We’re on the set of “Men in Black International,” sitting with Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth, both tired from a full day of shooting at gargantuan aliens that will be added digitally later. Both are in great spirits — bantering back and forth, comfortable, at times silly. It’s a vibe they likely picked up co-starring in “Thor: Ragnarok” together, and one that is right at home in the irreverent world of the MIB.
The two are dressed nearly identically, wearing the classic MIB uniform: white button-up shirts and black dress pants.
“She has on high heels, though,” says Hemsworth.
“Only because of him! I’m doing action in heels because he’s such a tall person,” says Thompson.
Molly (Tessa Thompson) gets fitted for her black suit in “Men in Black International” (Supplied)
“She ran faster than me in those heels,” Hemsworth says.
“Yeah but his legs are so long that he caught up in the end! I was like Tom Cruise for the first part of the run and then suddenly he flies in.”
It’s hard to separate the “Men in Black” series from its original stars — after all, the 1997 original cemented Will Smith as the biggest movie star of his generation. But “Men in Black” did not succeed on star power alone. It boasted strong character development and vivid world building too. The stories of Tommy Lee Jones’ and Will Smith’s characters are now finished, but “Men in Black International,” directed by F. Gary Gray, does not try to reboot or erase the legacy of what came before. Rather, it’s a continuation, following new characters to explore different facets of the same world, maintaining the tone and focus that made the original work so wildly successful.
“I love the originals. I love the initial script, and the pitch they had for this film,” Hemsworth tells Arab News. “I thought it was an opportunity to take something that’s familiar and recreate it — do our own version of it. It was an opportunity to team up with Tessa again, which was an easy decision. I love this world — I love sci fi. It’s also nerve-wracking to take on something that’s been done so well before, but I like the challenge.”
“I felt the same way,” Thompson says. “I just loved the original films, they all hold up to me. I think there’s something so cool about them and the world that they occupy. I think they have a chance, inside of this fantastical world, to have real fun character dynamics and be irreverent and use satire.”
Emma Thompson as Agent O. (Supplied)
After the two filmed “Thor: Ragnarok,” they were each approached separately about starring in a continuation of the “Men in Black” franchise. Hemsworth quickly emailed Thompson before making his final decision.
“Chris, you were like, ‘Hey legend, are we really going to rock this?’ I was like,’ Yeah, we’re gonna!’ We had so much fun together working on ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ and taking something and making it really fresh and new and original. Like Chris said, there’s challenges inherent in that, but I think it was exciting for both of us,” says Thompson.
“We just had such a great time on that film,” Hemsworth adds. “Everybody did, I think. When Tessa’s name was in the mix, I was like, ‘Oh god, let’s pick up where we left off. This will be easy.’”
In “Men in Black International,” which is set for release on June 20, Thompson plays fresh recruit Agent M, who had an encounter with aliens at a young age and has been chasing down a job with the agents ever since. Hemsworth, known as Agent H, is tasked with taking Agent M under his wing. The two do not end up together romantically, however, according to Thompson.
MIB agents in their London office. (Supplied)
“It’s against company policy. He’s a friend from work,” Thompson says.
“My character is a little unhinged and sort of nutty. I think he has a style and a way of doing things which is pretty unorthodox and not really by the book, but he gets away with it and he gets results. That bumps against M’s approach. To me, it’s all about the conflict between the two of them — then we can have an opportunity to have a lot of conflicting banter and fun and energy between the two characters, rather than having them start on the same foot and it be an easy ride,” says Hemsworth.
Thompson points out that when she was initially cast, some people complained, as the title seemingly implies the films should be about ‘men’ in black. Thompson dismisses the criticism, feeling no pressure to make her character channel any sort of masculinity in order to fit in.
“Obviously in ‘Thor’ I was literally strong — playing a woman that was a warrior. But to me, when I think about the idea of a strong woman — which is something we talk about a lot, particularly in Hollywood now, in the sort of cultural space we’re in — for me, a character that’s a strong woman is just well-formed,” she says. “The strongest that she can be is to be a character that — inside of this world that’s zany and doesn’t always reflect ours — you feel you can understand who this woman — this person — is.”
One of the many weird creatures from the movie. (Supplied)
