Another rumble in the jungle

Warner Brothers' upcoming blockbuster, The Legend of Tarzan, will open in Chinese mainland theaters on July 19.[Photo provided to China Daily]

Still, Skarsgard, popular in China for his vampire-themed TV series True Blood, likes the film's timeline.

"People will be quite surprised to see Tarzan drinking tea with a British prime minister in London in the opening scenes. But for a tale that is known around the world, it's a refreshing change," he says.

Saying that the film－despite being set around 140 years ago－is relevant to modern audiences, Skarsgard explains that human beings long to "return to the wild".

The son of renowned actor Stellan Skarsgard, he says his first memory of Tarzan is from watching TV with his family as a young boy in Stockholm.

"My father was always a huge fan of Tarzan. So, when I was young he introduced me to Tarzan movies. As a result, I was very excited when I heard about the project," he says.

The $180 million movie, directed by the man who made the last four Harry Potter films, David Yates, was filmed mainly on two sound stages around London, which had 6,500 tropical plants and a huge waterfall driven by diesel pumps, and in West Africa's Gabon.

All the animals, including the elephants, ostriches and apes, were computer-generated.

"I've spent years in Africa on the big screen, but in fact that I've never been to Africa," Skarsgard says, adding that most of his previous movies were independent and small-budget productions. Speaking of the challenges he faced while doing the movie, he says that in one sequence where Tarzan wrestles a gorilla, which is raised with him in the jungle, he had to fight with a stunt man wearing a "gray pajama".

"It was a bit tricky," the 40-year-old veteran says.