The Marvel Actor That Freaked Out Natalie Portman: “He looked terrifying”
Marvel Studios are known for their commitment to the appearance of their characters. It is not exactly easy to have mortals play the dynamically powerful, extraterrestrial beings and make them look convincing. Playing the part convincingly is easily achieved by highly skilled actors. And makeup lately has been so advanced that one could look at a completely different organism with the drop of a hat.
Working with such diverse characters is something Marvel excels at. It is awe-inspiring what happens behind the scenes. And it is quite dramatic. For instance, Natalie Portman was left horrified by looking at her co-star’s look in the film.
Natalie Portman Was Terrified of Her Marvel Co-Star When He Was In Character
During the filming of Thor: Love and Thunder, actress Natalie Portman was freaked out looking at her co-star, Christian Bale. Bale played Gorr the God Butcher in the film. His character is horrendously scary and as the name suggests, has an affinity for killing gods.
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Bale’s job on screen was phenomenal. But it was strongly aided by his look, which frightened the kids on set. And even adults. As Portman told in an interview with Total Film:
“It was terrifying whenever he was in character.”He has a very, very, very scary look, in addition to, of course, his excellent acting. But, on this one, in between, he’d be like, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ It was just a normal conversation, which was jarring, because he looked terrifying. The children would run screaming.”
Having watched the film and seeing Bale in all his Gorr-glory; one wouldn’t question being scared of him.
Christian Bale On Donning The Look For Gorr
Interestingly, Bale himself did not expect that he would have to look the part to play it. Certainly not to that extent. He had assumed that good old Marvel CGI would come in handy. As he told in an interview Total Film:
“I thought it was going to be like, stick a few dots on my face and roll up. Maybe embarrassingly in a grey unitard, but alright, I could deal with that. I enjoy humiliation.”
Unfortunately for Bale, this is not what happened.
Recalling his thoughts when it hit him that prosthetics are involved, Bale said:
“You’ve got a 2am call. And then it was like, ‘Oh, no, I’m sitting for four hours, doing prosthetics.’ Somehow, I hadn’t heard that.”
Marvel usually forgoes the whole prosthetic procedure and just sticks to special effects wherever possible. It is certainly interesting that they chose not to do that with Gorr. It made the character feel more real in a way.
Thor: Love and Thunder is available for streaming on Disney+.
