Chris Hemsworth on Thor (film)

“VAN METER: Thor is a Norse god, so why does he speak with an old English accent and always say thee and thy? HEMSWORTH: For whatever reason, we relate to anything godlike with an English accent. The English are very proud of that. And with anything Roman or gladiators, they have an English accent. For an audience, it is an easy trick to hook people in.”

“At the beginning of this film, he’s certainly a brash, cocky warrior who’s about to inherit the keys to the kingdom, and his father thinks that he’s not ready. It’s the journey of him learning some humility through the film. I think he’s one of those people who has his heart in the right place. He’s doing what he’s doing for his family and to protect the kingdom, and he thinks it’s the right way to do it. It just happens to be a very aggressive way of doing it, which probably isn’t the right way. It’s about tempering that raw emotion that he drives off most of the time, into the right direction.”

“Q: Chris, with the physical demands of the role aside, how did you approach the role of The Mighty Thor? HEMSWORTH: I started with the comic books. I didn’t read all of them – there are 40 or 50 years worth – but I certainly read enough to get a sense of who he was and the world he was from. And then, I read some things on Norse mythology and the fatalistic view they have, that everything is pre-ordained. That would lead the Vikings into a fearless attitude in battle and with their lives. They would certainly back their opinions and they were not swayed easily. That spoke volumes to me about the character. You fill your head with whatever information and research you have, but on set it was just about making it truthful and finding a simpler way that I could relate to it. Instead of thinking about how to play a powerful God, it became about scenes between fathers and sons, and brothers. You personalize that and that helps ground the story for an audience. That way, we can relate to it and, hopefully, an audience can too.”