Exclusive: Wicker star recalls hilarious "out of body" experience filming with Alexander Skarsgård

With a unique narrative and a stacked cast led by British favourite Olivia Colman, Wicker is understandably one of the most anticipated films that is set to be released in the UK before the year ends.

Based on Ursula Wills-Jones's 2008 short story The Wicker Husband, the romantic fantasy sees Colman play an ostracised fisherwoman who gets the attention of the locals when she introduces her wicker-made husband (Alexander Skarsgård).

Written and directed by the duo of Alex Huston Fischer and Eleanor Wilson, the stellar supporting cast includes Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki, Richard E Grant, Nabhaan Rizwan and Marli Siu.

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The latter, who portrays the sister of Debicki's character, spoke exclusively with Digital Spy at the UK premiere for one of her other upcoming projects in Black Church Bay, and shared that she had an "out of body" experience while filming with Skarsgård.

"I don't want to give too much away, but there's a big scene towards the end that's quite dramatic," she teased. "We were shooting really late at night. It's real prosthetics, and they glued it to his face, so obviously he can't really breathe, eat or pee in it.

"Once they've done his coverage to give him some time, they would take it off and do the rest of our coverage. He'd just be half in the suit, half in the dressing gown, so when they were doing my coverage, I was like, 'that's Alexander Skarsgård in a dressing gown.'"

"It was so out of body," added Siu. "I was already like, 'I can't believe I'm in a film with Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgård', but he's also in a dressing gown, so amazing and weird."

Following its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Wicker has been widely lauded by critics, with Rotten Tomatoes currently reporting an impressive approval rating of 91% from 34 reviews.

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In Digital Spy's four-star review of the acclaimed film, we wrote: "Colman is pitch-perfect for the part, a character equally biting and self-deprecating, which leads her to lash out through insecurity."

"The movie's biting, bawdy humour exists comfortably alongside its children's storybook tone, turning Wicker into a work of strange excitement, where it feels like the comforts of youth are being graffitied with a wink and a smile," we added.

Wicker is released in UK cinemas on 30 October.

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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media.  His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
 

TV writer, Digital Spy Janet completed her Masters degree in Magazine Journalism in 2013 and has continued to grow professionally within the industry ever since.  For six years she honed her analytical reviewing skills at the Good Housekeeping institute eventually becoming Acting Head of Food testing.  She also freelanced in the field of film and TV journalism from 2013-2020, when she interviewed A-List stars such as Samuel L Jackson, Colin Firth and Scarlett Johansson. In 2021 she joined Digital Spy as TV writer where she gets to delve into more of what she loves, watching copious amounts of telly all in the name of work. Since taking on the role she has conducted red carpet interviews with the cast of Bridgerton, covered the BAFTAs and been interviewed by BBC Radio and London Live. In her spare time she also moonlights as a published author, the book Gothic Angel.