Natalie Portman gets candid about Mighty Thor. Image Source: IndieWire
Natalie Portman gets candid about Mighty Thor.
Actress Natalie Portman, who recently appeared as Jane Foster or Mighty Thor in the recently released Marvel Cinematic Universe’s "Thor: Love and Thunder," directed by the talented Taika Waititi, talks about her character and transformation.
Natalie Portman, during her interview with The Sunday Times, said while sharing that she concentrated on strength training and sauna sessions to bulk up her figure for the role of Mighty Thor on film alongside Chris Hemsworth, who plays Thor, she said it's really rare and amazing to be entrusted with becoming bigger as a woman. The actress jokingly remarked that since she had to consume several protein drinks throughout the change, she might never again.
Natalie, during the interview, said that most of the body transformations female actresses are asked to have are small as possible and there is always an emotional and sociological correlation to that, but for Thor: Love and Thunder, the actress said that it was surprising when she was told to bulk up. Natalie revealed that she had turned 40 when they were filming the movie and it was really special for her as she said to herself that she was going to be the fittest, strongest version of herself. She explained that for someone to ask her that they would want to see how much strength she has is a completely different psychological space to inhabit.
The actress also shared during an interview with Entertainment Weekly that one of her favorite scenes from the recently released movie was shot in a Best Buy parking lot and mentioned that the scene had the most visually beautiful scenic to it. She said that it was the most stunning scene on-screen, but the reality is that beautiful scene was shot in Best Buy's parking lot.
Natalie Portman was also asked during the interview about being sexualized on-screen at a young age, as she debuted on-screen in 1994 in "Léon: The Professional." The actress responded by saying that at the time, she believed it to be very normal and that some of the parts were written in that way. She also said that some of it were the way journalists felt they had a right to write about them for the public to read. She remembered reading a review of her when she was 13 years old, and the writer or the newspaper had referred to her breast buds.
As a defense mechanism, Natalie Portman shared that she started turning down the roles that would involve sex or love-making scenes. She said that she did not want to be perceived in that light since doing so made her feel weak and less respectable, and she did not want to put herself in that situation or for the audience to perceive her in that way. She also talked about being sexualized when she was sharing her experience making Beautiful Girls in 2020 and mentioned during a podcast interview with Dax Shepard that being sexualized as a child took away the essence of her sexuality because she was afraid.
Natalie continued that the way she could be safe was to be like that she was conservative and serious, and one should respect her because she is smart. Maybe don’t look at her that way. The actress spoke to the Los Angeles Times where she praised director Taika Waititi and said that she loves his skill and that one has no rules or set notions on how a superhero movie should be and that having that sort of freedom and possibility is very fortunate and rare. She added that for Jane, the environment gave her the space to be caricatured and fragile, which she thinks is the interpretation a feminist character should have. Natalie Portman added that she is open to everything, especially since the character is very interesting.
