Photo: DFree/Shutterstock/Marvel Studios
She's being accused of faking her transformation.
By Sanika Nalgirkar — Written on Jul 11, 2022
Marvel fans are accusing the franchise of using CGI to enhance Natalie Portman's muscles in "Thor: Love And Thunder."
Skepticism over Portman's highly-publicized physical transformation has been spreading after the release of a behind-the-scenes video.
Portman, who plays "The Mighty Thor," is now being discredited for her work thank to the rather sexist conspiracy theory.
Are Natalie Portman's arms enhanced by CGI in 'Thor: Love And Thunder'?
In a behind-the-scenes video that is the root of the theory, Portman is seen with motion-capture dots on her arms which led fans to speculate that her arms were made bulky with the help of CGI — computer-generated images.
The video was circulated on Reddit and across social media, causing detractors to accuse Portman of lying about her intense transformation for the role.
Skepticism about Portman's ability to gain muscle seems to be largely based on the fact that she is both a vegan and a woman — of course this theory has no basis in actual science but we digress.
However, in the clip, Portman's arms do seem significantly larger than how we're used to seeing her. Her co-star, Chris Hemsworth, is also seen with motion-capture dots but few seemed to think that he was faking his muscles.
'Thor: Love And Thunder' producers denied using CGI for Natalie Portman’s arms.
Brad Winderbaum, one of the film's producers of the movie explained that CGI was used to make Portman look taller since her character is supposed to be 6 feet tall.
“Natalie certainly put in the work and bulked up for the role, but there’s still nothing she could do to grow 9 inches.”
"The only thing we assisted with was making the Mighty Thor a little bit taller. That was the only movie magic we used. Everything else was all her," Marvel President, Kevin Feige further stated.
Portman reportedly trained for 10 months with trainer Naomi Pendergast.
Portman had also opened up about her training and workout routine for her character back in 2020.
In an interview with Andy Cohen, Portman was asked what advice Chris Hemsworth had given her for her workout regime.
Portman talked about Hemsworth's workout routine and mentioned what she has been doing. She said, "I'm in training and I'm in so much pain. I'm not good at this."
However, she certainly appears to have gotten the hang of it as she looked visibly bulkier on set during the movie's production.
Sanika Nalgirkar is a News & Entertainment Writer based in Seattle. She has a master's degree in Creative Writing. See more of her writing on her website.