I mentioned yesterday that Alicia was set to cover the March issue of American Way magazine, and today we have HQ digital scans! They also wrote a lenghty – and very good – piece on Alicia and her long career, which you can read below under the cut.

American Way – Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander made a name for herself in nuanced art films Ex Machina and The Danish Girl. Now she’s leaping into action (and putting her ballet training to use) as fierce treasure hunter Lara Croft in Tomb Raider.

If the world can be divided into two types of people—those who like to chat to the person sitting next to them on a plane and those who don’t—you could reasonably assume that Alicia Vikander might be among the latter. For one thing, she’s famous. In fact, this month the Academy Award-winning Swedish actress will make the leap to action star as Lara Croft, the heroine in the Tomb Raider reboot, a role played by Angelina Jolie back in 2001 and based on the wildly popular video game series. Vikander is also intensely private, with a knack for dodging even the most innocuous questions. Asked about the last time she broke a rule, for instance, she laughs at a memory, then shakes her head: “No, I don’t want to say that to you.”

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A new day, a new magazine feature for Alicia! As a part of the ongoing Tomb Raider promotion, our girl will cover the April 2018 issue of Elle in the UK. We now have the first digital scans over in our gallery, and they feature a gorgeous new photoshoot! The issue comes out on March 7, so make sure to pick up your own copy next week. For her interview, she opens up about harassment in the film industry, married life and how she prefers to avoid the limelight. You can read an extract below…

On harassment in the film industry
‘I’ve been very fortunate that I haven’t had any sexual harassment on set. But I’ve been in situations where people in power have put me on the spot, or made me feel stupid and young when I wasn’t able to express myself publicly. Once, an older female co-star actually said on my behalf, “That’s not OK.” I can now speak up and say that is not fine, and I’ve been given the fortunate position now of not being, in the same way, afraid of losing my job, which was deep down the reason you don’t want to be trouble. You don’t want to be difficult…’

On moving to Lisbon with her husband, Michael Fassbender
‘When I met my husband three and a half years ago, he had mentioned he’d been to Lisbon and loved it, and I knew friends who were moving out there. And that was a time when I was just starting to feel really at home in London, but after Brexit I think I was like, “Meh, you know what, I want to stay in Europe”.’

On her first meetings with Michael Fassbender – on the dancefloor at Toronto International Film Festival, and then on the dancefloor after the BAFTAs:
‘The first two times we met, we didn’t chat, we only danced.’

On training for Tomb Raider
‘For three months before filming, I started every morning with an hour’s workout. Then there was a lot of eating going on; I had to have five meals a day. I wanted Lara to be strong. I’m very petite myself, and I wanted the audience to find the action sequences plausible – to believe that she could do it, that she could lift herself up with her own bodyweight.’

On the new Lara Croft
‘Sure, Lara is a sex symbol in some ways but for me, what makes a woman or a man attractive is someone who dares to speak up, who dares to show their personality. It’s tough being a young girl at this time, you know? I’m now working in an industry which lives on creating an image, a fantasy and I feel like I need to show younger women that is what it is.’

On how her Swedish culture means she naturally prefers not to stand out
‘You shouldn’t be too good, or do something different… In a way it’s great to grow up with that, as it makes you very grounded, but also a bit scared of standing out and making a big leap away from the rest of the group.’

Read the full interview in the April issue of ELLE UK, on sale March 7. – Elle

Following our ‘Tomb Raider’ promotional interviews master-post last week, I’ve put together another one for you all today! We’re being blessed with several new videos every single day now, so I’ll gather all the interviews ones into master-posts every now and then. The ones in the white blouse are from LA on February 23, but they were added to YouTube in the last couple of days. Stay tuned for more updates later…

During the weekend’s Tomb Raider promotion, Alicia stepped by Refinery to dish about the new film! You can read their full article and check out the video below. Alicia wore a stunning green jumpsuit – hopefully we’ll get some photos of Alicia in this outfit soon.

Refinery – Alicia Vikander remembers the day she first came across Lara Croft. As a 10-year-old girl growing up in Sweden, her friends didn’t really talk about video games, let alone admit to playing them. But her family friends had sons, and those sons had a Playstation. “I stepped into that room and saw Lara Croft, the female protagonist of a video game, something I had never seen before,” Vikander told Refinery29. “I was a bit afraid, because there were a lot of scary elements, so I used to spend a lot of time in the manor, practicing.” Fast-forward two decades, and the 29-year old is set to storm the screen as her childhood hero in director Roar Uthaug’s reboot of Tomb Raider.

If you’re already picturing an Angelina Jolie-lite version, think again. You won’t see this Lara running through the jungle in short-shorts, holding her signature double guns. Vikander’s character is more regular girl than Tomb Raider. “She’s not an action hero when we meet her in the beginning of this film,” Vikander explained. “She’s a girl who lives with her friends in East London, like I did when I was in my early twenties!” Of course, fate takes over, delivering a series of adventures and circumstances that lead part-time boxer and daytime bicycle courier Lara to become the heroine we know and love.

This is a very different role for Vikander, who won an Academy Award for her performance alongside Eddie Redmayne in The Danish Girl in 2016. But in reality, she sees this as a way to get back to her roots. “I’ve always loved adventure movies. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen Indiana Jones, or The Mummy series,” she said. I was always curious of what it would be like to do those kinds of action sequences and stunts.” The training took four months, and included MMA training, rock climbing, and weightlifting. By the end, Vikander had gained 12 pounds of muscle. “It was pretty crazy when I stood on the scale and saw that I had gained that much,” she confessed. “I’ve always been very petite, and it was very empowering to see that it worked.”

But sheer physical strength isn’t the only thing driving this performance. In late December, Vikander got involved in forming what would eventually become the Time’s Up initiative, which aims to address issues of inequality in the workplace in Hollywood and across other industries, alongside the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman, and America Ferrera.

A key part of that struggle is changing the culture that only shows women as love interests and sidekicks. Vikander recalled rushing out to see Wonder Woman while wrapping up production on Tomb Raider, and being profoundly moved. “I didn’t think that I could do these things,” she said. “I couldn’t even dream of it because it wasn’t even in my perspective of reality.” If only that 10-year-old could see her now.

Vikander, Wim Wenders present ‘Submergence’ at its European premiere in San Sebastián

In an early flashback in “Submergence,” Wim Wenders’ latest film starring Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy, McAvoy’s James More, a British spy, jogs manfully past Vikander’s Danielle Flinders on a romantic Atlantic beach in France.

He suggests lunch. And that is about the last time in their courtship and seduction that he, a prototype man of action, really makes the moves. It’s Danny who keeps him waiting for lunch, because of her work, moves their table conversation from professional to personal, squeals “chicken!” when she has opened her hotel bedroom door and he doesn’t react, pulls him gracefully into her bedroom; and leads in their foreplay.

That, Vikander said presenting the film at San Sebastian with Wenders, was however par for the course for modern love. “Maybe for a young generation that is reality in the sense that it can be both ways. It’s about personality not gender.”

At Friday’s press conference, dressed immaculately in a white top and high-waited black trousers, Vikander came across as lively, charming, and multi-lingual – in the film she plays a half-Swedish half-Australian marine biologist with a touch of English ancestry. About the first thing she said at San Sebastián that she knew some Spanish.

Vikander will soon star in the newest iteration of the video-game property “Tomb Raider,” which should take her far greater global stardom. But, at San Sebastian, Spanish journalists were as interested in grilling her about her opinions on women in cinema as her Hollywood fame. When asked how women’s presence in cinema had changed, she delivered a carefully measured view.

“I remember when ‘The Hunger Games,’ came out and you saw a female actress take center stage and prove it could be a good film, but also a huge commercial success.”

She went on: “Over the last few years, the awareness of the lack of balance has made people think differently and open their eyes to look for opportunity for everyone. Like with all these big subjects, I’m positive. I think there is progress and that it continues.”

As for having the phrase “Oscar-winning actress” now pinned before her name, Vikander stayed humble saying: “It still feels very new to me to hear those words. I grew up in a small town in Sweden and watched the Oscars at 2am with mom every year, it was a window to a different universe.”

“Submergence” opens the 65th San Sebastián Film Festival Friday night. It’s the highest-profile festival in the Spanish-speaking world, has a significant industry presence. But that didn’t phase Wenders.

“The pressure of the opening film doesn’t really concern me,” the director said before further dismissing any concerns over criticisms of his films. “I beg your pardon but I don’t read my reviews. I read reviews of other people’s films but with mine I just ask my wife.” He said that while good reviews can over-inflate your ego, bad ones “make you feel like s***t, and I think it’s best not to feel either.” | Variety

Inquirer – LOS ANGELES—“You always wonder if you are going to have chemistry,” Alicia Vikander said about her leading men as she starts each new movie. The actress certainly wondered about Michael Fassbender when they began filming “The Light Between Oceans.”
Well, not only does the pair have good chemistry; they fell in love on the New Zealand set of director Derek Cianfrance’s adaptation of ML Stedman’s novel of the same name.
In the drama set after World War I, Alicia and Michael play a lighthouse keeper (Tom) and his wife (Isabel), who’s recovering from two miscarriages and one stillbirth. When a baby washes ashore in a lifeboat, they raise her as their own.

Rachel Weisz also stars in the movie that recently debuted in the Venice Film Festival. Alicia, 27, and Michael, 39, made a sweet couple on the red carpet at the film’s premiere in the festival on the Lido.
The Swedish actress looked lovely in a simple linen white dress in this talk in West Hollywood, California. She was filming Wim Wenders’ “Submergence” and was set to go on location in the Faroe Islands, an archipelago located between Norway and Iceland.
“I am thrilled to go to the Faroe Islands,” she said. “I have never been there, and Wim says it’s like Mars.”
Excerpts from our interview:

What was it like to work with Michael? Was there immediate chemistry between the two of you?
We had met in industry events, like the Toronto Film Festival and the Baftas. But the first time we really had a chat was when we started rehearsals in Wellington (New Zealand). You always wonder if you are going to have chemistry with your coactor, especially when making a film that is intimate and emotionally intense. Yes, it felt easy from the very beginning.

Do you remember the first time you watched Michael in the movies?
I was in this little indie theater back home in Stockholm, Sweden, where I saw both “Hunger” and “Fish Tank” many years ago. I thought he was one of the bravest actors I had seen. So, for me, to know that Derek Cianfrance and Michael were involved in this project made me really want to be a part of it.
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Earlier today, Alicia and Michael took to Entertainment Weekly‘s tumblr to answer questions from fans! It’s a part of their “The Light Between Oceans” promotion, but they answered a lot of questions unrelated to the film as well. We’ve posted some of Alicia’s replies below, but check out EW’s tumblr HERE for everything + Michael’s replies as well!

Q: This film is based on a book, so can you tell us, what’s the best book you’ve read recently? I need reading recommendations!
A: 1Q84 by Haruki Marukami

Q: If you had to live the life of one of your characters, wich would you choose? Have a great day!
A: Ava out in the real world

Q: Michael and Alicia, you were in two of the most visually stunning films to come out last year: Macbeth and Ex Machina. The Light Between Oceans looks GORGEOUS as well. What are some of your favorite films based on visual appeal/cinematography?
A: I also loved Macbeth

Q: Michael and Alicia, Would you rather fight 100 duck-sized horses or one horse-sized duck?
A: I’ve had this question!! Ha ha ha. One horse-sized duck, I could beat! I would be terrified for 100 duck-sized horses.

Q: Did you have the chance to meet or talk to M.L. Stedman? Did she help you somehow to understand better your characters and their actions?Thank you
A: She came quite late in the shoot and visited the set. it was lovely to meet her.

Q: Do you have any favorite TV show?
A: Chef’s Table–I can’t wait for season 2!

Q: Michael, Alicia – first thought when you read the script?
A: I was quite blown away, I found myself tearing up reading the script which hasn’t really happened before.

Q: What’s your most memorable moment from the set of “the light between oceans”?
A: Michael milking the goats.

Q: Which things do you have in common with Isabel? Which similarities are there between you and your character?
A: She has a fun walk that I would love to use more myself in real life. I wish I have her energy and life force. And baby-stealing (just kidding).

Q: If you weren’t an actor/actress, what career do you think you would pursue?
A: My friend sometimes calls me their travel agent because I love planning vacation and itineraries with restaurants and places to go. So travel agent. Ha ha ha ha.

Q: Who is your favorite fictional character?
A: Dopey from Snow White. He seems like he enjoys life.

Alicia was featured in yesterday’s issue of Sunday Style Magazine, in which she talks about her beginner’s luck in Las Vegas, Jason Bourne and much more. Some beautiful outtakes have been added to our gallery, along with a stunning HQ digital version of the cover. We hope to have scans from her full feature up soon.

You can read her interview below – and I strongly suggest you do, as it’s a great interview. Alicia really is a breath of fresh air in Hollywood, and I am so proud of her for everything she has accomplished so far!

(Source)Alicia Vikander: How the Jason Bourne actress is taking Hollywood by storm
“I had beginner’s luck,” smiles Alicia Vikander. She’s talking about a night out with Matt Damon in Las Vegas, a town where luck can give — and luck can take away.

“Buy the ticket, take the ride,” preached Sin City’s glorifier, Hunter S.Thompson, and Vikander, like everyone else, did — albeit on the studio’s dime.

“We get per diems [daily payments from the production company] and it felt like Monopoly money. So I put $100 down and then I was like, ‘Oh sh*t.’ But I won two nights out of four. I should have stopped, of course.”

How much did you win? “I won 22 times my money,” she laughs. “But it was pure luck and no intelligence, really.”

The Vikander I meet on a crisp, bright winter’s day in Sydney is no beginner.

She is a slight, smiling woman curled cosily into a sofa — a striking contrast to the stern-faced, sharp-edged CIA operative she plays in Jason Bourne, the latest instalment of the Matt Damon juggernaut.

Casual in charcoal Acne Studios jeans and a grey Rag & Bone knit, Vikander, 27, looks relaxed, nursing a cup of lemon and ginger tea and kicking off her shoes as she snuggles cross-legged into the corner of the couch.

Perhaps it’s a Scandinavian thing — although she’s Swedish, she’s perfected the Danish art of hygge, that untranslatable word meaning warmth, cosiness and simplicity.

The first thing she does is compliment my very low-tech notebook and pen: “Most people bring all these iPads and phones and I don’t know what.”

Ironically, however, it’s among such an array of technology that her latest character is most at home.
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