The Marvel Cinematic Universe has played host to some very prolific actors over the last 10+ years, however, few are as prolific as the man who brought Odin to life for all three entries in the Thor trilogy, Sir Anthony Hopkins. While audiences may remember Hopkins’ turn as the father to Thor and Loki (kind of) and one of the trilogy’s highlights, the actor doesn’t feel the same.
During an interview with The New Yorker, Anthony Hopkins briefly recalled his time working on the first Thor movie, and his frustrations on the project.
“On Thor, you have Chris Hemsworth—who looks like Thor—and a director like Kenneth Branagh, who is so certain of what he wants. They put me in armor; 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.”
Hopkins’ frustrations seem to be a small part of a much larger problem, with many MCU actors stating that they feel swallowed up by the Marvel machine, with their acting abilities being used to “stare up at the glowing thing in the sky” in almost every movie. Before appearing in the MCU, Hopkins was best known for playing Hannibal Lecter, in The Silence of the Lambs, a performance that earned him his Oscar. Now, younger audiences know him primarily as Thor’s dad, than they do for his stellar performances throughout the 90s.
The first Thor movie, directed by Sir Kenneth Branagh (Death on the Nile) was moderately well received, however, its sequel Thor: The Dark World, which saw Alan Taylor (Game of Thrones) take over the directing role, was poorly received by fans and critics, frequently being regarded as the MCU’s weakest movie – up until its recent run of stinkers. It wasn’t until Taika Waititi‘s (JoJo Rabbit) Thor: Ragnarok that the franchise found its stride, reimagining Thor as a comedic character, rather than the machismo brute he is commonly known as.
Hopkins’ played Odin in all three films, however, his screen time diminished with each entry, and his character was killed off at the start of Thor: Ragnarok. Hopkins has several upcoming projects, including starring in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon for Netflix.
