The latest big-screen iteration of Lara Croft had her Hollywood debut Monday night at the Los Angeles premiere of Warner Bros. and MGM’s Tomb Raider.
Oscar winner Alicia Vikander steps into a role that she says was intimidating, but not insurmountable. “I have done a few films where I have played known fictional characters, and you can’t get too scared. You have to make it your own,” Vikander told Heat Vision on the premiere’s black carpet.
Walton Goggins, who plays the film’s villain, was also on hand at the Monday night event, along with director Roar Uthaug and screenwriter Geneva Robertson-Dworet, as well as producer Graham King, MGM chairman Gary Barber and motion picture president Jonathan Glickman.
The Swedish actress is stepping into the combat boots previously worn by Angelina Jolie in the early 2000s adaptions of the popular video game series. “I grew up with the Angelina Jolie movies,” says Vikander. “But I was introduced to the 2013 game and I loved that it was a take on a girl who could walk our streets, now, that a younger generation could actually relate to.”
Tomb Raider, which hits theaters this Friday, is based on the 2013 reboot of the video game franchise that follows an inexperienced Croft as she goes from novice archeologist to bow-and-arrow toting adventurer. To become Croft, Vikander underwent months-long training heading into an extensive 100-day shoot in South Africa.
Says Vikander of her Croft, “On one level she is trying to finding her footing in the world, which we all try at some point, but this is also an action-adventure, so it’s about her becoming a hero.”
