” says the Swedish-born actor. “It was important to work on looking nimble and flexible-like someone who could move through the jungle like an animal would. That’s his natural habitat. There was [to be] no unnecessary bulk that he doesn’t need.”
As you can see from the cover above, Skarsgård was true to his word and then some. The process was by no means easy, and in the interview Skarsgård goes on to detail about how he had to consume 7,000 calories a day and train for months to get into this beast-like shape.
“It was important to work on looking nimble and flexible, like someone who could move through the jungle like an animal…”
The hard work paid off. Lygdback explains how a moment during the second day of shooting the movie convinced him that the months of grind were worth it . “When he took off his shirt, the first thing you noticed was his back,” explains Lygdback. “You could hear people whispering, and that’s when I knew we had done it.”
To find out how Skarsgård got in such sensational shape and the exact workout he followed to become Tarzan, pick up a copy of the June issue of Muscle & Fitness, on newsstands now!
