Alicia Vikander Admits She Was ‘Shaking’ During a ‘Blue Bayou’ Scene

Alicia Vikander has no shortage of starring roles in Hollywood movies. But the Danish Girl actor admits that there are still things that make her nervous, and one of them is evidently singing. Vikander recently revealed how she felt about shooting a memorable scene in Blue Bayou with Justin Chon, and how she dealt with it. 

Alicia Vikander said she tried to hide her nervousness

Blue Bayou is the story of Korean-American Antonio LeBlanc(Justin Chon) and his wife, Kathy LeBlanc (Vikander,) a deeply devoted couple who face a crisis when Antonio discovers he could be deported despite growing up in the Louisiana bayou. 

The movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on July 13, 2021, and will be released to the public on September 17, 2021. In an interview with Cinemablend, Vikander, a trained ballet dancer and accomplished A-list actor, admitted that a scene in which she performs the song Blue Bayou actually got to her. 

“I was super nervous because I’m not a professional singer, and I’ve never… Except for karaoke, I haven’t sung like that in front of anyone in real life,” the Ex Machina star told Cinemablend. “So getting on set that day, I was actually going up on that stage shaking. I tried to hide that as good as I could cause that was not part of my character.” 

Justin Chon was impressed with her voice

Chon, who wrote, directed, and starred in the film, said that he was pleasantly surprised by Vikander’s singing abilities, despite her misgivings about filming the scene. 

“The thing that was important to me wasn’t her ability; it was just the authenticity of her emotion when singing it,” Chon told Cinemablend. “But it was an incredible surprise to find out that she’s a great singer. And she might’ve been nervous, but we couldn’t tell.” 

Chon continued his praise of Vikander, calling her a “professional.” 

“She’s just a professional. When I was watching her, we all started clapping after she did her… She wanted to kind of test out the mic and stuff before we shot,” Chon recalled. “We all started clapping because we’re like, ‘Holy shit. She’s fantastic.’ I don’t know what she thinks about her own singing, but it’s a difficult song!” 

When it was all said and done, Vikander said the scene was her favorite, despite her anxiety before shooting it. 

“But in the end it’s kinda my favorite scene of the film because there’s a direct kind of connection between Kathy, my character, and her man, Antonio; they going through a very difficult traumatic experience at this moment, which is kind of pulling them apart, but this is kind of a way for her to get all those unsaid things out to him through the song,” she said.

Alicia Vikander and Justin Chon met up for karaoke after the movie wrapped

After Blue Bayou completed production, the actors said they met up in Hawaii for a little karaoke. It was Chon’s chance to get a little perspective on what Vikander had been through. 

“She happened to be in Hawaii at the same time as me, and we went to the karaoke place, and she made me sing Blue Bayou,” Chon told the publication. “And I stopped halfway through, and she’s like, ‘Eh? Eh?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s a hard song. Sorry.’ It goes high! I’m thankful to her that she was willing to take the risk and put herself out there.” 

The effort paid off for Chon and Vikander. Blue Bayou scored solid critical ratings and, perhaps more immediately gratifying, a standing ovation at the Cannes Film Festival.