‘Thor: Raganarok’ Director Remembers Telling Sir Anthony Hopkins He Was Over The Top

Though Taika Waititi has made a few cult-classic and fan-favorite films over the years, his latest project with Marvel Studios is by far the biggest production he’s helmed in his career, directing some of the most popular actors working in Hollywood today.


And then there’s Anthony Hopkins, an Academy Award winner revered for his talents on screen and on stage, and Waititi got to boss him around while making Thor: Ragnarok.

The director spoke with 1 News in his home country of New Zealand, revealing a funny story about having to tell Sir Hopkins he was “over the top.”

“There was one moment when, I can’t remember what the scene was,” said Waititi, “Anthony Hopkins was doing something and I came out. ‘Oh I love it, Anthony, but it was maybe a kinda too big. A little bit over the top.’

“I was just rushed off my feet, I didn’t really realize what I was saying. And he goes, ‘Oh of course. No, it was. It was over the top. Let’s do another one.’ He went off and Chris [Hemsworth] was like ‘Hey, remember that time you told Anthony Hopkins he was over the top?’”

He laughed and said no one cares, adding that “everyone just wants to have fun and do their jobs,” and said the entire production was “egoless.”

“You’ve got all these people who, in your imagination, would probably be very demanding and make you wait around, but no, they all just wanted to do good work and were there to have fun.”

He added a story about when he first met Cate Blanchett, who was getting “bored”

“She said, ‘You know, I’m getting bored of doing all this crying acting, all these dramatic things. I just want to punch some people and make a movie that my kids want to see.’”

Blanchett has ample opportunities to punch people in this movie as the Goddess of Death known as Hela, and we’ll be able to see Waititi direct her in their first Marvel Studios film when Thor: Ragnarok premieres in theaters on November 3.