Jeff Goldblum Explains What Drew Him To ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ Character

Jeff Goldblum is one of those actors that has taken on a ton of different characters over the course of his career. Despite those roles being quite a bit different depending on the movie, he always manages to bring his special personality to the roles. This is why it should come as no surprise that Jeff Goldblum is drawn to his character in Thor: Ragnarok, even though he didn’t know a lot about the character before he took the job.

Goldblum recently talked about his Ragnarok villain, known as The Grandmaster. In Thor: Ragnarok, Goldblum says he will be able to play the character as someone who is certainly evil, but he’s also someone who is a “hedonist, a pleasure-seeker.” According to Empire, Goldblum explained further what he expected from his Ragnarok villain.

“An enjoyer of life and tastes and smells. I thought, ‘I can do that, I’ll bet!’ I’m working on my part every day. I’m a sponge, researching.”

He made sure those who consider themselves Jeff Goldblum fans aren’t going to be disappointed when they see the finished product on screen. Goldblum says he was told by Ragnarok director, Taika Waititi, to improvise and put his flavor on his Thor character. When thinking about Jeff Goldblum putting his Goldblum twist on an already larger-than-life character, it seems like his casting in Ragnarok was a stroke of genius.

According to the Vine Report, Goldblum says he will eventually spend around a month in Australia shooting his Ragnarok scenes. During this period, the Jurassic Park actor will be spending a ton of time with what is quite the all-star Thor cast. The cast will include Tessa Thompson, Cate Blanchett, who will be playing a villain, Anthony Hopkins, returning as Odin, and Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth.

Perhaps the most interesting detail of Goldblum’s explanation of his character is that while The Grandmaster had some of the personality traits the actor described, it appears the villain in Ragnarok will have a slightly different feel. In particular, it appears as though Goldblum’s character for Ragnarok is going to be a bit over the top. In the Marvel comic series, The Grandmaster is more of a sinister villain that toys with people for his amusement. While he enjoys messing with the heroes of this universe, he doesn’t appear to be one who takes as much over-the-top joy as Goldblum plans to bring to the Thor: Ragnarok character.

Of course, little tweaks to the characters in Ragnarok and other Marvel comics movies are hardly unheard of once they get to the big screen. Ragnarok is going to be changing the interactions of Loki and Thor already when they’re being compared to their comic book personas. Tess Thompson will be taking on a brand new version of the Valkyrie in this Thor movie as well. Those characters will be joined by a Goldblum Grandmaster that might be able to steal the show away from what is a star-studded cast.

The Jeff Goldblum character might walk a tightrope when it comes to being funny and truly evil. Goldblum tends to have the ability to make his brand of goofiness work even when there wasn’t supposed to be goofiness present. He has made a career out of blending his special take on characters. There’s nothing to say he won’t be able to make Ragnarok work for Jeff Goldblum fans as well. Jeff has said he wants his Thor character to be one that the comic book fans and those who have only seen the Goldblum version can both enjoy.

While we now know another one of the villains that Thor will be going up against in Ragnarok, we still don’t have a ton of information about how Goldblum fits into the film. We’ll apparently get to figure that out when Jeff Goldblum struts his stuff in Thor: Ragnarok in 2017.

[Photo by David Buchan/Getty Images]