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For those who grew up playing Tomb Raider when it first debuted in 1996, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis is going to be a blast from the past. Not only is it a remake of the very first game, but it features an old-school take on Lara Croft dressed in her most iconic outfit: a blue tank top, khaki shorts, and big boots. It’s a look we haven’t seen in a while, considering that the last trilogy of games featured a grittier take on the famed explorer.
For the team behind Legacy of Atlantis, it’s more than a costume. It represents an iteration of Lara that Crystal Dynamics is rediscovering with Legacy of Atlantis. Polygon recently sat down with several creatives working on the project to discuss what went into making a new-old version of Lara. For the team, it’s about reclaiming the character’s confidence, while keeping her look practical.
That goal was especially important to Alex Wilton Regan, who plays Lara Croft in the remake. The actress, known for video game roles like The Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition, had been orbiting around Lara Croft for a long time. She still remembers an article in PlayStation Magazine that said she should get a crack at the character. Even without that, Regan would have plenty of pressure to contend with when stepping into Lara’s boots.
“If you are British, you are very aware of Tomb Raider,” Regan told Polygon. “Lara Croft has been a British icon since 1996. She’s been on quite literally thousands of magazine covers the world over, but in particular in the UK because she was such a hit, she was flying the flag for Great Britain.”
Regan came onto the project in 2023, after eight months of auditions for the role. She immediately requested to talk with the developers at Crystal Dynamics to get a handle on their vision for Lara in the remake. The idea was to return to the hyper-cool version of her from the original games, a change of pace from the version in Crystal Dynamics’ reboot trilogy who is struggling to survive.
“The word I’ve been using for Lara is unapologetic,” Regan said. “We’re in classic Lara territory. She is charismatic. She is cool as fuck. She is physically strong, she is mentally strong. She has lived a lot, but she is also very sure of herself. That’s an incredibly attractive thing to perform as a woman. In culture, we’re very used to seeing men being self-possessed, because we live in a patriarchy. We’re used to seeing portrayals of confident male characters on-screen and in our video games, but this is a very confident woman, and I find that incredibly inspiring.”
Regan was especially down to play that version of the character, because she’s a bit of a fighter herself. She told me that she used to frequent a boxing gym in London, where she had a bit of a reputation for being fiery. It earned her the nickname Venom. While Regan doesn’t perform Lara’s most physical stunts in Legacy of Atlantis, she was able to throw down in the motion-capture room, thanks to some gun and wrestling training. “I have some serious fire in my belly,” she said.
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