Angela Bassett has responded to Anthony Hopkins’s comments about filming green screen-heavy Marvel films.
In an interview with The New Yorker in 2021, the Oscar-winning actor admitted there was “no acting required” for his portrayal of Odin, Thor’s father, in the Thor franchise, noting, “If you’re sitting in front of a green screen, it’s pointless acting it.”
Speaking with the same publication on Monday, Bassett insisted she had a better experience filming Black Panther and its sequel, Wakanda Forever, because they didn’t just perform in front of a green screen – a lot of the settings were genuinely there.
“The throne room was there, the floor of red clay, the elevation with the Dora Milaje (special forces of Wakanda) flanking around, the grand doors that they walk through. So maybe you don’t see the world of Wakanda, but we had that,” she explained of the set. “When Shuri (Letitia Wright) and I went out into the wild, we had trees and bushes and water for yards and yards and yards, and Namor (Tenoch Huerta) came up out of the water and flew to us. We had the entire ship, and the attention to detail inside of it was just magnificent. So, I had it much better than Anthony Hopkins. I’m sorry for him.”
She added, “We were in Wakanda, and we know Wakanda is special.”
Bassett also revealed that the actors had “a fake elephant” to respond to during the shoot, and it was turned into a real elephant using special effects in post-production.
Bassett has been nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the 2023 Oscars for her portrayal of Queen Ramonda in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, making her the first star to receive an Academy Award nod for a Marvel film.
