Lara’s theme: Who am I, and where’s my dad?

Alicia Vikander, who plays Lara Croft in the Tomb Raider origins film coming out this week, talks about making the iconic video-game character “relevant to this generation”.

Lara has a feistiness,

intelligence and wit about her that I love, as well as a passion for adventure.

Since this is an origin story,

we meet Lara as she’s still trying to figure out what she’s going to do with her life and find her place in the world.

Though she was born to privilege,

I liked the fact that instead of embracing a glamorous life, Lara stands up for herself; she wants to figure out who she is on her own terms, which I think is something that anyone can relate to.

Young people don’t always know the journey that lies ahead for them.

Lara has a wounded relationship

with her missing dad [played by The Wire’s Dominic West], whom she hasn’t been able to mourn because he disappeared when she was 13. When we meet her, she’s a bit cynical about the fantasies and stories her father told her as a child. But, as her journey unfolds, she opens up and dares to believe again.

My mother, who’s an actress,

introduced me to the world of theatre and film. I loved independent arthouse films, but I also loved being drawn into big adventure films, like the Indiana Jones movies. With Tomb Raider, I had the chance to work on something which has long been close to my heart — a big action and adventure film.

I come from a dancing background,

so when I learnt that playing Lara would involve three or four months to get in shape — well, that kind of preparation and the chance to create a new physique are gifts. I found the training empowering.

It was wonderful

to work with [director] Roar Uthaug because he always balanced story and character with the big action set pieces. For Roar, it’s about telling a good dramatic story in the context of a huge action adventure. It’s the best of both worlds.