Shaved hair in
V for Vendetta,
a dancer's body for
Black Swan,
and more recently, arms could not be more drawn for the latest Marvel,
Thor: Love and Thunder
by Taika Waititi, in theaters in France on July 13, 2022. Natalie Portman is used to physical changes.
In an interview with the Insider site on June 27, her physical trainer, Naomi Pendergast, detailed the training of the actress for her new role.
Work focused on strengthening the upper body.
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In video, the trailer for “Thor: Love and Thunder”
A diet supplemented with protein
To gain muscle mass, the actress, vegan, had to consume more calories.
“To determine her needs, Natalie did a metabolic test.
This is a test that gives you a very accurate reading of your daily caloric needs.
From these figures, we were able to calculate the number of additional calories per day that she needed to build muscle,” explains Naomi Pendergast.
In practice, Natalie Portman ate a breakfast of oatmeal and berries.
Lunch meanwhile consisted of a dish of falafel, while dinner included a vegetable curry.
If the actress had cravings, she resorted to snacks such as fruits, nuts or even salads.
Finally, all meals came with a plant-based protein shake.
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Five days of training per week
The sports coach supervised the physical preparation of Natalie Portman for 4 months.
The actress trained five days a week and performed no less than fifteen different exercises.
“The initial goal in training was to have muscular and strong arms, but we quickly realized that its role went far beyond appearance.
Natalie had to perform a number of stunts that required her body to be agile and very strong in the core.
To strengthen her abs, Natalie Portman performed different types of exercises, such as the traditional crunches but whose form varied;
classic with the feet on the ground, the feet in the air then with an abdominal twist.
Each series was to be repeated 20 times.
The actress then lifted weights above her head for 1 minute, three times in a row.
Draw and “inflate” the arms
After a 2 to 3 minute warm-up, it was time for the different circuits, each of which consisted of several muscle strengthening exercises to strengthen the arms.
One of the different circuits was for example composed of 12 pull-ups carried out using an elastic band, and to be repeated 4 times in a row.
After that, Natalie Portman chained 4 sets of 25 lateral dumbbell lifts, rested for a minute 30 then moved on to the next set.
For the rest of the body, the actress did, among other things, the reverse plank (face turned towards the ceiling) and jump squats.
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Boxing and jumping rope for endurance
The training ended with an endurance phase.
To work on cardio, Natalie Portman did 3 sets of two minutes: one for boxing, the other for jumping rope.
She rested for a minute and a half and went back to the same circuit.
In view of the stature displayed by Natalie Portman in the fourth installment of
Thor
, these efforts have paid off.
Naomi Pendergast praises the dedication of the actress in this regard: "Natalie is a very focused, hardworking and determined woman, which is the main reason why we were able to reach the goal in time for the shooting."
