Jeff Goldblum Improvised his Way Through ‘Thor: Ragnarok’
Perhaps the best casting choice of Thor: Ragnarok is Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster.
As an Elder of the Universe and ruler of Sakaar, Goldblum gets to go way over the top as he presides over gladiatorial contests.
Jeff Goldblum as The Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok. Source: Entertainment Weekly
After he is defeated by Hela (Cate Blanchett), Thor is trapped there and forced to compete against an old friend.
Goldblum was already a fan of director Taika Waititi, so he didn’t need to be convinced to be in the film.
“What I particularly loved is the director, Taika Waititi. He really got me involved in this because I’m a fan of his, from Flight of the Conchords and all his movies, not only Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Boy but especially What We Do In the Shadows,” Goldblum told Entertainment Weekly.
Waititi encouraged the actor to lean into his creative style and not hold back.
“When we first talked, he said, ‘I want you to do your particular version of this character without being comic-y or grandiloquent. I think you should do something that’s in your creative family tree. And also improvise,’” said Goldblum. “He was very interested in improvisation. We came to all those scenes and riffed enjoyably for the time we had. I don’t know what’s gonna come out in the mix because we gave him a whole bunch of different choices, I’ll tell you that. He’s great. Taika Waititi gets 10 Goldblums out of a possible 10 Goldblums.”
The actor was also very excited to work with Blanchett and Chris Hemsworth.
“I didn’t have scenes with Cate Blanchett, but she was in The Life Aquatic, of course, so we’d been in touch, and I’ve seen her since. I just adore her, so it was great to be in another movie with her, even just by association,” he said. “The other Hemsworth brother, that now makes two for me, and he couldn’t have been sweeter or more down-to-earth, like the whole family.”
Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Tessa Thompson, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins, Thor: Ragnarok flies into theaters Nov. 3.
Source: Comic Book Resources
