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| Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Thor: The Dark World |
What is it like to be back as Thor for the third time?
I love playing the character. The trick is to find new ways to make the character have some sort of advance or growth from the last film. That’s the trick of the director, writer and the actor obviously coming together and asking what’s the next step and where are we going to take him.
What did you change about the process this time around?
It’s different from The Avengers because in that film, you didn’t have your individual arc or journey. The arc of that story was the group, whereas this is certainly each of us, and we each have our own specific story. And for Thor, it really is picking up from Thor in a lot of ways, with the same questions he still has about his brother, about why and how they ended up here and what happened to their relationship. But the bigger picture is that, potentially, Thor is stepping into the role of king, and he needs to prove that he deserves to be there and also understand the responsibilities that becoming king carries.
Where do we find Thor in this film as opposed to the last? In the first film, Thor was a young spoilt teenager about to take on the throne and be king. Then, his father realises that he’s not quite mature enough to do that and his priorities are in the wrong place. He’s full of ego and attitude. During that film, he is humbled and we leave that first story with Thor about to step into the responsibility of possibly becoming king of Asgard. In this film, we pick up with him really coming to an understanding of what that entails and the darker side of that responsibility. He figures out that it doesn’t necessarily come with all the privileges... there are a lot of sacrifices.
Thor is back on Asgard in this film. What is he doing there?
Thor and The Warriors Three and the other soldiers of Asgard have been basically putting out the fires across the Nine Realms since the Bifrost was destroyed, allowing the criminals of the universe to wreak havoc. So, they’ve been doing some sort of peacekeeping and sorting out the various conflicts all over the place. It’s pretty direct, but also in some ways more immediate to what we had in Thor, with the Bifrost having been destroyed and the realms now being free of any sort of policing.
This film is called Thor: The Dark World. What is this ‘Dark World’ that we’ll be seeing? The Dark World is a reference to the planet that the dark elves are from, but also I think Alan’s (Taylor, the director) take on it was that this is a darker transition into adulthood for Thor and him becoming king, and the darker side of growing up. With the maturity and the responsibilities and then the secrets, it becomes very political about what the people of Asgard and the universe need to know versus what they want to know. You start to see the shadier side of the royal family.
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What’s it been like having everybody back together again?
It’s great. Tom (Hiddleston, who plays Loki) and I obviously spent a lot of time together on The Avengers, so we jumped straight back into it. But certainly, to see Natalie (Portman) and Anthony (Hopkins) and Kat Dennings and all The Warriors Three, and the whole cast was great. We had such a fun time on the first one and we picked up where we left off.
When you read this particular script, what did you connect with in terms of fleshing out the character?
I’m always looking for some sort of conflict and what it is that Thor’s trying to work through as opposed to just being there and being central to the situation. You’ve got to make sure the hero is a big catalyst to the resolution... that he’s not just there to step in at the very end and save the day. You want a journey, and often the villains are so much easier to write on one hand, but also there’s an advantage just because they’re allowed to be more unpredictable. I think what we managed to find was real conflict with Thor about where his place is. Is it with Jane (Natalie Portman) on earth, or is it here in Asgard? His senses are now awakening and he’s having a greater understanding of the world and its problems. That was something we wanted to thread in from the beginning, which allowed him to be proactive through the story and constantly searching for something.
What is it like working with Anthony Hopkins (plays Odin, the king of Asgard and the father of Thor)?
He’s the greatest. Obviously having worked together before, there’s an immediate ease and familiarity, which is great to dive back into. Anthony is one of those rare actors that I could just be around and watch all day long. There’s such a weight and depth to everything he does, no matter how subtle. I think we both have such a great time playing these characters and finding new ways to explore the conflict and love they have for one another.
How has the relationship between Thor and Loki changed?
In the very first film, Loki and Thor as brothers had a friendship where there was less hatred involved.We get to a place in this one where there’s more of that this time around again. Thor gets to ask Loki what this is all about and how they got to this point in their relationship. Thor is able to confront Loki and say, ‘It’s about time that you recognise your role in this. You know, it wasn’t all everyone else’s fault.’ In The Avengers, it was us yelling at each other and butting heads, and that happens a bit in this, too, but for the most part it’s a far more interesting dynamic.
Why is it important to have some humorous bits?
The humour in all the Marvel films is what ties them together. It also allows people to buy into the fantastical world that you’re a part of. In moments, it’s serious enough, but any chance you get to laugh takes the pressure off having to believe that there’s a guy with a big hammer and a red cape flying around the place.
What kind of training did you have to do this time around?
On this one, I came in and said, ‘Okay, I want to make Thor more dynamic’. The guy can fly and split the earth in half with his weapon, yet a lot of the time we have seen him in the past just fighting hand-to-hand combat like a Viking, which is an element of his style, but I think we needed to embrace that he has far more advanced skills than that. So the idea of getting him off the ground a lot more,using more wire work. There’s a lot more wire work in this than previously. Developing different ways to use the hammer, but not always using the hammer.
What will your wardrobe be this time around? The hammer has been taken and roughed up and beaten a bit and scratched, so it looks like it has been through thousands of years of war and battle and it’s not straight off the rack. The sets, the costumes, the hair, the make-up — all of it was about making it look more realistic. Not having them so much like gods that they were unrelatable. There’s a human quality to them all, which is wonderful.
How are you pushing the boundaries in this film?
It’s probably the scope of this film that feels bigger than any other Marvel film. We were in Iceland and London and various locations that were very rugged with very outdoor landscapes. So, the feel of it wasn’t just New York City or Santa Fe, New Mexico. The whole scope of it was far larger than anything we’d seen before.
What is it that you love most about the fans of Thor and how they’ve reacted to these films?
They’ve been really supportive and I love them for that. It could’ve gone the other way. Staying true to the comic books and these characters was something we were mindful of from the beginning. These characters already existed and had a fan base that was a lot more knowledgeable than we were, so you don’t want to let anyone down in that sense. But there’s a lot of feedback they give us that helps shape where we take these characters to.
