Thor's Kat Dennings Says Her "Friendship Magic" With Natalie Portman Got Her a Bigger Role

Kat Dennings debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in 2011's Thor and, while she might not have superpowers, her character earned a passionate following, as the actress recently detailed that her role in that debut film was increased following the producers witnessing the chemistry she had with Natalie Portman and their established personal connection. Dennings also detailed that Darcy's original role was little more than a glorified cameo, as the original script relied much more heavily on establishing the ambitious world of Thor himself, only for the writers to then makes changes to the overall narrative to incorporate more grounded elements.

"In the rehearsal process, because for Thor, this is like his story so it was like really you have to create and it's very complicated," Dennings shared with the Keep It podcast, per The Direct. "For anyone who knows the Thor stuff, it's like Norse. There [are] gods. There's stuff. There [are] rainbow things, and you have to make it grounded somehow so there's a lot of rehearsal for the actors."

She continued, "The writer[s] and Marvel people will come to the rehearsals and just watch us interact and say the lines. My part, Darcy, was originally, like, two scenes, and she was literally just an intern, just there to kind of bounce off other people. It was the best day of my life. I could not believe these people hired me and like I duped them somehow [to hire] me."

The actress went on to note that the filmmakers were aware of this connection from the earliest stages of casting the film.

"Because Natalie and I are already friends, I remember this exactly," Dennings detailed. "I walk in the room and I'm very shy. I came in and I sat down and Natalie hadn't gotten there yet and everyone was so nice. Natalie came in and sat on my lap because we're friends. I think our friendship started to infect them [like] its purity and love. Slowly, Darcy became more involved, and I was like, 'Why are they adding me to scenes?'"

She added, "If I am being honest, friendship magic is the reason I'm here today."

Dennings's Darcy may have been absent from the MCU since 2013's Thor: The Dark World, but she returns for the new MCU series WandaVision.

New episodes of WandaVision land on Disney+ on Fridays.

Are you glad Dennings has played a bigger part of the MCU? Let us know in the comments below!