Russell Crowe recently brought Zeus to life in Thor: Love and Thunder, but it seems that there was some disagreement on what type of accent the actor should use. As a Greek god, it would make sense that Zeus sounded… well, Greek, but audiences have become used to hearing mythical beings with British accents.
While speaking with Insider, Thor: Love and Thunder director Taika Waititi revealed that they actually shot two versions of every single scene with Russell Crowe as Zeus; one with a British accent and another with a Greek accent.
We actually talked at length about the accent. We wondered if someone did a Greek accent of a Greek god, is it going to be a farce? Will it be too silly? And Russell was very much wanting it to be Greek. But I wasn’t sure, so we ended up doing two versions of every take with Russell. One in a Greek accent and then another in a British accent. Because I felt people would think Zeus would sound British like Laurence Olivier in “Clash of the Titans.”
Taika Waititi said that he realized in post-production that “it’s actually more offensive to the Greeks to have Zeus sound like he’s British. And test audiences loved the Greek accent. I’m really happy with it. But, yeah, he had to do every take once in the Greek accent and once with a British accent because I couldn’t make up my mind.” Sounds like Russell Crowe was right from the very beginning.
The Thor sequel finds the God of Thunder on a journey unlike anything he’s ever faced – a quest for inner peace. His short-lived retirement is interrupted by a galactic killer known as Gorr the God Butcher (Christian Bale), who seeks the extinction of the gods. To combat the threat, Thor enlists the help of King Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson), Korg (Taika Waititi), and ex-girlfriend Jane Foster (Natalie Portman), who – to Thor’s surprise – inexplicably wields his magical hammer, Mjolnir, as the Mighty Thor. Together, they embark upon a harrowing cosmic adventure to uncover the mystery of the God Butcher’s vengeance and stop him before it’s too late.
Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing in theaters. You can check out a review from our own Chris Bumbray right here and be sure to let us know what you thought of the film as well.