‘Warcraft’ was a fantasy for Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton

Humans and monstrous orcs are on opposite sides of the battle in the fantasy adventure

though leads Travis Fimmel and Paula Patton capture the complicated nature of the conflict in their characters.

They also happen to look really good in a ton of body armor and bonded famously amid swords and sorcery.

“There was an immediate sense when we met each other that felt as if I’d known him in a past life,” Patton says. “We had a soul connection.”

In the action-packed film (in theaters Friday), Fimmel stars as Anduin Lothar, military commander of the human forces in the kingdom of Azeroth. He’s also a devoted father, a brotherly figure to rookie mage Khadgar (Ben Schnetzer) and an unlikely ally for Patton’s half-orc warrior Garona.

An outcast among her people, Garona comes to Azeroth via the invading orc horde but escapes and befriends the humans to maybe find somewhere she can call home.

“Garona is such a survivor, and it’s not just because she’s tough,” Fimmel says. “She’s a smart character who does what she has to do, and Lothar respects that.”

There’s a “natural and believable reason” for the relationship, director Duncan Jones says. But Patton notes it’s not exactly love at first sight.

“It’s like a chemistry, a moment that happens right when they meet each other that’s electric,” she says. “Because he’s the strongest, toughest warrior of Azeroth, he’s the closest to an orc. And in that way, she’s moved by him.

“One thing that you cannot put any science or math on is love, and could there be anything more magical than that?”

Fimmel is no stranger to battle scenes: The 36-year-old Australian actor is in his fourth season of playing Norse hero Ragnar Lothbrok on FX’s Yet everything is bigger in Azeroth, especially the swords.

“You had to use two hands most of the time,” Fimmel says. “I always like the fighting. You don’t have to remember lines.”

Patton has done everything from action films to to romantic heavy dramas comedies

but says she has “never started a movie less sure about anything” than she did on

One of her first days on the set had her in contacts that distorted her eyesight, tusks that jutted her jaw forward and a slave costume made of leather and cloth that didn’t leave a lot to the imagination — a far cry from the bulky armor she’s clad in later, when she fights with the humans.

Still, she refused a robe between takes to cover the skimpier wardrobe. “I need to be able to walk around all day long with this outfit on and feel comfortable and be myself,” says Patton, 40. “That beginning moment was exhilarating. The things that scare me also thrill me and help my character.”

Compared with the armor, though, the loincloth wasn’t so bad.

“In all honesty, wearing less clothes is just more comfortable,” Patton says. “It’s like asking somebody, ‘Do you like walking around naked or do you want Spandex?’ But when you have people looking at you, that’s a different story.”