Taika Waititi Dishes On Russell Crowe's Accent In 'Thor: Love and Thunder'

Director Taika Waititi is providing fans with some fun behind-the-scenes facts about his latest movie, “Thor: Love and Thunder.”

Although star Russell Crowe, who plays Zeus, speaks with a Greek accent in the film, Waititi told Insider that he actually made the “Gladiator” star do all of his takes twice: once in a British accent and one in a Greek accent.

 Apparently, the two stars talked “at length” about the accent because Waititi wasn’t sure if he wanted to go with the classic Greek accent or a traditional British accent like Laurence Oliver in “Clash of the Titans.” Eventually, it came down to test audiences, who helped Waititi make what most fans call the right decision.

In his conversation with Insider, Waititi admitted, “We actually talked at length about the accent. We wondered if someone did a Greek accent of a Greek god, is it going to be a farce? Will it be too silly?”

The “A Beautiful Mind” star himself said that he felt that it would be best to perform his scenes with a Greek accent; however, Waititi wasn’t so sure.

“We ended up doing two versions of every take with Russell,” Waititi explained. “One in a Greek accent and then another in a British accent. Because I felt people would think Zeus would sound British like Laurence Olivier in "Clash of the Titans.”

The 1981 movie sees English actor Laurence Oliver play the role of Zeus; however, the movie is based on the Greek myth of Perseus. Although the Academy Award-winning actor pushed for a Greek accent, Waititi felt audiences would feel more comfortable with a British accent, based on the 1981 movie. Therefore, he let test audiences decide.

“It's actually more offensive to the Greeks to have Zeus sound like he's British and test audiences loved the Greek accent,” Waititi eventually decided, adding, “I'm really happy with it. But, yeah, he had to do every take once in the Greek accent and once with a British accent because I couldn't make up my mind. But Russell was right all along.”

And that hasn't been the only controversial decision that Waititi has made lately! In a new interview with Rolling Stone, Waititi asked Natalie Portman, who reprised her role as Jane Foster for the film, if she ever wanted to be in a Star Wars movie... even though she had already starred in the prequel trilogy.

In a separate interview about "Thor: Love and Thunder," Waititi told the publication that a lot of fans missed Portman's character or Jane Foster, so he decided to bring her back.

"It just seemed like the perfect opportunity, because the character was so great in the Jason Aaron run of Thor," he explained, adding that Marvel boss Kevin Feige wanted to see her return as well.

“It didn’t take much convincing," Waititi added of Portman's return to the MCU.

As the film was wrapping, he said that Portman asked him what he would be working on next.

"And I said 'I’m trying to work on a Star Wars thing. Have you ever wanted to be in a Star Wars movie?'" he explained. "She said, 'I’ve been in Star Wars movies.' I forgot about those ones."

On May 4, 2020, Lucasfilm announced that Taika Waititi would co-write a new Star Wars movie alongside “Last Night in Soho” writer Krysty Wilson-Cairns. Since then, very little progress has been made on the film so far.

Earlier this month, when talking to The Wrap, Waititi had bad news for fans hoping for his Star Wars movie would come out in 2023. When asked if he'd begun working on the project, Taika Waititi replied, "Not this year."

“I’m going to be in New Zealand from August until the end of the year with ‘Our Flag Means Death’ and ‘Time Bandits’ and during that time I will still be writing," he explained, adding, "I’m still trying to figure out what the story is."

Fans can read more about what he had to say about his potential Star Wars movie by clicking here.