Anthony Hopkins Calls His Performance In Marvel’s Thor “Pointless Acting”

A new report from The New Yorker regarding the way the Marvel Cinematic Universe has “swallowed Hollywood” revealed an interesting tidbit regarding renowned actor Anthony Hopkins’ feelings on his role as Odin in the MCU’s Thor franchise. “If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s pointless acting it,” Hopkins told the publication.

This may come as a surprise to fans of the MCU’s Thor film series, as Hopkins’ performance–especially in the first Thor film–received high praise. Directed by Kenneth Branagh, the 2011 film had a distinctly Shakespearean feel to it that elevated the source material into something modern audiences could relate to–even audiences who were unfamiliar with the comic series upon which the films are based.

But after reading the script, Hopkins allegedly marked up several pages, scrawling “N.A.R.” across them. In a previous interview with the New Yorker, he revealed what the acronym meant–and where he got it from.

“No Acting Required,” Hopkins said of the acronym. “I try to apply it to everything I do: no acting required. 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. [They said] ‘Sit on the throne; shout a bit.'”

This evidently led to his No Acting Required stance when it came to many of the film’s scenes. As for the acronym’s origin, Hopkins’ inspiration may be a bit surprising to some.

“Gregory Peck was doing Moby Dick, and one of the props guys found his script on the set,” Hopkins explained. “He opened it up and Gregory Peck had written on a certain page, ‘N.A.R.’ So [the prop handler] asked, ‘What does this mean, Mr. Peck?’ He said “No acting required. You just look at the sea, and that’s it!’ And that’s true!”

Despite evidently phoning-it-in during some portions of the film, the end product sold well, and Hopkins apparently enjoyed himself to some degree. After all, he did reprise his role for both Thor: The Dark World and Thor: Ragnarok, and archival footage of Hopkins was also used for cameos in both Disney Plus’s Loki TV series and Thor: Love and Thunder.