Among the many differences between Thor: Love & Thunder co-stars Chris Hemsworth and Natalie Portman (an Oscar trophy, a full 12 inches of height, an appearance in Gal Gadot’s Imagine video), perhaps the most notable is their very different diets.
Natalie, who makes her return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the new sequel as Dr. Jane Foster, has been a vegan and vegetarian for most of her life, while Chris is decidedly not.
To respect his co-star on the day the two shared a kissing scene, the Australian actor, who consumes 10 meat-heavy meals a day to look like, well, that, switched up his breakfast routine.
“He’s really nice,” Natalie told Capital FM about her co-star. “The day we had a kiss scene, he didn’t eat meat that morning because I’m vegan. And he eats meat like every half hour. Like, that was so thoughtful.”
“That’s not something I’m angry about or care about, but he was just being thoughtful,” she added. “He’s just a very nice person.”
Though Natalie didn’t insist that Chris switch up his regimen for the scene, co-star Tessa Thompson said she was surprised he “could go without eating meat.”
“He’s just like eating bison in the morning,” Tessa, who portrays Valkyrie in the Taika Waititi-directed blockbuster noted. “That’s so sweet.”
To maintain his god bod, Chris takes in around 4,500 calories a day and commits to an intense and highly specialised exercise routine, his trainer Luke Zocchi recently revealed in an Instagram post.
“What I go by is eat till you feel sick,” Chris said of his diet in the video, with Luke joking that working with the actor is like “training a thoroughbred horse.”
Natalie also had to bulk up for her role in Thor: Love & Thunder as her character transforms into a full-fledged superhero in her own right after becoming worthy of wielding the enchanted hammer Mjölnir.
“It’s pretty unusual and wonderful to be tasked with getting bigger as a woman,” Natalie told The Sunday Times about her 10 month regime for getting into Marvel shape for the film.
“Most of the body transformations we’re asked to make are to be as small as possible, and there’s an emotional and sociological correlate to that,” she added.
“I turned 40 while making the movie, and it was an incredible point in my life to say, ‘You’re going to be the fittest, strongest version of yourself.’”