With The Witch, I wanted to say, 'Actually, let me show you what witches are for real.'" The Northman is the same idea. "People think that they know Vikings. They think of the Kirk Douglas Viking movie [1958's The Vikings]. They think cartoon guys with horn helmets or certain TV shows where Vikings dress like science-fiction rock stars. This is something very different."
“Alexander Skarsgård looks like an absolute beast. [There’s] a scene where he beats this guy in a battle; bends down and rips his throat out with his teeth, screams to the gods and he’s got his shirt off – and you think: ‘My god that’s not a bodybuilder doing a scene, that’s like a proper serious actor!’ He’s made himself look like some kind of monster for the part, the dedication’s incredible. I think it will be a bit of a masterpiece, to be honest.”