One of Hollywood’s most bankable stars, especially after the Oscar-winning Black Swan, Natalie Portman returns to the Thor franchise as Jane Foster. Playing the astrophysicist must have been refreshing for this actress, who has to her credit intense roles in Closer,The Other Boleyn Girl and Your Highness more recently. In the Thor franchise, Portman’s character developed a relationship with the protagonist (Chris Hemsworth) when he was banished to Earth by his father in the first film.
“I watched a bunch of physics documentaries, like Physics For Dummies,” she had said in an interview recently, adding that a highlight on the sets was punching Tom Hiddleston, who plays the god Loki, in the face. “He
acted like he could handle it, but I think I actually hurt him,” she was reported saying. Also, because her character spends time on Asgard in this film, Portman had a chance to work with Anthony Hopkins, who plays Thor’s father King Odin, and Rene Russo, who plays his mother, Frigga. Portman found the experience to be enlightening.
“They’re two actors I so admire and they were so incredibly lovely - like beyond your wildest dreams lovely. So warm and normal and so
impressive, doing really wonderful things with their scenes that I never imagined while reading them,” she says.
This film marks the first time that Portman has worked with director Alan Taylor, whose work on television’s Game of Thrones brought him to the attention of Marvel. “Alan made this film so epic. I think it’s such a grand scale and it really sort of feels operatic when you see just how large everything is,” she continues, adding, “I was really happy that Jane got to be a little funnier this time.”
Thor 2: The Dark World is in theatres now.