Vikings star Alexander Ludwig teases his debut EP

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Vikings actor Alexander Ludwig left the series in a spectacular manner in its final season on the History Channel and Amazon Prime Video. Now in an exclusive chat with Express.co.uk, the actor has opened up about why he decided to leave the series at that point.

Fans of Vikings loved watching Ludwig as the iconic character Bjorn Ironside.

Across the series, viewers watched him progress from his early childhood to his ultimate demise in battle.

In the final series of the show, he was killed in episode 11 by his brother Ivar the Boneless (Alex Høgh Andersen) plunging a sword into him.

Many viewers were left emotional by the death and wondered why Ludwig decided to exit the show early.

Speaking exclusively to Express.co.uk, the star admitted there were “a lot of reasons” behind his decision.

“I think they really did right by me,” he explained. “Michael [Hirst, series creator] and I had talked about that ending for a long time.

“Without getting too specific, you know, my decision to leave was mine at that time.

“And I’m really happy I chose to do that.

“People had asked me, ‘Why do you leave at that time as opposed to why didn’t you finish the full show?’

“Well I’m happy I chose that and a lot of the reasons were I had other projects I needed to move on to and stuff as well but also I’m really happy that the brothers got their chance to finish their story.”

However, what Ludwig was adamant about was how much he enjoyed that ending for his character.

He added: “I think Michael really could not have done more for me and it just speaks to what an amazing man he is and collaborator.

“He’s pitched this idea to me, or a version of it, and I just said, ‘There’s really nothing I would change, this is spectacular.’

“He was like, ‘I want Bjorn to have this incredible exit that would stand the test of time.’

“And I believe he’s done that. I mean as an actor and as a fan of the show myself, I was just so blessed for that opportunity.”

Elsewhere, Ludwig has been pursuing a career in Country music with the release of his new EP.

He released the self-titled record on May 4 with new hit songs like Love Today, Sunset Town and Summer Crazy.

The star opened up about how great the fan response has been to his music since its release.

Ludwig continued: “I’m so grateful that fans of my other work love this music but the most important thing to me was that people who really love and respect country music the way I do, I really wanted them to see this for what it was.

“And the one note I kept hearing about was like, ‘Man, I am so thankful that you are doing country music, not pop disguised as something else or anything like that.’

“And that was something that I was so happy to hear because when I got to Nashville, I felt some people were trying to push me in other directions.”

Alexander Ludwig’s self-titled EP is available to listen to now.

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