Tessa Thompson Nails Her Marvel Co-Star Description: Baby With Muscles

Tessa Thompson had the crowd laughing as she revisited her Marvel run, sharing playful behind-the-scenes moments from Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder — including calling Chris Hemsworth a baby with muscles while praising her creative chemistry with Taika Waititi.
Tessa Thompson just did one of those candid, funny career chats and ended up telling some good stories about making Marvel movies with Taika Waititi and Chris Hemsworth. Spoiler: she thinks they are both giant kids, and honestly, that checks out.
Where this happened
Thompson was onstage for a Screen Talk at the BFI London Film Festival, working through her very all-over-the-map career (Creed to Men in Black: International to the MCU), and keeping a packed room laughing while she did it.
Her read on Taika and Hemsworth
She went playful with it. On Taika Waititi, she described a filmmaker who brings big imagination and a kind of chaotic, childlike energy. On Chris Hemsworth, she basically said the guy is fearless when it comes to comedy and will push as far as it takes to land the joke.
"He's like an infant with a bank account," she said of Waititi. And Hemsworth? "A baby with muscles... he'll do anything to get the laugh."
Working with those two on Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder, she said, can feel downright goofy in the best way. The job demands a full-on leap into make-believe — you have to play like a kid — which explains the anything-goes vibe those movies give off.
Why she signed on to Valkyrie in the first place
Thompson said she took the role because she genuinely wasn’t sure she could do it, which was the point. She wanted to test herself inside a big, imaginative sandbox, and the whole experience ended up being fun and oddly liberating.
What’s next: Hedda
Next up is Hedda, a new take on Henrik Ibsen’s Hedda Gabler. Thompson likes roles that scare her — her words — and this one qualifies. If you want to catch it:
- Limited theatrical release: October 22, 2025
- Streaming on Prime Video: October 29, 2025