• Alexander Skarsgård said that one of the main reasons he took this role was to impress his father Stellan Skarsgård. He said, “My dad is a massive Tarzan fan. Growing up, we had these VHS cassettes of the Johnny Weissmuller films, and that was my introduction to the character. But those films are seventy years old, and so much time has passed, that I think mine is a fresh take. I’ll never compete with Johnny Weissmuller, but I just wanted to impress my father. He was thrilled. He was more excited than I was.” Oddly enough, his father was considered to play Tarzan in ‘Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes’ (1984).
• Alexander Skarsgård joked that he would like Tarzan to be drastically different in the sequel because of the heavy workout and diet demands on him. He said, “We have an outline already in which Tarzan gains weight. Tarzan remains hairy and does not have eight pack abs. It has no action and Tarzan eats cake, lots of cake. I wrote it.”
• Alexander Skarsgård said his biggest fear in taking on the role was that his little brother, who was seven years old, would think that Skarsgård “is a shit Tarzan.” Skarsgård said his little brother looks up to Tarzan as “his ultimate hero”, and he did not want to let his little brother down.
• Trainer Magnus Lygdback revealed that Alexander impressed the entire cast and crew with his physical transformation. He said, “On the first day of filming, when he took off his shirt for the first time, the first thing you noticed was his huge back. You could hear people whispering; that’s when I knew we had done it.” Margot Robbie added, “Words failed me. My jaw was on the floor. As was everyone else’s in the crew. People stopped working and were staring. Even the men were like, ‘Wow.’ It was amazing. He worked so hard; I am so impressed.”
• The film takes place from 1889 to 1890.
