ELLE.com – In the fashion world, September is all about power. Who better to exemplify that than cover star Alicia Vikander, an actress who’s midtransition from indie favorite to blockbuster-anchoring force?

After shooting onto Hollywood’s radar just a few years ago, the incomparably talented, laser-focused Vikander has already snagged an Oscar, slayed Michael Fassbender, and dominated the indie drama beat.

Her latest period film, Tulip Fever was actually shot three years ago—before The Danish Girl and before Vikander and Fassbender met. Harvey Weinstein presented director Justin Chadwick (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) with the Tulip Fever script and invited him to cast the film; after a short meeting with Vikander, Chadwick says, “I went back and told Harvey that we’d found our star. We built the film around Alicia.”

Here, a sneak peek of Vikander’s interview ahead of the September issue release:

On feeling empowered by the action scenes in her upcoming Tomb Raider reboot: “I love big popcorn movies. I’ve never done action scenes on this level – not even close. It feels like I’m back to dancing – the training, the intensity. You need to be aware of your movement up in the wires and how your body works. I’ve never been able to lift my own weight, and the day when you have that capacity, it’s pretty empowering!”

The sad truth about finding new, challenging roles: “[Complex roles such as that in Hotel] are actually hard to find, which is sad. It’s still—women are written safe.”