From director David Yates, the action-adventure epic The Legend of Tarzan picks up with John Clayton, the man once known as Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård), after he’s left the jungles of Africa behind for a gentrified life with his beloved wife, Jane (Margot Robbie). When he is invited back to the Congo under the guise of being a guest of Parliament, Tarzan quickly learns that he is a pawn in a murderous plot of greed and revenge that was masterminded by the King of Belgium’s envoy, Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), and he will stop at nothing to protect those that he loves.

During a conference at the film’s press day, filmmaker David Yates was joined by co-stars Alexander Skarsgård, Margot Robbie, Samuel L. Jackson and Djimon Hounsou to talk about what attracted them to this version of the Tarzan story, their previous familiarity with the character, preparing for the physical aspects of the role, acting opposite CGI animals, why there’s no loin cloth, and the Tarzan call. From the interview, we’ve compiled a list of 15 things that you should know about The Legend of Tarzan.

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  After Harry Potter, director David Yates read lots of scripts, and The Legend of Tarzan was the one that blew him away because it was so far removed from his expectations. What most stood out for him were Tarzan’s deep connection to the natural world, and the sense of sex and sensuality to it that contributed a big, beating heart. This movie has action, epic landscapes and politics, but Tarzan and Jane are incomplete without each other, which Yates found really moving in its beauty and timelessness.

• As someone who was a huge fan of Tarzan, Alexander Skarsgård was really excited about the movie, especially with the story’s different take on the material and character. It ended up being about returning to your roots, instead of about taming the beast. He’s a man lost between two worlds.

• When it comes to their previous familiarity with the Tarzan character, Yates watched the Johnny Weissmuller movies when he was a kid and found them charming. Skarsgård also enjoyed the Weissmuller movies, as a result of his father being a huge Tarzan fan. Margot Robbie was first introduced to the character through the Disney animated feature.

• The day Skarsgård found out that he got the role, he was on a sailboat in the Canary Islands, getting ready to sail across the Atlantic for three weeks with an eight-man crew. Before he could push off, he got the call from Yates about the role.

• For the physical aspects of the character, Skarsgård had different phases. First, he had three months of bulking up, which included 7,000 calories a day of things like steak and potatoes, as well as no sugar and no dairy, and weight lifting. It was very important for Tarzan to be flexible and agile, when moving through the jungle, but not look like a body builder. To celebrate the end of filming, he stayed with his father (Stellan Skarsgård), who cooked for him for four days straight.

When Skarsgård got to London, about a month and a half prior to shooting, he worked with choreographer Wayne McGregor, which he greatly enjoyed. He also worked with Skarsgård and Robbie on trust exercises and games, and they would recreate moments for how they met that aren’t in the movie. It helped them to build their relationship, off camera, because they’re separated so early on.

• Even though he doesn’t wear one in the film, Skarsgård said that he tried to convince Yates to let him wear a loin cloth. They compromised by wearing a sarong instead.

• It was important really important to Robbie that a contemporary audience could relate to Jane, especially since ideologies have changed since then. Being in love with her husband is not a weakness, but it actually makes her stronger. Although they can’t live without each other, they are also incredibly capable when they are alone.

• The most challenging aspect of the production for Robbie was having to act with things that weren’t in front of her. They had incredible sets where everything, including the jungle, was tangible, but the animals were not there. To help them grasp the scale, someone would hold a cardboard cut-out.

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  While Skarsgård did some of the vine swinging himself, there was a trapeze artist that came in to do much of the stunts swinging on the vines. They had a 3D scanned version of Skarsgård that they would use to replace the trapeze artist’s stunt work and movements with his body.

• Because George Washington Williams is based on a real-life historical figure, Samuel L. Jackson read all of the source material that Yates sent his way, especially since he hadn’t been aware of him before. He realized that he wasn’t just playing an adventure guy with a pair of guns, but a really important person who had good reason for being there. And while filming Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, he was able to spend some time at Williams’ grave in Liverpool.

• Between the time Jackson was cast in the role and the time he showed up on location, he had last 30 pounds from being on a strict vegan diet. As a result, he had to gain 20 pounds back before shooting began, so he changed his diet and took up Pilates.

Djimon Hounsou, who plays Mbonga, the Chief of the Mbolonga tribe, thought the relationship between his character and Tarzan was very profound. And he also responded to the great respect for animals. He said, “We are social beings and we should all be ashamed to die, unless we have made some major contribution to human society and animals, as well.”

• For the fight sequences between Skarsgård and Hounsou, they trained and worked two hours a day for a month on the choreography.

• The Tarzan call is something they knew they had to have in the movie, but they didn’t want it to be a comedic moment, so you instead see the impact on the antagonist, Leon Rom’s face, to make it more powerful and haunting. You hear the call twice, and it’s a combination of Skarsgård, a singer who gave them a raw sound, and various animal sounds, all mixed together.

The Legend of Tarzan opens in theaters on July 1^st.