Ray Stevenson is no stranger to comic book movies having already played The Punisher, aka Frank Castle, in Punisher: War Zone. Well now the actor is set to take on another Marvel character in Kenneth Branagh’s big screen adaptation of Thor, having been cast as Volstagg The Valiant, alongside Stuart Townsend and Tadanobu Asano as the Warriors Three.
Now if you’ve ever read Thor you’ll know that Volstagg is a bit on the chunky side, whereas Stevenson is rather known for his chiseled physique on HBO’s Rome. With filming set to start in January, how do they get round that? Well Empire recently caught up with the actor recently and asked him that very question, and it turns out Volstagg’s extra pounds are being added the traditional way, via a fat suit:
It’s fantastic, I’ve tried the suit on, and what they’ve done is kind of sex him up: he’s sort of slimmer but rounder. He’s got every bit of that Falstaffian verve and vigour, and a bit of a beergut to suggest that enormous appetite, but he’s not the sort of Weeble-shaped figure he is in the comics. He’s Falstaff with muscles. I’ve got this amazing foam-injected undersuit that flexes with me. I can’t wait!
So we’re probably not going to see a Brian Blessed-esque Volstagg in Branagh’s Thor then? For shame. But I do hope that changes in appearance are the only changes we see to ANY of Thor’s characters…
