Chris Hemsworth finished shooting his scenes as the title character in Thor last week and has since been interviewed about the Marvel Studios production on several occasions. While he does give the usual media-trained response and avoidance of any major revelations about the Thor movie, he does talk about his costume, shooting such an epic movie and The Avengers.
Hemsworth was recently in attendance at the Australians In Film Breakthrough Awards ceremony in Hollywood where SuperHeroHype and About.com caught up to the soon-to-be-superstar actor to talk Thor.
When Chris Hemsworth was officially cast as Thor there was a generally positive reaction from fans and rightfully so. Not only was he a fresh face in the industry who looked the part, but he’s very enthusiastic about the role and what Marvel Studios has planned for him going forward. [Warning: Minor Spoiler regarding Iron Man 2 Easter Egg]
But is he really excited?
“Absolutely! I just finished shooting last Thursday, and saw Iron Man 2 the other day–which I loved–and saw the tag at the end. I was with a bunch of mates and we all got kind of giddy watching it. I can’t wait! It was such an incredible four months shooting that film, and I think the film’s going to be fantastic.”
What did Hemsworth want to do with the character in bringing him to life?
“We just kept trying to humanize it all, and keep it very real. Look into all the research about the comic books that we could, but also bring it back to ‘Who is this guy as a person, and what’s his relationship with people in the individual scenes?’ And working with someone like Kenneth Branagh, who has all those bases covered and has so many ideas, it was a hell of a time!”
About.com also had the chance to speak with Chris at a Hollywood ceremony and chatted about Thor.
What did he think about the Thor costume?
“Oh, it was crazy. I remember the first camera test and putting it on and going, ‘Oh my god,’ and then everyone who came and looked at it was like, ‘Wow, this is a monumental sort of moment.’ And standing in it was a very odd experience, you know? But it was beautiful. I mean, Alex Byrne designed the costume and they spent I think almost two years kind of leading up and building that thing and setting it up. It really paid off. The thing is incredible. It’s not very comfortable, but…”
Are there any specific action moments or scenes that fans should look forward to?
“Oh god, I mean the whole thing. The action sequences in this, Andy Armstrong and Vic Armstrong – the geniuses who have been doing stunts in this business for 20 or 30 years – did the stunts on this, and I’ve never seen anything like what they set up and all the stunt guys what they put together, wire gags but then also real hand-to-hand sort of combat. I mean incredible sets. Bo Welch built these sets and we hardly used any green screen. There were these big recreations of Asgard, this sort of sci-fi, Viking mixture.”
How about the mystical hammer Mjolnir, the same weapon we saw buried in a crater out in New Mexico at the end of Iron Man 2?
“It’s incredible. I tried to steal it but they wouldn’t let me. It’s a beautiful piece of design, equipment, whatever… What would you call it? Weapon. No, it’s incredible. It looks just like what they have in the comics with the engravings from Asgard.”
After Thor and The First Avenger: Captain America, the next movie confirmed to come out of Marvel Studios is The Avengers. How is Chris Hemsworth prepping for it?
“Look, I just sat down with the Marvel guys and Joss Whedon recently and talked about it. It starts next January, I think, or February, around that time we start shooting. And I think it’s going to be a hell of a ride. When you bring in Iron Man and Captain America and whoever else they wrangle from the Marvel universe, it’s going to be a hell of a film.”
After news surfaced that Joss Whedon would be helming The Avengers, it was reported as unconfirmed but this is just more evidence to the contrary.
It sounds like principal photography on Kenneth Branagh’s Thor is near done and we’re set for the big trailer reveal at International Comic-Con. It also appears that they’re already running with The Avengers with a start date at the beginning of 2011, as we’ve also heard from Samuel L. Jackson previously.
I don’t need to say it again, but I will anyway; Thor is my most anticipated Marvel character movie and has been for years. All signs point to this being something very special and we’ll let you know if it delivers live from Comic-Con this July.
Follow me on Twitter @rob_keyes.
Iron Man 2 is currently in theaters everywhere, Thor opens May 5, 2011, The First Avenger: Captain America hits July 22, 2011 and The Avengers is scheduled to debut May 4, 2012.
Sources: SHH, About.com
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