Imagine sitting in a room with Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Mark Ruffalo (Hulk/Bruce Banner), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Cate Blanchett (Hela) and Jeff Goldblum (The Goldmaster). That’s pretty exciting right? Well imagine if you will (again) adding Kevin Feige (President of Marvel Studios), Taika Waititi (Thor: Ragnarok Director), Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie),
Rachel House (Topaz) and Karl Urban (Skurge) to that same room. It’s too much awesomeness in one place right? No wonder the energy was high and the room was filled with laughter as we got to hear the cast of Thor: Ragnarok answer questions about filming or the film itself during the official Thor: Ragnarok Press Conference. Having already seen the movie, I could tell that their chemistry (in the movie) and in real life is what makes this film so great.
Here’s what they the cast of Thor: Ragnarok had to say…
- This was one of the most enjoyable experiences he has had on set.
“…And it was one of the most enjoyable experiences I’ve ever had on a set, and a film that I feel the most proud of, just because of this – this whole team, and the collaboration, and fun we had.” – Chris Hemsworth
- This version of Hulk is Chris’ favorite.
“I loved it. I think, this is my favorite version of the Hulk ‘cause we actually got to act together, you know. We’d only really fought one another on screen in the previous films. And this time around, we got to just sort of improvise our way through it, and sort of invent this chemistry that we hadn’t explored before, and sort of build this new version of the Hulk, which was a little bit more articulate and vocal than he had been prior. And there’s just so much more room for the humor and fun that the character then embodies. I think it’s fantastic. I loved it.” – Chris Hemsworth
“I did, too.” – Mark Ruffalo
- Mark Ruffalo would love to do a HULK movie.
“I would love to do a Hulk movie, and I think we all would love to do one. But about a year ago, before I even had this part or were talking about doing this, Kevin had asked me to come over and have a script meeting…he sat me down and he said, ‘What would you like to do if you had a stand-alone Hulk movie?’ And I said, ‘I’d like to do this, this, and this; and this and this – and then this. And then this, and this, and this, and then it would end like this.’ And he’s like, ‘I love that. Let’s do that over the next three movies, starting with Thor 3 and carry it on through Avengers 3 and Avengers 4.’ And so that’s my stand-alone Hulk movie.” – Mark Ruffalo
- Be on the look out for some “Easter Eggs”
“There might be some things in the trash piles. I mean, the biggest Easter eggs are on the side of the Sakaran Palace – right, Taika? There are previous Grandmaster champions that we see, as one for Hulk is being constructed, and those are all sort of Easter eggs for the deeper comic universe – that may or may not ever show up in the cinematic universe, but we thought it’d be fun to celebrate.” – Kevin Feige
“Yeah. And in the trash pile, there is one Easter egg, an actual egg.” – Taika Waititi
- Tom Hiddleston asked Taika if Loki could get a haircut for this film as well.
“but his answer was a quick, ‘No.’ – Tom Hiddleston
- Tom went on to discuss the relationship between Thor and Loki and Loki’s character going forward (without any spoilers).
“It’s interesting. I mean, in a way, in this film, it is about the development of the relationship between Thor and Loki…Thor has evolved, and grown, and matured; and Loki in a way is stuck in his struggles of the past. And that’s, in a way, that’s the challenge for Loki in this, is that he’s got to confront the fact that time is moving on, and people change…We’ll see. There’s room to grow, and I’m still here. And we’ll see where he goes next. I’m not going to spoil anything.”
- There was a lot of healthy competition on set between Mark, Chris and Cate Blanchett
Chris Hemsworth: That’s why don’t sit next to each other.
Cate Blanchett: Yeah. Mark was always in the middle.
Mark Ruffalo: Yeah. And I’m, and I’m sick of it.
[LAUGHTER]
Chris Hemsworth: I mean, we had the New Zealand/Australian competition –
Cate Blanchett: Oh, yeah.
Karl Urban: Yeah. Well, there’s been very intense robbery between our two nations
Chris Hemsworth: For thousands of years and even though my country’s only existed for a couple of hundred – it goes back before that.
Karl Urban: Well, I liked to – I mean, you know – you know, apart from the experience of making a big movie, I like to think that the real reason we did this was to bridge the gap between our two nations, [LAUGHTER] and foster some sort of kinship and peace, because the New Zealand/Australian War must end.
- If you ask Cate, she doesn’t think she did enough fighting with Chris…she found it to be quite enjoyable.
Cate Blanchett: I didn’t do enough of it. I, I kept wanting to do more.
Chris Hemsworth: You wanted to hit me.
Cate Blanchett: But no, it was hugely enjoyable for me. And apart from working with these guys, obviously, the chance to finally, in my deep middle age, to get fit, and to wear that much lycra was really exciting for me.
[LAUGHTER]
- Pretending to manifest weapons was a bit difficult for Cate to do and she would do sound effects while doing them too.
Cate Blanchett: …I had to manifest these weapons out of my – I’m not spoiling anything by saying that –
Kevin Feige: Uh-uh.
Cate Blanchett: Have I just lost my chance to be in the sequel?
[LAUGHTER]Cate Blanchett: I had to – well, I manifest weapons, and I had to throw them, and I could see Taika’s disappointment as I threw it, I said, ‘Ha.’ And I had to stop making the noises, because I’d go, ‘Ha.’ And so I had to close my mouth. And so eventually Zoey suggested that I put some sugar, which was deeply humiliating – sugar packets in my hand so at least I could throw something and be real…So I moved from the humiliating to the exhilarating in a matter of five days.
Mark Ruffalo: I’m so glad you’re not the only person he looked at like that.
Cate Blanchett: I know. It was the suit that you were wearing. It was really bad.
Mark Ruffalo: He looked disappointed in me a lot.
[LAUGHTER]Taika Waititi: Well…You know…Lucky they don’t have the Oscar category for throwing.
- Jeff Goldblum thought working on this film was “Fantastic”!
“I like the character, of course, and the opportunities in the character. Joining a group like this, a cast like this is a dream come true. Working with Taika, that was my first connection point to the movie. We had a meeting, and hit it off, and he said what we were gonna do, and improvise, and have fun. But then, Kevin Feige and Louis D’Espesito, and Victoria Alonso, and Brad Winderbaum – the whole upper tier of creative leaders, do something unique. They know how to make these epic productions, and popular movies, but they want to make good movies. And they somehow uniquely know how to do them, that feels to me like an actorly, workshop-y, character-y, improvisatory, delightful experience…I’m grateful, overwhelmingly grateful.” – Jeff Goldblum
- Taika would sometimes throw lines in there for them to try while filming.
“Taika would just keep throwing lines. And there was one day when, when we’re on set, and I had, ‘I’m the Goddess of the Death, and what are you the God of, again?’ And Chris had said, ‘I’m the God of…’ and Taika said, ‘Dumbos.’”
[LAUGHTER] – Cate Blanchett
- Tessa Thompson is up for doing a Valkyrie solo movie.
Tessa Thompson: “Recently, I marched up with a couple other women that work in Marvel, and we were like, to Kevin, ‘What about a movie with some female superheroes – just like, all of them.’
Kevin Feige: It was a pretty amazing moment to be somewhere and have your shoulder get tapped, and turn around, and every female hero we have was standing there going, ‘How about it?’…And I said, ‘Yes.’
- Taika would play music on set…he made it fun.
“I really appreciated the environment that Taika created on the set. It was fun; it was focused. He would often play music. And there was nothing sacrilegious about a take. Quite often, you’d be in the middle of a take and he’d go, ‘Oh, try this, or try that.’ and it was just wonderful. It felt like everybody had your back, we had fun.” – Karl Urban
- Chris was OK with not having the hammer as a prop throughout the whole film like he has in the past.
“It just helped kind of shed anything too familiar. You know, I feel like, well, holding the hammer, or even the wig in the previous costume, certainly just put me in a place, and set me on a path of what I already knew. And I wanted it to be unfamiliar, and so everything from the hammer, to the costume, the hair – made me, and allowed me to move differently, and forced me to move differently, and so that was a great thing. And – I don’t really miss it, no. I’ve got one at home.” – Chris Hemsworth
I loved being a part of the Thor: Ragnarok Press Conference!
Want to know more about Thor: Ragnarok? Check out my interviews with Marvel’s President Kevin Feige, Director Taika Waititi, Karl Urban (“Skurge”), Rachel House (“Topaz”) and more!
Check out my Thor: Ragnarok Movie Review (Spoiler Free) and take a look at my Thor: Ragnarok Premiere Experience.
Marvel Studios’ Thor: Ragnarok opens in U.S. theaters on November 3rd…Go and see it, you won’t regret it.
Disclosure: I went on this trip as part of a Disney/ABC/Freeform press trip. All of my travel, lodging and meal expenses were covered by them. No other compensation was received. However, all opinions/thoughts are 100% my own
