How the brutal one-take battle scene in ‘The Northman’ got made

It was going perfectly until a drop of rain ruined everything.
 By 
Shannon Connellan
 and 
Teodosia Dobriyanova
 on 
Caption reads: "single-take battle scene." Split screen. On the left, there's a still from the film where Skarsgård climbs a wooden wall dressed in a Viking battle attire. There's a forest in the background. On the right, still of Skarsgård sat down for an interview in front of a black backdrop banner reading 'The Northman' in white font. The actor gesticulates as he is explaining something. He's wearing a grey sweater.
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Alexander Skarsgård and director Robert Eggers unpack the complexity of The Northman's epic battle scene, where the camera follows Skarsgård's character and his Viking soldier during an attack on a village. The scene is full of action and the physical toil on all the actors was extreme. It was nearly dawn by the end of the original take and Skarsgård was dozing off in his car when he was told the scene needed to be re-shot. A drop of rain had infiltrated one of the cameras and basically ruined the previous take. So, they did it again and it seems to have turned out even better the second time around.

Topics Film Celebrities

A photo portrait of a journalist with blonde hair and a band t-shirt.
Shannon Connellan
UK Editor

Shannon Connellan is Mashable's UK Editor based in London, formerly Mashable's Australia Editor, but emotionally, she lives in the Creel House. A Tomatometer-approved critic, Shannon writes about entertainment, tech, social good, science, culture, and Australian horror.

Picture of Teodosia
Teodosia Dobriyanova
Video Producer

Teodosia is a video producer at Mashable UK, focussing on stories about climate resilience, urban development, and social good.


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