'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Natalie Portman’s transformation into the Mighty Thor for MCU’s latest offering, Thor: Love and Thunder, blew fans’ minds when the first promotional clips of the movie dropped. Portman is of much shorter stature in reality, standing at only 5 feet and three inches. However, she had to portray Mighty Thor, who is around 6 feet tall in the movie.
Furthermore, the 41-year-old actress had significantly bulked up for the role of physicist turned superhero. In her previous role as Dr. Jane Foster in the MCU, Portman did not have to pack such muscles, but Love and Thunder’s upgrade to her character from mortal to a superhero meant she was required to look the part physically. The actress had to train for ten months and follow a strict high-protein diet for her role.
In an interview with Us Weekly, Portman’s trainer Naomi Pendergast revealed more details about her muscular look in Thor: Love and Thunder. Pendergast further talked about the measures the actress had to take to reach the goal of bulking up.
What did Natalie Portman do to bulk up for her role as Mighty Thor in Love and Thunder?
Last month, Natalie Portman told Variety in an interview about the contrast between the actress’ physical appearance in her Oscar-winning role in 2010’s Black Swan compared to her look in Thor: Love and Thunder. She told the publication:
“On ‘Black Swan,’ I was asked to get as small as possible. Here, I was asked to get as big as possible. That’s an amazing challenge — and also state of mind as a woman.”
She further added:
“To have this reaction and be seen as big, you realize, ‘Oh, this must be so different, to walk through the world like this.’”
Meanwhile, in a conversation with Us Weekly, Natalie Portman’s trainer Naomi Pendergast disclosed how one of the first aims of her workout routine was to build up the definitions in the actress’ arms and abs.
Pendergast said:
“We also worked on stability and agility for injury prevention as Natalie had some dynamic stunt scenes that required her to move, twist and land in various positions. … I was also really pleased she got through the challenging stunt process without any injuries.”
Portman’s diet
In the interview, the trainer mentioned how the actress had to workout for around 2 hours regularly. However, as mentioned, sometimes the workout would be for around 90-minutes. Natalie Portman paid a lot of attention to her calorie intake to not lose the bulk of her muscle gains.
Meanwhile, her diet also required special attention since the actor is vegan. Her vegan food preferences meant that she would have to consume lots of plant-based protein in bulk in order to maintain muscle mass. This is much more difficult as animal-based foods generally have a higher protein content, making it easier to retain muscle gains. According to Naomi Pendergast, the actress supplemented the protein intake with numerous servings of protein shakes throughout the day.
The trainer further revealed that Natalie Portman’s typical breakfast meal would include “oats and berries plus a protein shake.” She added:
“Her snacks throughout the day would consist of fruit, nuts and salads…For lunch she would have a vegan falafel dish again with a protein shake, and for dinner, a vegan curry and protein shake.”
Portman’s workouts
As per the RPX Fitness director, the actress worked out for ten months in order to match Mighty Thor's physicality on-screen. Portman’s workouts included warm-up sessions that consisted of Marching arms for 30 seconds, Lat stretch for 30 seconds, Beast crawl for 30 seconds, ten repetitions of roll-down walkouts (10 repetitions), and more.
Meanwhile, her arm workouts included banded pull-ups and multiple variations of dumbbell-based exercises. These included dumbbell bicep curls, Arnold press, and tricep press.
From the muscular looks of her arms from the film and even on-set photos, it is clear that Natalie Portman indulged in weight-based training to develop her arm muscles. In addition to these workouts, Portman also tried skipping and boxing in her exercise schedule. These workouts enabled the actress to at least look the part of being an Asgardian-esque superhero, who weighed over 450 lbs (204.12 kg) in the comics as Mighty Thor.
