Alexander Skarsgård felt intimidated when facing Hafthor Bjornsson (The Mountain) in The Northman

Game of Thrones has had a lot of iconic characters over the years, but if we’re speaking in terms of physical strength, The Mountain wins without a doubt. Snapping back to the real world, the actor who plays The Mountain, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, is a strongman himself. Bjornsson recently defeated his long time rival Eddie Hall in the World’s Heaviest Boxing match, and has been in the news for quite some time since then. His acting credits now also include The Northman, starring Alexander Skarsgård.

In the new Viking drama, Skarsgård had to face Thor in a scene, and he was absolutely terrified. Talking to Entertainment Weekly in a recent interview, Skarsgård admitted, “He came out to set when we were shooting a scene, the first time you meet Amleth. Hafþór wasn’t, obviously, working that day, but he came to set just to say hi to everyone. And, yes, I was intimidated.”

“Shaking Hafþór’s hand — I’m 6’ 4’’ — I was like [Skarsgård strains his head to look up], ‘Hi, sir. It’s a pleasure.’ His hand just dwarfed mine.”

How would you have reacted on meeting The Mountain? Are you excited about the new Viking film? Talk to us in the comments below!