It's been 17 years since Angelina Jolie took the character Lara Croft from video game to the big screen.
Now Oscar winner Alicia Vikander is leaping head first into the role. But before she donned Croft's signature tank-top, she went to Herculean links to make sure she looked the action hero part.
Seven months before the cameras rolled, Vikander set out getting ripped. Her workouts included intense weight training sessions five to seven days a week. She credits her background in ballet as one of the things that helped her through it.
Vikander said, "It makes it easier. First of all, it's the discipline. I mean, almost nothing is more difficult than ballet school, actually. But also, the part of picking up choreography. And I mean, the key in making these big actions, sometimes very gritty and ugly fights is the fact that it looks so real and that it just happens. But actually, it's very choreographed down to the detail, just because you need to do it over and over again. And anyone to not get hurt."
But it wasn't just the workouts that made the biggest difference on Vikander body.
"Food. I mean, because that was what he told me, my trainer. He was like, 'If you're going to get in that shape, it's 80% food. And I gained about 10-12 pounds. You eat a lot, but it's very stripped down and not much fun. I didn't drink alcohol for 7 months either. But now I'm back to normal life."
So while in normal life she's only 5'5, in Tomb Raider, Alicia Vikander looks like an action hero you don't want to cross.
Travel and Accommodations for this story provided by Warner Brothers.
