Actress Tessa Thompson talks why a scene depicting her character's sexuality in Thor: Ragnarok was later cut in post-production.
Rumors have been going around that there was a scene indicating Valkyrie’s, played by Thompson, sexuality. In it, the character is relaxing in her bedroom with another woman. The scene then shows the other woman leaving.
While talking to the Independent, the star shares why this scene was eventually kicked out. She says it’s simply because the scene had no relevance to the rest of the story.
“It wasn’t Marvel or Disney or anyone extracting that because it was an issue,” she explained.
“It just was like, that particular moment didn’t make sense in the context of the scene. And there were other beautiful things where you get a sense of her back story.”
Related: Why Marvel Should Give Us 3 Min Gay Romance Or None At All
Thompson says though that she performed the role with the explicit detail of her sexuality as a constant factor.
“The woman that dies is her lover. In performance, we were, like, ‘That’s your lover.’ So in my mind, it isn’t cut.”
She later added: “I played her as a woman that’s queer. I hope that we get to a space, in terms of the stories that we tell, where that’s something that gets to exist, and it doesn’t have to be noteworthy.”
In addition, the conversation also discussed Tessa’s own sexuality and her relationship with singer Janelle Monae
The actress explains that while she is attracted to both genders, she does not like to be labeled as one thing or another. Particularly, many people started referring to her as bisexual after she revealed a past of dating both genders. But for Thompson, that’s not right.
“There were a lot of people that said, ‘Oh she’s bisexual.’ I never said that word, because I don’t think in those binaries.”
