Anthony Hopkins railed against his role in “Marvel” movies

Hollywood star
“Senseless spectacle”: Anthony Hopkins railed against his role in “Marvel” movies

For cinema legend Anthony Hopkins, 85, taking part in the three “Thor” films was apparently not much fun – nor was it serious acting.

He has been in front of the camera in Hollywood since the 1960s: Anthony Hopkins, 85, is an acting legend. Having become immortal as Hannibal Lecter in “The Silence of the Lambs”, he also played in films such as “King Lear”, “Bram Stoker’s Dracula”, “Hitchcock” or “Amistad”. He has two Oscars for best actor to call his own, and he has also been nominated for the trophy eight times. If anyone has an informed opinion on good films and exciting roles, it has to be Hopkins.

It should be all the more bitter for studios and producers how the 85-year-old says about the numerous, opulent “Marvel” action films. How the superhero strips have been rolling over the cinemas for years and hardly give other films a chance has long been criticized by many cinema lovers. This clearly agrees with Hopkins, who played Odin in the films “Thor” from 2011, “Thor – The Dark Kingdom” from 2013 and “Thor – Day of Decision” from 2017.

Anthony Hopkins had little fun filming ‘Thor’

For the Hollywood star, it’s all about the acting experience. “They put me in front of a green screen, put me in armor, put a beard on my face. ‘Sit on the throne, then yell a little.’ It’s pointless acting when you do it in front of a green screen,” he said in an interview. The fact that he even accepted the role in the superhero trilogy was thanks to director Kenneth Branagh, who oversaw the first of the three films. The Brit was previously best known as an actor of Shakespeare and Hopkins hit it off instantly. He even said that without Branagh’s encouragement, he would have retired years ago.

So while he found the first “Thor” movie passable, his enthusiasm for the two sequels quickly waned. Here Kenneth Branagh no longer directed, but Alan Taylor in part two and Taika Waititi in part three. However, Anthony Hopkins should console himself with the fact that he could collect an extremely substantial fee for his appearances in the three “Marvel” films. According to industry reports, he was paid more than $50 million for each of the three parts.

Sources: “Daily Mail”, “New Yorker”, “IndieWire”