Anthony Hopkins says Marvel green screen acting was “pointless”
Comments made by actor Anthony Hopkins about acting in a Marvel film have resurfaced online this week.
Back in 2021, Hopkins told The New Yorker that the green screen work that was a part of the filming experience was “pointless”.
The Welsh actor first joined the Marvel world via Thor, first appearing in Kenneth Branagh’s directed movie in 2011.
Playing Odin, the father of the titular character (who is portrayed by Chris Hemsworth), he also appeared in 2013’s Thor: The Dark World and 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.
Speaking about his time in the Marvel films, Hopkins said: “They put me in armour; they shoved a beard on me. Sit on the throne; shout a bit. If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s pointless acting it.”
Now, fans have been reacting to the comments online with some saying that they’re “with Sir Anthony and [Martin] Scorsese” on this (who as also criticised the Marvel movies in the past).
In 2019, Scorsese said films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe were “not cinema”. The director later expanded upon his criticism in an article for The New York Times, where he highlighted their negative impact on the exhibition of non-franchise films.
Another fan joked “Well I don’t think the lead role would have worked for him,” while one fan said Hopkins starring in the film was like “Einstein doing arithmetic.”
You can see some more of the reactions below.
And yet he gave one of the best line deliveries in the MCU pic.twitter.com/aYukORtqL7
— butter boy lives a tortured existence (@nic_the_buttery) June 6, 2023
You know what?
He is working. He got paid.
Not every actor’s role is Oscar worthy.— FlFlamingo (@conlau5) June 6, 2023
I am with Sir Anthony and Scorsese on this
— Nonconformist (@smj2901) June 6, 2023
To be fair, him acting in those roles was like Einstein doing arithmetic.
— Ken Oath
(@kenoath58) June 7, 2023
Meanwhile, Chris Hemsworth has described Scorsese’s and Quentin Tarantino’s past criticism of Marvel movies as “super depressing”.
Tarantino claimed Marvel actors aren’t real movie stars during a podcast appearance in November. “Part of the Marvel-ization of Hollywood is… you have all these actors who have become famous playing these characters. But they’re not movie stars. Right? Captain America is the star. Or Thor is the star. I mean, I’m not the first person to say that.”
Speaking about their comments during an interview with GQ, Hemsworth, who plays Thor in the MCU, said: “That’s super depressing when I hear that. There goes two of my heroes I won’t work with. I guess they’re not a fan of me.”
He added: “I’m thankful that I have been a part of something that kept people in cinemas. Now, whether or not those films were to the detriment of other films, I don’t know.”
“I don’t love when we start scrutinising each other when there’s so much fragility in the business and in this space of the arts as it is… I say that less to the directors who made those comments, who are all, by the way, still my heroes, and in a heartbeat I would leap to work with any of them. But I say it more to the broader opinion around that topic. I don’t think any of us have the answer, but we’re trying.”
Hemsworth also said 2022’s Thor: Love And Thunder, directed by Taika Waititi, was “too silly” for audiences. “I think we just had too much fun,” the actor said. “It just became too silly. It’s always hard being in the centre of it and having any real perspective… I love the process, it’s always a ride. But you just don’t know how people are going to respond.”
Reviewing Thor: Love and Thunder, NME said: “Credit [Taika] Waititi and co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, who ensure Love and Thunder builds to something more profound than simply another hero/villain showdown.
“Parenthood, relationships, responsibility, and mortality all come into play as Thor, well, grows up. Best of all, like Ragnarok before it, it’s tremendously entertaining. Welcome to the jungle, indeed.”
The post Anthony Hopkins says Marvel green screen acting was “pointless” appeared first on NME.
Elizabeth Aubrey
NME
