Thor: Love and Thunder star Natalie Portman discusses how she bulked up to play the Goddess of Thunder or Lady Thor as Marvel Comics called her.
Portman will return as Jane Foster in the fourth film of the Thor franchise and will turn into Lady Thor. She spoke to Vanity Fair recently and revealed how she trained for the new role. “It was really fun,” Portman said. “I worked with a trainer, Naomi Pendergast, for, I think it was, four months before shooting, and then obviously all the way through filming. We did a lot of weight training and a lot of protein shakes—heavyweight training that I haven’t ever done before. Of course, I’ve never really aimed to get bulky. It was very physical, so it was a lot of both agility work and also strength work.”
Like Black Swan, the physical training helped put her in a mindset of the character she’s playing. In Thor: Love and Thunder, Portman’s Jane Foster will become Thor.
“It definitely helps you get into character, and it’s definitely changed the way I move. You walk differently; you feel different. I mean, it’s so wild to feel strong for the first time in my life.”
There’s still a lot left unknown about how she’ll turn into Lady Thor, but Portman returning as Jane Foster and lifting Mjolnir has been revealed for some time now. Thor: Love and Thunder is speculated to start with Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Guardians of the Galaxy exploring together after the events of Avengers: Endgame, as many members of the galactic team are confirmed to be in the film.
At some point, Asgardians of the Galaxy will have to go on their separate ways. And Thor, Valkyrie, Korg, and the surviving Asgardians will have to go against Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher. Hopefully, with Jane Foster’s newly found powers along with the return of Sif (Jamie Alexander), they’ll have a better chance of surviving against the latest villain in the Thor franchise.
Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi used a new film technology for the Valkyrie vs. Hela flash memory scene in Thor: Ragnarok. Waititi will use groundbreaking technology to take visual effects to the next level in the fourth film.
See Portman’s physical training in action as Lady Thor in Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder when it premieres in theaters on May 6, 2022.
