Thor: Ragnarok Cast Interview

By: Lynn Barker

In the new Marvel action film Thor: Ragnarok, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) are pitted against each other in mortal combat while evil Goddess of Death Hela (Cate Blanchett), who can create weapons with the power of her mind, is bent on destroying all to gain power. The new movie also features Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Jeff Goldblum as the ultimate gamer called the Grandmaster who loves to pit beings against one another in combat.

The cast admits this film was often funny and all actors had a blast playing their characters. They gathered in Los Angeles to talk on set fun and character tidbits. Check it out!

Q: Chris, what makes this Thor different from the way you’ve played him in the past?

• Chris: (Director) Taika Waititi, basically. I think we all had a vision and an idea and wanted to do something vastly different than what we’d done before, and take it to a different place.  And that meant kind of doing away with what we knew, and just reinventing it, and it all came from his crazy, wonderful brain, and his inspiration, and him pushing us every day on set, and constantly encouraging us to improvise, and explore, and take risks.  And it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had on a set, and a film that I feel the most proud of, just because of this whole team, and the collaboration, and fun we had.

Q: Mark, what aspect of the Hulk character would you love to explore?

• Mark: I would love to do a Hulk movie, and I think we all would love to do one.  But about a year ago, before I even had this part, Kevin (Feige, Marvel Producer) had asked me to come over and have a script meeting.  And basically he sat me down and he said, ‘What would you like to do if you had a stand-alone Hulk movie?’  And I said, ‘I’d like to do this, this, and this; and this and this - and then this.  And then this, and this, and this, and then it would end like this.’  And he’s like, ‘I love that.  Let’s do that over the next three movies, starting with Thor 3 and carry it on through Avengers 3 and Avengers 4.’  And so that’s my stand-alone Hulk movie.

Q: Wow, Hulkorama! Jeff, you’ve been in so many iconic films, what was it like to come into the Marvel universe? 

• Jeff: Fantastic. I like the character, of course, and the opportunities in the character.  Joining a cast like this is a dream come true.  Taika and I had a meeting, and hit it off, and he said what we were gonna do, and improvise, and have fun.  (The Marvel leaders), they know how to make these epic productions and popular movies but they want to make good movies.  And they somehow uniquely know how to do them, that feels to me like an actorly, workshop-y, character-y, improvisatory, delightful experience. I’m grateful, overwhelmingly grateful.

Q: Cate, So how was it fighting with Chris as the Goddess of Death?

• Cate:  I didn’t do enough of it.  I, I kept wanting to do more.  It was hugely enjoyable for me.  And apart from working with these guys, obviously, the chance to finally get fit, and to wear that much lycra was really exciting for me. I worked with Chris’ trainer, Zahki for 20 minutes a day, which doesn’t sound like much, but my god, it was intense.  And Zoey Bell, who is an extraordinary actress and director in her own right, was my stunt double.

Q: Was there anything that was really especially difficult for you?

• Cate: I, as Hela, had to manifest (create) these weapons and I had to throw them, and I could see Taika’s disappointment. As I threw it, I said, ‘Ha.’  And I had to stop making the noises so I had to close my mouth.  And so eventually Zoey suggested that I put some sugar packets in my hand so at least I could throw something and be real. Zoey helped me with little things like that.  She was a great action director.  So I moved from the humiliating to the exhilarating in a matter of five days.

Q: Were you familiar with Hela’s look?

• Cate: I went back to the extraordinary images that are there in the original comics, and then I went to the fan base, ‘cause there’s all these Hela fan girls who are doing these extraordinary make-ups online.  And so when we were thinking about what she’d look like visually, I went to that. 

Q: Chris, Hulk has a lot more dialogue in this film. How was that for you?

• Chris:  I loved it.  I think, this is my favorite version of the Hulk ‘cause we actually got to act together, you know.  We’d only really fought one another on screen in the previous films.  And this time around, we got to just sort of improvise our way through it, and invent this chemistry that we hadn’t explored before, and build this new version of the Hulk, which was a little bit more articulate and vocal than he had been prior.  And there’s just so much more room for the humor and fun that the character then embodies. I think it’s fantastic.  I loved it.
• Mark: I did, too.

Q: Tom, do you feel that your Loki character could ever change in future films?

• Tom: I did ask Taika if I could get a haircut, as well but his answer was a quick, ‘No.’  It’s interesting.  Thor has evolved, and grown, and matured; and Loki in a way is stuck in his struggles of the past.  And that’s, in a way, that’s the challenge for Loki in this. He’s got to confront the fact that time is moving on, and people change so I don’t know.  I mean, we’ll see. There’s room to grow, and I’m still here. We’ll see where he goes next.  I’m not going to spoil anything.

Q: Okay Chris. Thor is without his hammer in this film. Did you miss that as a prop?

• Chris: It just helped to kind of shed anything too familiar.  You know, holding the hammer, or even wearing the wig in the previous costume, certainly just put me in a place, and set me on a path of what I already knew.  And I wanted it to be unfamiliar, and so everything from the hammer, to the costume, the hair, forced me to move differently, and so that was a great thing.  And - I don’t really miss it, no.  I’ve got one at home. It’s in the toilet, actually.

See Thor: Ragnarok in theaters Thursday, November 2^nd!

 

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