00:00I can be bad at spoilers.
00:02I give spoilers sometimes, and I don't mean to.
00:04And so I feel like I'm going to withhold that information.
00:08But I think that fans might think that we don't have an answer,
00:12and there is one.
00:15And it's cool.
00:16Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?
00:18I'm thinking it.
00:18What are we thinking?
00:19Thinking what?
00:20I'm thinking it, too.
00:26This is notably the first Thor movie
00:29that doesn't have Tom Hiddleston in it.
00:30And obviously, he is such a big part of this franchise.
00:32What was that experience like, not having him around?
00:35He didn't want to be involved.
00:37He said, I hate all of you, and in particular, me.
00:41And I was like, that's a shame, and that's it.
00:43I mean, how many times could we kill him?
00:45Is the big question.
00:48He's tired.
00:49How many times has he died?
00:50Three, four?
00:52I guess maybe it's like burn bridges
00:53so that he's not feeling emotional about it, right?
00:56Yeah.
00:57We love Tom.
00:58We love Tom.
00:59Yeah.
00:59But he's dead.
01:00Not him, but the character of Loki.
01:02Just, no, not, he's just dead to us.
01:04He's obviously dead to us.
01:05Yeah.
01:05As far as friendship goes.
01:08The one that got away.
01:09The one that got away.
01:10That means escaped.
01:12Yeah.
01:12Yeah.
01:13I mean, just having the experience of being in Thor Ragnarok,
01:16having the opportunity to work with Taika Waititi,
01:18I'm curious how early in the process
01:19in the making of this movie were you in his ear
01:22just saying what you wanted for Valkyrie,
01:24and just what you were most passionate about?
01:25Super early on, actually.
01:27Yeah, he pitched me some early ideas,
01:30and then I pitched things back,
01:32and then some of the things I pitched are in the movie,
01:34and some of the things that he pitched aren't are there,
01:37and it was really a process that was evolving,
01:40which was so fun for me,
01:43because, like, I don't know,
01:45I'm still so new to the camp, you know?
01:47And I trust what Marvel does,
01:51and Kevin, and everyone there,
01:54so I'm just sort of like, whatever, I'll just show up, you know?
01:56And this time around, it was also fun to, like, spitball ideas,
02:00and to be asked, you know, what I thought,
02:02and, yeah, it's been so cool to be a part of that process.
02:06It was really exciting getting to imagine with Taika and Chris
02:11and Jen, our co-writer with Taika,
02:16the kind of intermittent years between, you know, Dark World and here.
02:22I mean, or, I guess, Avengers and here.
02:26But it was, yeah, it was exciting also to get to kind of fill in
02:30the pieces of Thor and Jane's relationship as well.
02:33What's it been, like, three, four years?
02:36Eight years.
02:37Seven months and six days, give or take.
02:39And do you think she got whipped?
02:42Possible.
02:43You know, Taika described a much larger story, you know, to me,
02:48and obviously we reference the Jason Aaron comic books as well,
02:52about, you know, gore.
02:53So this is my vow.
02:56All gods will die.
02:58He then presented it in a different order than had been anticipated.
03:03But you get somebody who you feel incredible pain and great sympathy for,
03:07but then someone who becomes an absolute monster based on his pain.
03:11He's a fascinating villain and the villain was so much fun to play.
03:15How exciting!
03:16And Taika Waititi is known for just basically promoting creativity
03:20and just invention on set.
03:22Was that something that you found that you personally engaged with?
03:24Yeah, and necessary because when you're surrounded by blue screen each and every day,
03:28you need, you need extra imagination, you know, to keep yourself going.
03:32And I've not made a film like that before.
03:36And Taika, yeah, he uses music.
03:39He uses, you know, his great sense of humor,
03:41but absolute wonderful sincerity and emotion.
03:44It is a beautiful film.
03:45And I think people will expect it to be bloody funny, and it is,
03:50but it is also incredibly moving as well, which is very surprising.
03:53The two go hand in hand, right?
03:55As they always have throughout history, comedy and tragedy,
03:57and Taika does it effortlessly.
03:59He insists on spontaneity at all times,
04:02and it's so incredible to be reminded of that non-stop.
04:07I mean, he rarely does what's on the page,
04:10and it's really quite a radical way to work on a movie of this size
04:14and really fun atmosphere.
04:16And he just brings a lot of joy and fun and kind of mischief
04:20to like every moment of every day.
04:22Is it intimidating at all?
04:24It's definitely a new way of working because it's so,
04:30you really have to be like, like relinquish control
04:34and just like go with what happens.
04:37And, but I think he creates such a kind environment
04:41that it's not, like he's not an intimidating person.
04:44He's a very like warm, embracing person.
04:46So it really, it makes you feel like safe to try whatever.
04:52Yeah, I had a lot more confidence this time to just like come with ideas.
04:57And, and also I just feel like my knowledge of the character and the universe
05:02and the world has matured so much.
05:04So I felt more comfortable in that space.
05:06The first time around, I was just like, I'm just learning, you know,
05:09I'm like learning the ropes.
05:11And this time still, there's like so much to always learn,
05:15but it's really fun to figure out how to, you know,
05:19marry the things that are canon about the character
05:21and also explore the things that we bring as actors into the MCU.
05:26And to me, the most exciting journey is like, I'm a fan of these movies
05:30and a fan of these characters just as an audience member way before making these movies.
05:34And the, the, the most exciting thing is to see the marriage of really an actor with what is canon
05:40and, and the MCU with what is canon.
05:45And it's so fun.
05:46And then also if you put those characters into new environments,
05:50it's then, then you have the chance to imagine what they would be in those spaces.
05:54So for example, with Valkyrie, it's like, if she comes to earth, like what,
05:58what does that mean for her?
06:00Does she become a musical theater fan?
06:02Yeah, maybe she does.
06:03And she loves Phantom of the Opera.
06:05And that's like fun.
06:06You know, it doesn't take anything away from what exists in the comics.
06:09It's just expanding on what we know and understand and love about the character.
06:13Oh.
06:16Shall we help him?
06:18I mean, eventually.
06:19Great.
06:19I also want to ask about working with Russell Crowe as Zeus,
06:22because it's such a bombastic performance,
06:25but also that costume that he has is just perfect.
06:28Remind.
06:29Well, it's like, yeah, it's a nice little homage to Gladiator
06:32with the breastplate and stuff.
06:33And then also like the little tutu thing.
06:36The skirt thing.
06:37And also full credit to him.
06:38You know, he's like the powerhouse of an actor.
06:40And to be able to embrace that and go, okay, I know what they're doing.
06:43Yeah, the self-deprecating.
06:44And he was like, okay, I'll play along.
06:46You know how the whole...
06:47With the skirt left him?
06:48All him?
06:48Yeah, yeah, yeah.
06:49Nice.
06:49Yeah.
06:50No, that self-deprecating kind of make a fool of myself kind of attitude that he was down for was
06:55brilliant.
06:56Yeah.
06:56And brought such another surprising element to the space that I think audiences would have expected.
07:03And you do get the chance to work with a new weapon in this one too.
07:05Yeah.
07:06You get to work with that Thunderbolt.
07:07I'm just curious, because it doesn't seem super wieldy.
07:09How do you fight with that?
07:10No, it's pretty hard.
07:11And to be honest, like give me a couple more months with that Thunderbolt and I might have
07:16really learned some tricks.
07:17I got okay with it, but Russell Crowe is so good.
07:21And I hope he doesn't mind that I'm saying this, but I like watched him.
07:25He would rehearse sometimes outside of my trailer with it.
07:28And I would watch him because he's really good.
07:32He's like so, so fantastic at it.
07:34But I mean, that's the thing is like you spend, I remember when I had Dragon Fang and it was
07:39like,
07:39I was first training with that weapon and my two daggers.
07:42I would spend so much time.
07:43They become like your, you become intimate with them in a way.
07:47So the Thunderbolt was fun to wield, but it's not, it's not my weapon.
07:51So I forgive myself for not being perfect at it.
07:54This movie is a lot about intimate relationship with weapons.
07:56I know.
07:57That is like the funniest thing.
07:59Cause that was actually something that really developed in the course of shooting the film
08:03and then seeing it last night, especially it works like a charm.
08:07It's just like, so, so funny.
08:09Are you packed?
08:12Yes.
08:12What I really love about your performance is just the contrast that exists between Jane Foster and Mighty Thorpe.
08:18You carry yourself very differently in both parts of that role.
08:20I'm curious just to what extent you compartmentalized the performances and just saw them as different things.
08:26Yeah, I absolutely was.
08:28I was very grateful to have kind of the human and the superhero aspects because I think it's so meaningful
08:35to get to see someone who can be quite powerful and also have a lot of vulnerability.
08:43Um, I think there's kind of a misunderstanding that like a feminist character is just like badass, tough person.
08:50And I find it much more, yeah, I feel like it's very human to have all of the sides, you
08:58know, the vulnerability, the challenges, the weakness, the finding strength, finding power, um, is something I can relate to a
09:06lot more.
09:06I just want to say that was very, very impressive what you did back there.
09:10So this is kind of a strange question, five years into your Marvel tenure, but I am curious, is Valkyrie
09:15her name or is her name Brunhilde and Valkyrie is her title?
09:19You know, that's an interesting question.
09:24Which I don't know, I, this is the thing.
09:28I'm, I'm, I can be bad at spoilers.
09:31Sure.
09:31I give spoilers sometimes and I don't mean to.
09:33And so I feel like I'm going to withhold that information.
09:36Okay.
09:36But I think that fans might think that we don't have an answer and there is one.
09:42There is one.
09:42Um, and it's cool.
09:46Nice.
09:48I love that, that's a great tune.
09:49Okay, we should go.
09:52Yeah, we should go.
09:59Yep.
