Jaimie Alexander’s character “Sif” is a warrior goddess of Asgard an offsider to the comic book hero Thor (Chris Helmsworth). Thor also stars Natalie Portman as Scientist Jane Foster, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Thor’s father and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye. Jaimie’s previous appearances have been in the television series Nurse Jackie as Tunie Peyton and as Carol in Love and Other Drugs. It is her first time in Australia and she is aware of good old Adelaide as her stunt double originates from her. Fresh from her red carpet premiere experience she is delightfully engaging and simply gorgeous.
TJ: How did you become involved with the production?
JA: I went to the audition in Los Angeles and then a week later I had a Skype Date with the director Kenneth Branagh. This was pretty cool as I didn’t have to do an audition tape for him.
TJ: Were you familiar with the Thor comics prior to filming?
JA: I grew up reading comics like Spiderman and X-men and was familiar with Thor. I obviously got into it and starting researching prior to my audition. I really liked the fact that my character of Sif was strong, intelligent and stoic as well as physical.
TJ: Your role is quite physical what kind of preparation did you have to do?
JA: I did 3 months with a personal trainer with involved weight training, yoga and martial arts for 90 minutes a day. The rest of the remaining 7 hours I did stunt training which occurred 4 days a week and was daily testing my physical limits. I was also the only girl training. Initially I was on a strict diet but after losing a lot of weight Kenneth Branagh actually encouraged me to eat pizza as he wanted healthy, strong looking women. On the set we had lots of healthy choices like fish, vegetables, boiled eggs but after the battle sequences I was looking for a sugar energy fix.
TJ: Have you kept up the training regime?
JA: Yes except I don’t lift as heavy weights as I was curling about 25lb at my peak.
TJ: What did you enjoy most about working on Thor?
JA: The people that were involved were just so humble and thankful. I miss then, so it was great to come to Sydney and catch up with some of them.
TJ: So what was it like working such experienced and revered actors like Anthony Hopkins and Natalie Portman?
JA: Anthony Hopkins was amazingly humble and would come on to the set and give everyone a hug. Natalie Portman was smart, funny and sweet. She would bake these vegan cookies and share them around all the time. I love those cookies and couldn’t help succumbing to them especially when I needed my sugar fix after those fighting scenes.
TJ: What did you enjoy least about filming?
JA: The battle sequences were gruelling but I still enjoyed the physicality of the part.
TJ: How did you find working with Kenneth Branagh, as director?
JA: He was a respectful and elegant human being and gave us creative freedom. It was a rewarding experience to be able to create your own identity.
TJ: What is in store for the future for you professionally?
JA: I have a few independent movies coming, one is a period drama post-civil war and the other a love story set in New York. It is nice to have that variety and not be typecast but my heart is with the action genre.
Thor is released nationally on April 21 2011.
More News
