It has been almost a decade since Natalie Portman was part of a Marvel film production. In 2013, the premiere of "Thor: The Dark World" allowed her to reprise the role of Jane Foster, a renowned astrophysicist turned love interest of the God of Thunder who had already appeared in "Thor" (2011), the first installment of the Avengers saga focused on the character played by Chris Hemsworth.
For reasons that have not necessarily been public, but that apparently had to do with a change of director and the personal desire to take care of a still very young child, the Oscar winner for "Black Swan" (2010) did not participate. in "Thor: Ragnarok" (2017), which seemed to indicate his definitive retirement from the saga.
However, his publicized return to the referred universe is proof that Portman had not closed those doors, and will be reflected in American theaters from July 8 through "Thor: Love and Thunder", where a Jane is presented. which, in line with the events of some comics initially published in 2014, has taken on the powerful personality of Mighty Thor.
This implies that she now looks extremely muscular, that is, a circumstance that required a particularly intense physical preparation for the actress, who is far from being a corpulent woman and who has mostly played roles linked in some way to physical fragility.
Despite the acquired bodily strength, comic book fans know well that, amidst the undoubted advantages of joining the ranks of superheroes, Foster was simultaneously facing a terminal illness whose presence in the film adaptation was recently confirmed. by the study, but that Portman preferred to avoid during the interview that he recently offered to the Los Angeles Times in Spanish, and that you can find below both in its written version and in the video version with Spanish subtitles.
What the Israeli-American did talk about is what it meant to wear the legendary suit, her happy reunion with Hemsworth, her work with New Zealand director Taika Waititi (“Thor: Ragnarok”, “Jojo Rabbit”), the inclusive aspects of the film and, of course, the training he went through to put himself in the character's skin.
Natalie, you're playing Jane Foster for the third time on film, at least formally, but right now, she's at a very different stage in her life, both physically and emotionally. What were the challenges this time?
First of all, I was faced with a completely different way of working, which was also a wonderful way of working. I had to learn how I could prepare for this, because [director] Taika [Waititi] does a lot of improvisation; he comes up with new things every day. It was a lot of fun, but also very different for me. That was an entertaining challenge.
And of course, there were also all the physical aspects. It was something new for me to have to learn that kind of choreography and do the cable work. Most of those scenes were done by the wonderful stunt doubles I had, but I loved learning the aspects of that part of the job that I did get to do.
I know you felt very empowered wearing Thor's suit and his former hammer, but there are other moments in the movie where you had to be very vulnerable. Did you work those parts with Taika? Did you just use the script, or did you read some of the comics as well? Because I guess when you started playing her, you read the older comics, but this version, the Mighty Thor, started in 2014. How was the process in that sense?
Yes, I read the comics, which was very helpful, and obviously Taika was also a great guide. It was fun to imagine someone who just became a superhero and what it means to her, but also to imagine what happens because she has a life as a human being at the same time. I found it very interesting to be able to play both sides.
You talked about improvising on set, something that was new to you. How was that?
Very entertaining. Being able to even experience the banter between Taika and Chris [Hemsworth] was wonderful. Tessa [Thompson] was amazing too. Being around them was an incredible opportunity, an experience I will never forget. I had done dramatic improvisation before, and I think it's something similar, because you have to think of ways in which your character would react to certain situations, but with very different intentions, obviously.
