Alicia Vikander’s Transformation Into Lara Croft for Tomb Raider

She’s certainly no Angelina Jolie, but Alicia Vikander has a lot more stunning attributes to make up for it. Fierce and in tip-top shape, the 28-year-old Swedish actress has been training very hard to portray the younger version of Lara Croft in the much-loved video game character’s highly anticipated origin movie, Tomb Raider.

“I’ve been dreaming since I was a kid to be part of a big action adventure, to push myself,” says Vikander in the behind-the-scenes video, above, unveiling how she became Lara Croft. “In this film, I really get to do that.”

Playing the smart and athletic ’90s popular protagonist/sex symbol as she grows into a kickass adventurer should have represented quite a challenge for anyone, but Vikander actually makes the performance look like something she was born to do. “Alicia is a beast,” exclaims actor Daniel Wu in the making-of. Stunt after stunt, the actress was put through numerous far-from-pleasant filming conditions, from being continuously splashed with icy water to jumping off cliffs, trees, ladders, and many other not-very-stable set parts.

But most importantly, to take her transformation to the next level, Vikander followed a rigorous muscle building workout routine to bring strength and robustness to her character. “She made me embarrassed to take my shirt off,” says her co-star Walton Goggins. “And I go to the gym 5 days a week!”

Tomb Raider, directed by Norwegian filmmaker Roar Uthaug (The Wave), will be loosely based on the 2013 Crystal Dynamics/Square Enix video game of the same name, which rebooted Croft’s story by focusing on her early years as she was only 21 and determined to solve the puzzle of her father’s researches and mysterious death. The film will also star Dominic West as Croft’s long-lost father, Lord Richard Croft.

Watch the trailer of the movie, set for released on March 16, below.