Kat Dennings explains how her friendship with Natalie Portman changed her role in the MCU's Thor. The 2011 film that introduced Chris Hemsworth's God of Thunder to the MCU was also Portman and Dennings' first outing in the franchise. Portman played Jane Foster, the scientist that catches Thor's eye when he lands on Earth, while Dennings portrayed her hilarious assistant Darcy Lewis. Both went on to appear in the sequel Thor: The Dark World, though they sat out Thor: Ragnarok and appeared to be finished with the MCU entirely. Of course, people are rarely truly gone when it comes to the MCU.

Dennings is about to make her grand return to the franchise with WandaVision, Disney+'s first Marvel series that premiered three weeks ago. Friday heralds the arrival of WandaVision episode 4, which features Dennings' Darcy. Teasers for the episode and the series in its entirety have already confirmed Darcy is working with SWORD to investigate Scarlet Witch and Vision's mysterious new home Westview, and more will be revealed in Friday's installment. For her part, Dennings has said her WandaVision role is much larger than she initially expected.

Related: How WandaVision Could Set Up Jane Foster's Thor 4 Return

Evidently, the same was true with her first MCU project. While appearing on the Keep It podcast, Dennings revealed she and Portman were friends before they worked together on Thor, which ultimately led to her role in the film growing. Darcy was supposed to appear in only a handful of scenes, but because of her friendship with Portman, that changed. Dennings said:

“What's interesting is...and Thor was like 10 years ago, so I don't think they'll mind if I talk about this. In the rehearsal process, because for Thor, this is like his story so it was like really you have to create and it's very complicated. For anyone who knows the Thor stuff, it's like Norse. There [are] gods. There's stuff. There [are] rainbow things, and you have to make it grounded somehow so there's a lot of rehearsal for the actors. The writer[s] and Marvel people will come to the rehearsals and just watch us interact and say the lines. My part, Darcy, was originally, like, two scenes, and she was literally just an intern, just there to kind of bounce off other people. It was the best day of my life. I could not believe these people hired me and like I duped them somehow [to hire] me.

And because Natalie and I are already friends, I remember this exactly. I walk in the room and I'm very shy. I came in and I sat down and Natalie hadn't gotten there yet and everyone was so nice. Natalie came in and sat on my lap because we're friends. I think our friendship started to infect them [like] its purity and love. Slowly, Darcy became more involved, and I was like 'why are they adding me to scenes?' That's kind of what happened. If I am being honest, friendship magic is the reason I'm here today."

Darcy Lewis in a red hat, smiling, in Thor.

Considering how Dennings now has a part in one of the MCU's most ambitious projects to date, it's wild to consider she wasn't supposed to be this big of a character. It's through sheer luck, her effortless rapport with Portman, and her own talent that Darcy has grown into her own person. It will be quite interesting to see what Darcy is like in WandaVision; most likely, she's changed a bit since fans saw her last.

Whether Dennings will remain in the MCU beyond WandaVision has yet to be seen, though Portman will be back for another go-around. The actress will once again play Jane for Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth solo film centered on the beloved hero. This time, Jane will assume the mantle of Mighty Thor, meaning she'll undergo quite the transformation. It's safe to say both Portman and Dennings have come a long way since Thor, and only time will tell where they go next.

More: Thor 4 Theory: The Reality Stone Gave Jane Foster Superpowers (And Cancer)

Source: Keep It

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