Thor: The Dark World photo 5

Kat Dennings Talks Darcy and Thor: The Dark World, in theaters now

(From contributing writer Bo Bory)

Marvel Studios' eagerly awaited, sci-fi fantasy, extravaganza, Thor: The Dark World, opens early November in theaters all across the country. For fans and critics lucky enough to catch a sneak-preview of the God of Thunder's other-worldly, action-packed sequel...Two things stood out: 1) the special effects are spectacular, and 2) the jokes are...Funny!

Yes...It's not a shock to think that Thor: The Dark World would have amazing special effects... after all, this is a big budgeted, mega action film helmed by HBO's Game of Thrones director, Alan Taylor, so naturally the movie would be chocked full of eye-popping CGI effects, and detailed, larger than life studio sets. But what seemed to take everyone by surprise, myself included, was how well all of those epic battle scenes and loud, theater-rumbling explosions and effects, were balanced out by the campy, irreverent humor on the other side of the spectrum. After all... the movie is called The Dark World, so naturally, one would think the movie would be, well...Dark (which it definitely was in parts). But refreshingly, Thor: The Dark World also remembered its comic-book roots, and didn't take itself too seriously...Which absolutely made for a more enjoyable, over-all experience.

A big part of the humor and laughs can be attributed to the wise-cracking, slacker intern, Darcy, played by the naturally quick witted Kat Dennings. Flexing her sarcastic, sharp-tongued, acerbic skills once again, Dennings reprises her role as the movie's much needed comic relief, bringing light and levity to the arduous task of saving the world... something the 2 Broke Girls star clearly enjoys doing.

I sat down with her in London to discuss the big changes to her character in the sequel, her grueling schedule filming both the hit TV show and the movie, and the value of humor and silliness in such an over-the-top film. She also confided in me her major celebrity crush (yes, it is someone in the Marvel Universe!), and her upcoming role in what is sure to be a cult-classic fan's wet dream.

So something that really struck me about Thor: Dark World, was how funny it was. There were some really great lines, and your character, Darcy, had some of the best ones. How important do you think it is to have a character like Darcy, who is so relatable and down-to-Earth, in such a big, action-packed, special-effects movie?

Kat Dennings: I think it is super important, especially when there is so much fantasy and so much action going on, its nice to have a little comic-relief... because this movie gets very dark, and it's called The Dark World ... but really like emotionally dark, and there is a lot going on, so I find her like a breath of fresh air; a nice kind of break. And from the fan perspective and the audience's perspective, I think she is a kind of fun person to watch.

And she is definitely the most relatable, obviously... because she is not a super-hero or a physicist.

Kat Dennings: Yes, she is just a person.

Yeah... and she takes everything with a grain of salt, like nothing seems to surprise or shock her. How do you think she would react seeing another world like Asgard?

Kat Dennings: That is something that maybe in the future might happen... because I think there would be nothing more hilarious than Darcy reacting to Asgard. I'm not sure what, probably something highly inappropriate. Now that would be fun!

So Darcy is not in the Thor comics... so how much of yourself did you bring to the character, and did it free you up not having to be compared to an already existing comic book character?

Kat Dennings: It did... there was no pressure, that's for sure. And in the beginning, I heard later after I got the role, it was supposed to be a guy... so there was really just a freedom there, because she just didn't exist. So she was born out of a really extensive rehearsal process before we started filming the first movie. I remember when I went in for my final audition, it was Kenneth Branagh and Craig Kyle, one of the executives, behind a camera and me sitting behind a desk just answering questions in character. Like there was no structure what so ever and I just played her like a stoner-idiot. (Laughter) But out of the stoner-idiot, came this sweet little sister type thing with Jane that came out of our real-life friendship that they saw in rehearsals and kind of wrote to.

It would be great to see Darcy in an Avengers movie, because I think it would be fun to see her talking smack to all of the other characters... who do you think she would get along with best, and who do you think she would be most combative with?

Kat Dennings: Ha-ha.. I would love to see that! I feel like she would love Tony Stark... and I think she would get along with the Hulk, and be a little weirded out and scared of him, but really love him. I don't know... I, as a person, think that she would totally latch on to Samuel L. Jackson and just never leave his side, and be obsessed with him forever... because I am in real life. Yes... I think she would be in LOVE with Samuel L. Jackson.

Really?!!! Have you met Samuel L. Jackson?

Kat Dennings: No... but he is my reason for living, kind of. (Laughter) My dressing room at work, we have like fake names on our doors just for fun, and mine is Jules Winnfield. Ha-ha... I'm such a big fan; I love him!

I read in the notes that you were constantly flying back and forth from LA to London during the filming... how taxing of a schedule was that?

Kat Dennings: Ugh... Very taxing, but completely worth it. I would shoot three weeks in LA for the show, and then finish on Tuesday night and fly out Wednesday to London and shoot 7 days, fly home Tuesday and then back to work on Wednesday again. So it was two time changes, a lot of work because in the show I'm in every scene... so it was a lot. It was mentally a lot, and physically a lot, but I knew that it was worth it at the time... I was like, just keep going! And I was really out of it most of filming Thor2, so seeing it... I didn't remember anything I said, so it was like seeing it for the first time. It was almost like I wasn't there.

Well, it kind of plays into Darcy's spaced-out character.

Kat Dennings: Yes!

So, in this movie Darcy, somehow, has an intern but they don't really say where she got him from... where do you think Darcy would find this guy?

Kat Dennings: I don't know... Jonathan and I talked about that and I feel like maybe she was running an errand for Jane and found him at some tech store and stole him off the street. He's adorable... he is a great actor, that kid.

I like how abusive Darcy is to the intern too... I feel like just a little bit of power, and she runs with it.

Kat Dennings: She is so abusive! I feel like she has waited her whole life to be mean to someone. Just to be somebody's boss and a small bit of power turns Darcy into a monster... I love it!

Do you have a real live intern, and do you need one?

Kat Dennings: Ha-ha... no, but I need one. I just can't afford one, but that would be great.

So what were the main differences between working with Kenneth Branagh on the first Thor and Alan Taylor on the new film?

Kat Dennings: Oh, well they are very different people, the movie and the scripts were very different. The story in the first one, Ken had a real difficult task to make a fantasy and mythological world real and accessible; very difficult. And he did it so gracefully and really fun. It's a really fun that first one... and it's such a great film, even if you didn't know anything about the comic book. And this one is more of a big-scope, epic adventure... so Alan really had a lot on his plate, and he just did an amazing job.

So besides the show... what is next for you?

Kat Dennings: I did a really weird and amazing indie movie over my summer break called Suburban Gothic. We'll see what happens to it, I think they are still editing it and are going to submit it to festivals, but I play a metal-head... like a real metal-head and I had a wig and everything. John Waters is in it, and Ray Wise, Matthew Gray Gubler from Criminal Minds ... I feel like for a lot of cult movie fans, it's a dream.

Did you have to brush up on your metal?

Kat Dennings No... I'm pretty metal.