Chris Hemsworth discusses playing a villainous role in Furiosa, says capes are "so impractical"

Actor Chris Hemsworth recently opened up about his upcoming role as a villain, which is a departure from his stint as the Marvel superhero Thor. In his interview with Entertianment Weekly for their Summer Movie Preview cover published on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, the 40-year-old Austrailan quipped —

"Yeah, it was a real departure, and it was nice... I was about to say it was nice not to wear a cape, but... I did have a cape in this film. And it’s red... or it becomes red eventually, as well. The absurdity of that."

Hemsworth is referring to his role as Dementus, a sociopathic warlord, in his upcoming Mad Max: Fury Road prequel, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. His look in the movie includes donning a cape. Previously, he wore a red cape for his role as Thor.

As the actor compared the two roles, his co-star, Anya Taylor Joy, questioned if all these years of wearing capes made him hate the costume accessory. He promptly replied—

"Hate ‘em. So impractical."

To emphasize his point, Chris Hemsworth elaborated on how he constantly got his cape stuck in doors. The actor added that he had two different capes while shooting Marvel films. One was a foot shorter than the other to aid while shooting the fighting sequence. Otherwise, he was "tripping over it all the time," given how it was "so impractical."

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"A wonderful departure to it" — Chris Hemsworth weighs in on playing a villan

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is the fifth film in the post-apocalyptic franchise, Mad Max. It stars Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular lead, along with Chris Hemsworth, Tom Burke, and Alyla Browne.

While discussing the "absurdity" of wearing capes for his two roles with director George Miller, Chris Hemsworth remarked that it was not intentional on Miller's part.

"It’s not intentional to be a comparison of Thor. But I found a wonderful departure to it. To play the villain, transform, and inhabit a completely different physicality was a lot of fun. I loved it. And it was the real attraction."

Hemsworth has played the role of Thor in the MCU since 2011, appearing in several features and shows. While the 40-year-old felt some apprehension about appearing as the villanous character, he explained that part of the appeal to star in Furiosa was the opportunity to break away from the superhero mold, in addition to working with Miller.

He elaborated that acting in a superhero film is a "somewhat predictable box," and ensued "a lot of rules."

"Besides working with George, was just to dirty it up and to be messy and ugly and violent and chaotic, rather than being in the somewhat predictable box of the hero in a superhero space. There's a whole lot of rules that you have to stick to... With this, I could throw that out the window, which was nice."

On the other hand, while discussing her role as Furiosa, Anya Taylor-Joy explained it was a "challenge" to her "body and soul." Chris Hemsworth agreed with his co-star, adding that it was a "good thing" and that it forced him to go deeper into the role. He explained that challenges and adversity are "where the growth occurs."

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Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is set for a world premiere at the 77th Cannes Film Festival on May 15, 2024. It will be released in Austria on May 23 and a day later in the United States.