*I attended this event as a guest of Disney/Marvel/Dreamworks and any opinions are 100% my own
While attending the Thor: The Dark World Red Carpet Premiere in LA we got the pleasure of interviewing Jaimie Alexander who plays Sif in the Thor Movies. As I sit here writing this post, I am once again am falling in love with Jaimie Alexander and the message she is sending to young women. I hope we continue to see a lot more of her on screen. She is the type of person I would be proud to have my daughter look up to. Her message of positive body image and how she portrays that onscreen is something unique to Hollywood nowadays. If you were thinking, eh, Thor is all about battles and bad guys, you are wrong. This movie also delivers a message that will empower women, both young and old. So ladies, grab your daughters, your mothers, and your girlfriends, and plan a ladies night out with Thor: The Dark World!
A Look at Sif: Jaimie Alexander Interview
Question: Sif has a romantic relationship with Thor in the comics. Will we get to see any of that?
Answer: They hint at it a little bit but can’t fully go there yet. They want to appease the fans as far as how the comics go so the hinting is in there. Unfortunately Thor is not shirtless in front of Sif but that’s all right.
Question: How did you prepare yourself for the role of Sif?
Answer: She worked with a dialect coach to have a British Accent, although in Thor: The Dark World the accent is a bit more relaxed. She also trained for two months doing weight lifting, yoga, and pilates, and on the Reformer. She also did fight training with a stunt girl named Chloe Bruce who is a World Champion Martial Artist, and a little scary.
Question: Is there a side of Sif that we will see in Thor: The Dark World that we didn’t see in Thor?
Answer: Yes there is actually. We get to see a very vulnerable side of Sif as well as what her fellow Asgardians mean to her. In the first movie that was explored a little bit as she is protective and her first priority is to protect her fellow Asgardians and the throne. This time there is a little bit of heartache, but it’s amazing because she is very selfless. The heartache is definitely and underlying tone to Sif. Then she puts it aside and says “You know what? I have lives to save. I’m gonna put that first” so you kind of she what she is made of a little bit.
Question: What do you like best about Sif?
Answer: That she is selfless and in a way that is one of her greatest strengths, but it’s also her downfall. She really puts everyone else first and also isn’t afraid to give her opinion. She does it respectfully but stands up for what she believes in. Alexander appreciates that and tries to adopt that in her own life as much as she can. Without scaring people though because she doesn’t carry a weapon in real life.
Question: Have you gotten a lot of feedback from girl fans that are following you?
Answer: Alexander speaks at schools about positive body image. There are things about her that aren’t “Hollywood Standard” and she really likes that. She has tattoos, grew up with four brothers and was a high school wrestler, and did all the things that aren’t typical of young women. She likes to embrace that side of her personality and let her uniqueness show. She tries to tell young women, ” Don’t be afraid of yourself. Work what your momma gave you, and appreciate it, because everybody is different, and nobody is duplicates so no on can acutely be you, so you have that above everyone else.” She tries to incorporate that into Lady Sif, like where her costume is, she’s covered. She’s not revealing anything, yet she is feminine. She is also tough so you really see her personality before her physicality, and that’s most important.
Photo Courtesy of MomStart.com
Question: Is there a superhero you looked up to growing up?
Answer: Alexander looked up to Wonder Woman growing up, and then there is Sigourney Weaver. She was always her favorite. Weaver seemed to embody of sense of humor, while being stoic and powerful, and also being feminine. To her, she is the ideal woman. If she was a guy she would probably be like, “Go out with me” but yeah. She’s amazing, incredible, and she has always looked up to her and the characters she played. Actually, Walt Simonson who had a great deal to do with the character Sif back in the seventies, he saw Weaver walking down the street in a red trench coat and said “That’s going to be Sif.” So, Sif is modeled after Weaver and to Alexander, that is coming full circle.
Question: Are we going to see you pop up in The Avengers 2?
Answer: Alexander would absolutely love that but she hasn’t been told yes or no yet.
Question: What is your favorite part of Thor: The Dark World?
Answer: There is an opening battle sequence that she had a blast doing and she got to do a back flip off of a horse. If they knew her well the would be all ” Don’t put her anywhere near a horse” but she did and it was a lot of fun. Yes, there were wires and stunt women involved but it was a lot of fun and there is humor in it. There is also a Corridor Scene with Thor and Loki that was really fun to, but you will have to watch the movie for that one. (PS: Trust me – it’s pretty freaking funny!)
Question: Did you preform the action stunts yourself?
Answer: Yes, considering she is the right amount of crazy. There are certain things she isn’t allowed to do like anything with fire. She can’t be set on fire, clearly, because she wouldn’t be able to finish the film. As far as jumps, fighting, and the weapons, she does most of it herself. There are things that Sif does that impossible for any human to do, which are rare, but CGI helps with that.
Question: What do your brothers think of what you are doing?
Answer: They love it! When she first got the role in Thor, they asked her to give Natalie Portman their number. That was a little awkward and she told them, “I don’t think so, but I’ll — maybe I’ll tack it up in her dressing room and if she calls, hey, go for it.” But, no. Then time went on, and she filmed a movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger. When she went home for Thanksgiving, and a week after she returned home she found DVDs with Post-Its on them in her suitcase. She was like “What’s this?” and her brother wanted Arnold to sign all of the stuff. He happily obliged because he’s a great guy. Then he sent her family presents for Christmas. So she is clearly the favorite sibling.
Question: How true to life is your action figure?
Answer: Not very true. I mean, she doesn’t carry sword around. 😉 She wear two corsets and a padded chest in the movie so she would say that everything from the waist up is pretty inaccurate. But everything else….they even put a mole on her which she thought was cool, different, and detial oriented.
Question: Sif cares a lot about Asgard. If she could only choose one person in Asgard to leave with, who would it be?
Answer: Thor and the only reason is because he is the future of Asgard. He is still a bit of a smarty pants in Thor: The Dark World, but noble and very humble. Which is partly why Sif cares for him so much, even more than she used to. So, she would choose Thor because that would ensure safety for all the Asgardians. And he has a hammer.
[iframe: width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/npvJ9FTgZbM?rel=0″ frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen>]
Question: What would you like to see Sif do next, if you had the opportunity to play her again?
Answer: Alexander thinks it would be fun to play two different characters so she would like to see Lady Loki come into the picture. She believes they would have her play both so selfishly she would like that too happen. (PS: Me too!)
Photo Courtesy of Disney
Question: When you were in costume, was it hard to move around?
Answer: In Thor she thought she was going to die. They used leaning boards to get into costume. Instead of sitting down, the leaned like Frankenstein. Eventually the costumes warm up and move. You break things in and you can move. In Thor: The Dark World they were able to make adjustments and make things a little bit easier. Sif’s costume is now a bit more feminine and easier to move around in. A lot of new materials were looked at. The first corset was a lace-up and well, she apologized but would hate to have lived back then. The second corset is metal and although it gets annoying after awhile, it is a lot easier to move in.
Questions: Were there differences in filming Thor and Thor: The Dark World?
Answer: They had two different directors and they operated in different ways. All in all, going back to the set a second time was like a family reunion. People had gotten married, had babies, and all of this craziness. It was really fun to reunite with everybody. After the awkward moment of “I haven’t seen you in three years” the fart noises come out so it’s all right.
Question: Are you really good at sword fighting now?
Answer: She is weirdly good at it. She won’t deny it and gives herself props that she is actually a little too good at it. It kind of freaks people out sometimes. She went to a ComicKaze Convention a few days before our interview and there was a woman dressed as Sif. Alexander asked for her sword and was flipping it around because she could. It was made of Nerf material and no one was in danger, but she couldn’t help it.
Question: Do you prefer movies or TV? (Alexander also starred on Nurse Jackie, which has a Thor.)
Answer: Stephen Wallem (Thor on Nurse Jackie) lets her know all the time, “Oh, now your with the real Thor. You can hang out with the real Thor.” She actually likes movies. In movies, you know when it’s going to end, so there is a bit of bitter sweetness to it and you make the most of it. When you are on TV, you never know when it’s going to end. Sometimes after years and years of doing it, it can get boring, unless you are on an amazing show. There are a lot of amazing shows out there right now, but with movies, you have a short amount of time to play a character which is fun. She gives it her all, gives it her best, and hopes it comes out okay. You don’t have a second chance unless you are in a franchise like Thor and Marvel. Then you get a second chance and you really hope you don’t screw it up.
Question: Were you a fan of comics before the first Thor?
Answer: She didn’t know much about Thor. She studied mythology in school but didn’t really know the comic books well. However, a bunch of other comic books she did as her brothers gave her hand-me-downs like Spiderman and X-Men. Jubilee was her favorite in X-Men because of her awesome yellow trench coat and she hung out at the mall. Alexander cut her hair pixie style last year and secretly did her hair as Jubilees and did a photo shoot. So, she paid her homage to Jubilee and that was her nerdy side for us. 🙂
After the interview, the lovely Jaimie Alexander snapped a pic with us all. It was great chatting with her about her role as Sif and I hope you all catch Thor: The Dark World in theaters now! Stay social and update to date on all things Thor: The Dark World by liking Thor on Facebook and following @ThorMovies on Twitter!
Photo Courtesy of Disney
*I attended this event as a guest of Disney/Marvel/Dreamworks and any opinions are 100% my own
Leave a Reply