Thor Star Natalie Portman Open to Returning to Marvel Cinematic Universe

After appearing in big-budget, special-effects laden films for the Star Wars prequels — Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002), and Episode III – Revenge of the Sith (2005) — and the God of Thunder franchise — Thor (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013) — in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, you would figure Natalie Portman is now very comfortable acting against a blue-screen, but that’s not the case at all.

“As an actor, it’s like a completely different scale. Because when you’re making those movies, you’re working with so much blue-screen and so much fantasy your imagination has to be so much larger. It’s really challenging for me,” Portman told Deadline’s Peter Hammond, while promoting Jackie. “I don’t feel like I’ve gotten it yet. I don’t feel like I’ve understood it yet. And so, it is something I’m fascinated by because I’m really challenged by it more than anything almost. Because when you’re in a room that looks like a room and has all the things a room has in it, you can interact with all that stuff, and all that stuff does what it does in life. You don’t have to imagine anything. You’re just in the emotional state of your character. And when you’re doing those blue-screen movies, you have to imagine everything outside and within. You have to create the whole world. It’s like being a kid again.”

Back in May, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige confirmed that Portman’s Jane Foster won’t appear in Thor: Ragnarok, and three months later, Portman herself said she believed she was “done” with the MCU. Even so, Hammond concluded his interview by asking, “So…more Marvel movies in your future?”

“Yeah, well, hopefully one day I figure it out,” she replied with a nervous smile.

MORE: Natalie Portman Goes Off On Hollywood: ‘Movies Are All About White Men’ / Jackie Trailer Released, Natalie Portman Stuns / Natalie Portman Is Expecting Baby No. 2 / Natalie Portman Refuses To Show Her Son The Star Wars Prequels / Natalie Portman’s Future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe Uncertain / Natalie Portman To Star In HBO Miniseries From Co-Creator Of ‘Friends’ / Kevin Feige Confirms No Natalie Portman In Thor: Ragnarok

JACKIE is a searing and intimate portrait of one of the most important and tragic moments in American history, seen through the eyes of the iconic First Lady, then Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Natalie Portman). JACKIE places us in her world during the days immediately following her husband’s assassination. Known for her extraordinary dignity and poise, here we see a psychological portrait of the First Lady as she struggles to maintain her husband’s legacy and the world of “Camelot” that they created and loved so well.

Jackie is now playing in select theaters!