Olivia Colman portrays a despondent fisherwoman. Alexander Skarsgård takes on the role of a wicker-built man whose entire purpose is to cater to her desires. How did the actors perceive this unusual, heartfelt bond—and what insights did Colman draw from her personal marriage experience?
Another year brings another risqué comedic drama where Alexander Skarsgård fulfills the erotic fantasies of a societal misfit. “I absolutely adored Pillion!” exclaims Olivia Colman, true to her habit of cursing right from the start, as she mentions last year’s British indie hit featuring Skarsgård as a leather-clad dominant with a timid traffic warden as his submissive. “And when they locked lips at the end … Aww.” The 52-year-old Oscar recipient for The Favourite lets out a feigned sniffle, gives her frizzy gray hair a slight shake, and pretends to wipe at her eyes.
Sitting next to her in a London hotel room, wearing a vivid orange “I’m With Stupid” T-shirt, Skarsgård tilts his head in appreciation. In Pillion, it was Harry Melling who had the honor of being ravaged by the 50-year-old Swedish actor. Now, it’s Colman’s turn in Wicker, a gritty adult fairytale shot in Budapest and set in a medieval village inhabited almost entirely by British comedic actors who speak in a mix of archaic formality (“Happy to transact with you”) and blunt colloquialism (“I’d better fuck off”). Among them are Phil Daniels as a leering butcher and Richard E Grant as a doctor even less competent than Grant was as a Celebrity Traitor.
