Tessa Thompson on how Valkyrie is not defined by her sexuality

Yahoo Entertainment
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Tessa Thompson weighs in on her role as Valkyrie in Thor: Love and Thunder and discusses why her role isn't defined solely by her sexuality. She says Valkyrie may not find love in this movie, but is still a "queer character that is open to finding love when it makes sense."

Video Transcript

VALKYRIE: Am I, uh, sensing feelings?

THOR: Pfft. Ha. Yeah, right.

KEVIN POLOWY: There's been a lot of interest of course in Valkyrie's sexuality.

TESSA THOMPSON: Yeah.

KEVIN POLOWY: Since the first film, which I know you're aware of. Did Taika ask for your input on how you would approach that in this version, if you'd had a relationship or whatnot?

TESSA THOMPSON: Yeah, we talked about it a lot. Actually, it was a big topic of conversation because I think, rightfully, there's this real want in audiences to see characters be very clearly queer or LGBTQIA inside of these spaces. And I think it's hugely important to have representation. And also, I think, as humans, we are not actually defined by our sexuality or by who we love. And so, sometimes I think to hang a narrative completely on that is a way of actually diminishing the humanity of the character because you don't allow them to be anything else.

KEVIN POLOWY: Right. Becomes the storyline.

- It becomes the only storyline, particularly in a movie like this where you don't frankly have a lot of room for a storyline, right? So there was a lot of conversation in terms of how to treat that with Valkyrie. And I feel really good, personally, about where we got to. I hope that she's a character that fans continue to connect to, that we have a lot of time to explore her and all of her humanity, but whether or not she finds love in this movie, it doesn't mean that she's not still, like, a fabulous, queer character that is open to finding love when it makes sense.