Alicia Vikander on why 'Tomb Raider' avoided game's controversial 'attempted rape' scene (exclusive)

It’s been 15 years since Lara Croft was last seen on the big screen but now she’s back, with Alicia Vikander filling Angelina Jolie’s shoes in Tomb Raider.

The rebooted franchise takes its narrative cues from the 2013 Tomb Raider game, the tenth in the gaming franchise, which focuses on the origins of Lara Croft before her tomb raiding career really kicked into action.

However, the new movie very much steers away from one aspect of the Crystal Dynamics game’s storyline which caused a bit of controversy before its release after its executive producer, Ron Rosenberg, said a scene depicted Lara killing for the first time to stop herself from being raped by her kidnapper.

The game’s creator denied that attempted rape was ever the intention of the scene, saying Rosenberg “misspoke”, but Vikander told Yahoo Movies that she felt she had to speak with her film’s screenwriters to double check it wasn’t recreated.

“There was a discussion, I thought of it myself, and it was very clear that it had steered off that track in the film,” the actress said.

“There’s a lot of elements, and there’s a lot of Easter eggs that give an homage to the game but also when you make a film for a fan base you always try and give them a new angle, something fresh and new.

“With that particular scene I was aware of [the rape implications] and I was happy to know that it was a totally different situation where she’s met in this combat,” Vikander added.

Director Roar Uthaug said it was important that this scene did not veer into sexually violent territory.

“The moment when Lara makes her first kill is important for the movie,” the Norwegian filmmaker told Yahoo Movies. “We didn’t want the sexual tension to take away from that.

“It’s nice to have action scenes between a woman and a man without there having to be something sexual to it.”

Tomb Raider is in cinemas on March 16

READ MORE
Nicolas Cage on five of his most famous films
The Oscars 2018 failed women in Hollywood
Sharon Horgan to work with The Flash directors