Creature Choreographer Paradox Pollack Speaks In-Depth On THOR Work!

"I had worked as a stunt actor on I Am Legend, stunt doubling the Alpha-Zombie and during that film connected with the stunt coordinator who introduced me to J.J. Abrams on Star Trek. I worked on Star Trek as the Alien/Creature choreographer. My work was seen by a number of prominent producers and I was called into a meeting with Patty Whitcher (producer) Luc Etienne (AD) and Kenneth Branagh for a meeting in the first week of January 2010. After that meeting I was hired on as the movement director for the project. I was hired to work on one fight scene for two weeks and continued to get more responsibility as time went on. I worked directly with the principals Loki, Thor, Sif and the warriors 3 as well as Rene Russo in the role of Frigga. I worked for 3 months…"

"I have trained as an actor by performing as an actor; I learned the skills of directing by teaching children and directing adults. My training is always simply to practice, and I have been in the discipline of daily practice of the craft for 25 years. When there was something I didn’t know how to do, I found someone who was a practitioner or if lucky, a master and ask them to teach me. Acting, dance and directing circus shows were the main skills that I worked to refine. Anything of value I have done; was done simply by taking a leap into the unknown."

"Kenneth is a creative and respectful artist. He works in a focused manner and with deep consideration for the actors working on the project. From the moment we met he saw the value of my job and encouraged me to do my best work. As I did my job well, I was given more and more responsibility. He called for me by “Doxy”, which I loved hearing across the set.
We sat and spoke a few times choosing carefully the strategy for getting the best out of the cast. It was an honor to work with him closely these few times…A great man to work with…"

"I woke everyday at 4am and drove to the studio by 5, had breakfast on the Raleigh Studio Lot. I was on set by 6.30 every day and worked till about 8 at night. Kenneth respectfully ran a tight ship. During the fight sequences the stunt performers were in make up and prosthetics by 7am with at least 3 hours of make-up and assembly for them and I was directing aspects of the fight scene and coach the actors over the whole day and into the night."

"For the stunt coordinator, fight choreographer and stunt performers many, many hours go into their work. I arrived after a month of preparation, probably 7 hours a day for a month. 240 hours of rehearsal fighting hard, with giants and then when I came in, working with the principles Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Rene Russo, and the stunt performers, I was putting in 6 hours a day of rehearsal in addition…for about 10 days before we were on set. So all in all we are looking at about 500 hours of solid work from a committed crew for the scenes that we will see in the film."

"I look to the creature design. The artist’s rendering of the creature or of the character. With Thor I spent hours and hours looking over old comic books, observing the stances of the creatures and the gods in the story. I look at the mechanics of posture and attitude. I look then into the systems of mystical or indigenous mythology for the way in which imagination and the body come together. It all has to be shaped with and from the individual actor.
For Chris (Thor) he was a surfer, and a martial artist who had studied Muay Thai so I watched him and while he executed his movements I would call out things like, “what is the other hand doing while you strike with the hammer, trace the lightning, balance the arms”, “surfer’s legs”, and each of these cues began to sink into the actual dynamics of the expression of the character, to remind him with inner cues. With Loki (Tom) he is trained as a dancer and was very different and deeply rewarding What a joy to work with such a talented cast, working with these two was one of the BIG highlights for me."

"I had a day of directing 250 extras as Asgardians. I kept them all warm and limber and in character … I was running around the set for 8 hours tirelessly looking after every aspect of their needs and the needs of Kenneth. At the end of the day exhausted, I got the first hug from Ken. It was sincere. It was a hard day of work."

"Colm and I had a great day on set when he was being filmed by himself, looking out over the scene from his tower above and I was the only one there to represent all the action, Vic Armstrong let me play all the roles below, as Colm looked down from his royal perch. From that moment on we had a warm regard for each other and when I did his stunt work it was really a matter of simply standing and moving with the same level of regal abandon and virile intelligent sovereignty."

"My work is to bring the entire actor’s being into the role of the character. Their sensations, emotions; every bit of their personality is a resource to draw from. Emotions are the root of motion and feelings guide our inner life. It takes practice and more practice to find this relationship. We do this work to dig into the resources of the actor. It’s about learning how to play fiercely with the full intelligence (body/mind/emotion/imagination) and how to work under extreme conditions and still find naturalness."