Here are some photos from last night’s “gala screening” of Thor: Love and Thunder in London. What is the difference between a gala screening and a premiere? I do not know. Perhaps the difference is that Thor didn’t show up, and neither did the villain, played by Christian Bale. Chris Hemsworth and Bale were absent, but in their place, Taika Waititi walked the carpet with his girlfriend/fiance Rita Ora, plus his two leading ladies, Natalie Portman and Tessa Thompson.
Fashion notes: Natalie wore Dior, a flouncy red minidress which… don’t yell at me, but I think the look is way too “young” for her? She’s 41 years old, she’s a mother of two, and she’s dressed like a 20-year-old Instagram influencer at the MTV Awards. Plus, the dress itself is really bad, like an ill-fitting, stiff tutu… ugh. Now, I love the flower headpiece. Gorgeous. Her makeup is on point too.
Rita wore an Elie Saab dress which is one of the cheapest looks I’ve seen from that designer. Tessa wore a gold Oscar de la Renta dress which… I don’t like that either? It doesn’t fit her properly, it’s way too tight in the bust and you can tell that she’s really uncomfortable. Poorly styled with the jewelry/choker too, although I love her braids.
Bonus photos of Serena Williams, who is still in London for some reason, with her husband Alexis Ohanian. Rege-Jean Page was also at the screening.
Photos courtesy of Instar and Backgrid.
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- Thor Love and Thunder UK Premiere -PICTURED: Natalie Portman -LOCATION: London UK -DATE: 5 Jul 2022 -CREDIT: PA Images/INSTARimages.com
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- Thor Love and Thunder UK Premiere -PICTURED: Rita Ora and Taika Waititi -LOCATION: London UK -DATE: 5 Jul 2022 -CREDIT: PA Images/INSTARimages.com
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Celebrities attend the UK Gala Screening of ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ held at the Odeon Luxe. Pictured: Regé-Jean Page BACKGRID USA 5 JULY 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: Mario Mitsis / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- London, UNITED KINGDOM – Celebrities attend the UK Gala Screening of ‘Thor: Love And Thunder’ held at the Odeon Luxe, Leicester Square Pictured: Natalie Portman BACKGRID USA 5 JULY 2022 BYLINE MUST READ: Mario Mitsis / BACKGRID USA: +1 310 798 9111 / usasales@backgrid.com UK: +44 208 344 2007 / uksales@backgrid.com *UK Clients – Pictures Containing Children Please Pixelate Face Prior To Publication*
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- Thor Love and Thunder UK Premiere -PICTURED: Tessa Thompson -LOCATION: London UK -DATE: 5 Jul 2022 -CREDIT: PA Images/INSTARimages.com
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- Thor Love and Thunder UK Premiere -PICTURED: Tessa Thompson, Taika Waititi and Natalie Portman -LOCATION: London UK -DATE: 5 Jul 2022 -CREDIT: PA Images/INSTARimages.com
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- Thor Love and Thunder UK Premiere -PICTURED: Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian -LOCATION: London UK -DATE: 5 Jul 2022 -CREDIT: PA Images/INSTARimages.com
Ugh, I hate the dress your age thing. I think this works on Natalie. The real question is who did that to my beautiful Tessa!?
I agree! dress your age is outdated. I absolutely refuse to do it and neight should Natalie have to. she looks fantastic and I love the crown! maybe flower crowns will become a thing! that would be so cool. I would totally wear one.
Tessa’s dress would be gorgeous with a more drapey bodice.
Serena and Alexis always look cute together. I like the babydoll with the long ribbon.
all the men’s colorful looks are great to see. yay for men dressing more interestingly!
Rita’s dress is confusing to me and it looks like it weighs 50 pounds.
but most of all, yay for a red carpet with unusual fashion choices!
I so agree with that!
I think Natalie works it well and the colour really pops on her.
But Tessa….. why??? she normally looks so vibrant and this just swamps her. It looks like some kind of weird costume.
And Taika- man it really ruins it for me when you know the man is trash in his personal life. Relationships end but not seeing your young daughters? The schtick of the funny, goofy, charismatic Director really wears on me now.
agree with: natalie portman looking great. she has the figure to pull it off, so why shouldn’t she? and the style and color make her stand out from the other ladies, who wore neutral ball gowns. i also love the flowers in her hair, and totally cosign somechick with the hope that flower crowns become a thing (although i say where them anyway! make them your thing! i’m always sticking flowers in places like a loon). i will say that i think her makeup is too dark, but that might just be the lighting in the pics.
edited to add: i love taika’s blue tux with the small black lapels.
We recently celebrated our 40th wedding anniversary. I wore a flower crown for our party and felt like a queen. (mine was more like a tiara, but still)
I agree this dress your age thing needs to stop
The “dress your age” is a tough one for me. As much as I want women of all ages to dress the way they goddamm feel, there is also something about embracing every stage in life. Your twenties are not the same as your thirties etc. This does not, however, equate with not wearing a mini-skirt after 30 (scr&w that!). For me it is about confidence and whatever energy you’re putting out there in relation to who you are. And Portman never struck me as a “femme enfant” or a petite flower. Also, this look is not even young looking, to me it evokes childhood memories: puff skirts are more childlike than grown-up (it seems to me, I was so young when these were fashionable).
So it is more complex than just a “dress your age” comment: it’s all about embracing where you are in life with self-confidence and the right energy. And without totally being able to put my finger on it, I can see what the writer of this piece meant.
At some point trying to look like a teen starts to turn into looking like a caricature of yourself as a grown woman. The impression it leaves is one of insecurity, difficulty in accepting oneself, obsession with past youth, and in some cases (*cough* Madonna *cough*) downright delusion.
I sincerely hope Natalie is not going down this rabbit hole too and will snap out of it soon.
TIna Turner is a great example of a grown woman who wore mini skirts well into her older age but but it was never age inappropriate.
@Hiraku, I agree, Tina Turner is a great example of the self-knowledge / energy combo I was mentioning. It would never occur to anyone to tell her not to wear a short skirt. It was just her. And her legs were / are as beautiful as Portman’s. It really is not a question of modesty or decency, it is, as you say, the smell of desperation (which I am not judging, not everyone is graceful about ageing).
However, I think Portman here is just being advised by some fashion guru / stylist rather than trying to find her own style – just a hunch. Hopefully she’ll land on something that radiates her talent and serene self.
I’m totally with the idea that you should dress for yourself, and if you feel good in it, who cares what anyone else thinks? But this is a gossip site and if someone were to ask me about this outfit, I would say it’s not my favorite and asked if why, I would say it looks like something I would have worn when I was 10 or younger. This look is not to my taste as a 39 year old and I am allowed to express that opinion in a respectful manner but if Natalie liked it, I say do you thing girl!
First thing that came to mind was she looked like a nightclub cigarette girl from the 40s/50s.
https://www.wikiwand.com/en/Cigarette_girl
I think she looks awful, and the makeup is tragic.
I can also see what the writer meant about Natalie Portman’s garment. Unless I’m mistaken, the writer said that she thought NP’s dress looked “too young” on her, which to me is different than saying to someone, “dress your age.” Older women wear short skirts/dresses all the time these days. Some even look good in them, it just depends. In Natalies’ case, I think it’s one thing to wear a short dress, it’s quite another for that dress to flare out so much, like a little girl’s Sunday dress. For some reason, it reminds of some of Kate Middleton’s dresses. Even though they were slightly longer than NP’s dress above, the exaggerated flare adds a very young element to the garment. That kind of silhouette looks juvenile; whereas, a more streamlined look would be more sophisticated, even if it showed some leg.
Also, Tina Turner (like any signer on stage) gets a pass as they’re in a different category. That’s their costume and their persona, as much as any actor wearing tights in a Shakespearean drama. Likewise, male signers have worn eyeliner, feathers, sequins (Liberace), outlandish garments like Elton John and Little Richard, and no one thought anything of it, even in less permissive times.
Yes! I love this dress on Natalie. It reminds me of her ballerina black swan. (I will never be a fan of flower crowns though, it’s not my taste)
Poor Tessa. She looks amazing in that colour but that bodice straight across constraint was designed by someone who hates boobs lol
Hard agree. She looks great and don’t get the issues with her outfit.
If one personally doesn’t like it that’s fine but don’t chalk it up to how old she is or nitpick it to death.
ITA and the dress looks great on her. I still think it’s a silly 80s prom dress, though. But heck she can pull it off.
As someone who is petite I only ever suit dresses and skirts that are short. Long dresses completely drown me. I’m in my 30s have never felt like I shouldn’t wear what I want, yet. As I get older my style has evolved, however if a look does start to look tired on me, it will be retired. RIP my blue denim shorts.
I think she looks incredible too. Her legs are gorgeous, her hair is lovely. Reminds me of black swan fused with the ether that once had her from Thor
tacky is tacky
None of them looks happy. He looks smirky and the women look uneasy.
Is it just me or does Alexis Ohanian always have a look on his face like “yeah I can’t believe I landed Serena either”
I was coming to say the same hahahahahahaha, I love that though!! Very wholesome 🙂
Totally!
YES! Always! It’s adorable.
They always look so good together! And I am certain that Alexis questions how he was so lucky to catch Serena!! That woman is a GOAT!!! Serena just oozes confidence, strength as well as a superior woman!! I adore them both!!
I don’t know anything about his personality but he must be more interesting than he looks. I doubt she’d bother marrying for money so he must have something else to offer.
Natalie looks fantastic in red! I’m just bummed for her because she looks like she feels self-conscious/uncomfortable in the look (whether that’s due to the headpiece, the dress, or the combination of the two).
I feel like Natalie should have fully committed if she were going for a campy outfit like that. Rita Ora’s dress here is hilarious.
Rita’s SO is one of the hottest big money directors around right now and this is what they gave her? I cannot. But maybe she just loves it?
I don’t love the dress, the whole look feels a bit final dance ballet in Centre Stage. Looking forward to this movie.
Yes! I was thinking it reminded me of something but couldn’t put my finger on it.
Why does everyone look so pale?! The make-up is atrocious on everyone, especially Portman who looks like a practice doll make-up where the kids just went for it. Except Serena who looks really cute if we overlook the dress 😬
I have a lot of thoughts on these outfits (apart from R-JP) but her makeup is my biggest ‘oh no’.
All of them, sans Serena, have terrible make up. Who did their make up? They were all done dirty by the make up team.
Agreed. The makeup is awful.
Yes! Natalie’s looks dry, crepey and almost clownish. It definitely doesn’t help the vibe.
Natalie looks like she’s doing Black Swan cosplay, which…
That’s what I thought! Black Swan meets Frieda Khalo
That is where I went immediately, Frieda Khalo!! As for the rest of the women, there are many misses. Ill fitting with awful make up. Did they choose their dresses themselves? I wish these women wouldn’t cater to certain fashion houses as they force them to wear something that doesn’t represent them in the best light. I think we have seen enough women that are forced to wear the ugliest designs….
Perfect description. I don’t care about her wearing a mini skirt, but I think she just looks silly.
I love the colour and appreciate the attempt from Natalie to do something different, but a strapless mini bubble dress feels VERY 2006 and I am not ready for that look to come back yet.
Rita exhausts me. Tessa would look great if it didn’t cut circulation in her chest.
Essentially I admire everyone going for something here but a lot of near misses.
I had a bridesmaid dress just like this, in purple. March 2008. {Shudders}
Natalie looks like she’s about to perform the role of Kitri in a low-budget production of Don Quixote (or more likely, have a real dancer perform it and then take credit for it herself, amirite? Sorry, the joke was right there!). It’s a shame about the dress, because that porcelain doll makeup really does suit her (she does look a bit washed out, but so does everybody else, so I’ll assume it’s a lighting or photographer issue and looked better in person) and I’m a big fan of headpieces with formalwear. They’re a shamefully underused accessory!
I think Natalie’s dress is fine, I’m just not loving the lipstick or the fascinator.
I like the dress it’s cute and campy but her makeup is awful. It makes her look like a clown, sorry. Rita is just ridiculously tacky in that dress.
Don’t know why everyone is commenting on Rita so much. Serena has one of the ugliest dresses I’ve ever seen and it is such a bad style on her body! Surely this amazing woman can afford a stylist? I know she likes to think she’s a designer/stylist, but I think her taste in clothes is quite atrocious
Is that a giant elastic waist on Natalie’s dress? I hate that the most, plus those strappy shoes. Why won’t those strappy shoes go away?
From the neck up, Natalie is giving me Frida Kahlo vibes, and I am totally here for it, but she needs a dress that’s worthy of it, and that one ain’t it.
She looks like Queen Amidala with the pale powder.
She needs a visit to the tanning bed.
Her makeup is too severe, which is why her skin looks pallid. Tanning beds literally roast your skin-like UVA rays fix on your skin until the skin cells turn over and die, creating the tan in response and prematurely aging your skin over time. Not to mention the risk of cancer. Didn’t mean to sound so preachy, ha, but we have got to de-normalize tanning as anything that is even remotely ok.
Sunscreen is next to godliness! 😉 As an aside, I highly recommend Dr. Shereene Idriss videos on YouTube!
(Ps. Vit-D creation happens from UVB rays -sunlight-and all within about 15mins of sun exposure-any longer exposure becomes a serious risk to your health.)
I was joking. Don’t mind me- I’ve had a tough day and had a few drinks, so I’m more than a little tipsy. Yes tanning is bad. I wear sunscreen every day even on cloudy days. I’m a little pale myself as I have sensory issues and hate the sun -blood tests revealed I’m low in vitamin d. And I live in Australia by the beach!
Genevieve is right – nobody needs a visit to a tanning bed.*
*I Freudian slipped to “tanning bad.”
Good for you Rosa. I understand a slip of the tongue and while I am definitely team SPF, I am also here for having a few and then jumping on Celebitchy and throwing out a hot take or two.
I also don’t generally say dress your age but the length on someone her age somehow makes it feel more casual? I think if it was a shade longer (an inch or two! It could still work as a mini) it would feel more formal. The colour and accessories are fabulous though.
Re the length, it’s like that skirt needs an anti-hoik… like if the whole thing were yanked 1-2 inches lower, the length would look better and the waist would hit at a better place.
The waist on the dress is a travesty!! That should have never made it into the final construction.
The fabric of Natalie’s dress looks like that crumpled paper they fill up gift boxes with sometimes… The colour’s lovely on het, though, and she looks really good in it. The whole dress-for-you-age stuff… If she looks good in it, she should wear it and it actually covers up a lot more than the usual sheer nonsense celebrities wear. Her headpiece is too costume-y for me and her make-up is tragic, though. It makes her face look like it’s melting and yet it’s so powdered, it’s like they did her make-up and then put a layer of icing sugar on top. Horrible.
Tessa Thompson’s dress is gorgeous and she would’ve looked goddess-like if it wasn’t for the terrible fit around the boobs. It looks so painful!
I kind of like Natalie’s, but everyone looks uncomfortable here.
They all look really grim my god is this the best they could do
I love the dress and headpiece separately. I think the issue is whoever is taking the shots is making everyone uncomfortable. Why are we so serious at Thor? And yet, dressed like it’s a party? Something’s going on off camera that’s pulling confidence from everyone and that’s why, IMO, people look off
That’s what struck me the most in all these pics. I hate, HATE the “I’m suffering and also above it all” expressions designers make models wear on the runway, fashion shoots.
There is ZERO reason to adopt that dour lifeless expression at a gala Thor movie premiere.
Bubble mini dresses are making a resurgence? My old ass is not prepared. Lolol.
Regardless, if you’re gonna do a fun dress the least you could do is commit and sell it. Also the makeup is not it yet again. She looks miserable. A beautiful woman who does not look happy at all.
I’m just here for Rege-Jean. My goodness. What a delicious man.
Yes, I agree that he looks yummy…..but that jacket is cut wrong for him. It shouldn’t be pulling like that!!
I don’t know if the problem with the dress is that it’s too youthful – I think maybe it gives that impression because as someone posted above, it looks dated. It’s also just a bad dress. But red looks stunning on her and I think if the actual dress were executed better it might have worked. Maybe I’m agreeing with the article though as I could imagine someone like Elle Fanning pulling it off just about.
Kaiser, I’m Curious why Serena was still in London,yet didn’t attend the parade of champions on Sunday at Wimbledon- do you think she has som beef with the LTA?
I like Natalie’s dress but not the headpiece. It looks too bridesmaid-like to me. A more streamlined hairstyle would make it look less juvenile. And Serena’s dress is giving me “Whatever happened to Baby Jane?” vibes. The color is pretty on her though. Rita Ora’s dress is awful. I like Tessa’s dress but not with the choker.
I like Tessa’s dress as well!! I actually like the choker as it adds a certain balance with the deep v of her deep cleavage. Poor Rita looks like she can’t move freely, in addition to her make up which was not well done. I think that all of the women were done dirty in the make up department except Serena.
Natalie looks like a middle aged 14 year old. She looks her age but like she’s stuck in this girlish frame.
I think the problem with Natalie’s dress is that it just looks cheap/poorly done. I hate whatever is happening at the waist. The concept of that and the flower crown are fine but between the poorly designed dress and the severe hair/makeup, the entire look is giving mixed vibes (teen mall girl plus severe society lady). I don’t care how old Natalie is—I think it’s the overall concept that’s a fail.
Good god, all of these dresses are awful.
No one is going to argue with you there. It’s a gallimaufry of fug dresses.
Indulge my fantasy for a bit
This is Portman’s take on womens liberty. The dress and crown take influence from Lady Liberty’s statue and the colour and texture for the right to choose. The flowers symbolize birth and rebirth, death creating life, furthering the theme of reproductive rights.
I like Natalie’s styling but the dress is a bit off. If it was fitted a little better through the waist and maybe two or three inches longer so it didn’t look so much like a tutu but would still show off her legs. Natalie and Charlize usually get the best Dior looks but this one went a little off.
Tessa looks like she has cramps.
Natalie looks lovely but that style of dress is a bit outdated. Knee-length or full-length would’ve been perfect.
I actually like Tessa’s dress in theory, but the styling is just off.
I don’t like any of the women’s dresses. Natalie’s is the best of a bad bunch and Serena is the worst – the colour and style don’t flatter her and the tie is awful. I feel like both her and Rita look better in simple silhouettes.
Taika and Rege-Jean both look great.
That’s not a young dress, that’s just the wrong dress.
I think it looks cute, but I’m not sure that SHE is feeling herself in it. With a headdress like that, I think you need to bring a lot of personality to the outfit. This is a look for smiles and laughter, not sedate neutrality. Portman tends to read a little serious and quiet in her presentation, so I get the sense she and her stylist weren’t on the same page.
Tessa’s dress is probably the best of the bunch, but those poor boobs of hers. Like a vice on her chest.
Serena’s dress is a miss for me. While I get why she might have gone for the pink as a softer shade, I feel like it doesn’t quite fit her look. She’s got such a powerful, regal look to her that bolder colors or strong, contrasting neutrals tend to work best for me on her.
I am convinced Natalie’s stylist hates her…Rita and Takiti look high as hell
I think the color is gorgeous on her and she can definitely pull off the cut. But as much as I like both the dress AND the headdress, together they make her look like she’s in costume for an ice skating routine or dance recital. She should have done one or the other with something simpler to complement it.
Portman and Thompson are dressed for EACH OTHER’S body types. Postman’s dress works better on a woman with a sinched waist and ample bust, while Thompson’s look fits a sylph-like figure better. They should have just linked up ahead of time and switched dresses.
Natalie looks like she’s auditioning for a Frida Kahlo flamenco dancing movie
Rege Jean looks like he just got off work and is on his way to someone’s leaving party.
All of the outfits are bad–Natalie, Rita, Taika and Serena.
Serena is the GOAT and blessed with a BEAUTIFUL face and body. She cannot dress herself or select a flattering hairstyle, and refuses to hire the talent to do that for her.
Natalie Portman will never ever ever let this “sexy baby/preteen” thing go, eh? She’ll 60 years old still wearing the Miss Dior perfume ad dress.
You can be a 43 year old married mother of two preteens and dress youthful without looking like you stuffed yourself into your 12 year-old’s birthday dress which is EXACTLY WHAT SHE LOOKS LIKE.
Natalie looked like a 19 year old ingenue for a very very long time and then suddenly, like in the last three or four years, she looked every bit of her age. I don’t think she knows how to dress like a grown woman.
Oh dear, that’s a very aging look on Natalie–her makeup artist clearly did not like her.
I’m having flashbacks to sitting down in a short skirt and your bum sitting on the actual seat- a very weird and distressing feeling.
Serena looks the best! Not crazy about her shoes but that’s me.
I don’t think she’s dressed too young for her age. I think she’s one of those people, no matter how beautiful, who somehow manages to look not that great in her outfits. I don’t know why. Something always looks slightly off.
Objectively she’s always been beautiful. And anyone who says she isn’t sounds like a crazy person. Yet she never really dazzles in an outfit. Like I said, I don’t get it myself. Actresses physically less pretty than her and just as short always look good in their outfits.
I think Natalie looks ridiculous. For me it has nothing to do with her age and everything to do with how this dress looks like a children’s dance recital costume. The color, her makeup and hair crown are cool though, I could see her wearing something flowy and just less fug than this. And she looks super uncomfortable which doesn’t help.
I caught myself looking at Portman’s feet — to see if she was wearing tap shoes. Red Swan? I do like the crown though.
Rege Jean is the only one who looked great. The rest, not so much.
I don’t think that its too young for her its that between the headpiece, the super short skirt and the bright red lipstick she looks like she’s in costume for a dance recital not dressed up for a movie premiere (or gala or whatever they are calling it).
With regards to her headpiece how much you wanna bet her stylist thinking was something like “UK premiere….I know I’ll put her in a FASCINATOR!! Lots of people wear those in the UK!!!” Except that UK celebs pretty much only wear hats and fascinators to weddings, ascot (and other horse races) and events with the Queen. And that’s pretty much it.
Forget the others, Serena and her bloke look utterly terrible.
Ahem…I believe the most appropriate thing for a woman over 40 to wear is
Whatever the f* she wants!
That’s a shame, I don’t think any of those ladies are well served by the dresses they are wearing.
Portman’s dress grates on me and in trying to figure out why, I thought of “Boobs Legsly”, the actress so nicknamed by the Go Fug Yourself girls. I am paraphrasing (poorly) that it can easily be too much when an outfit is highlighting both the bust and the legs. Pick one area to highlight, and let the rest of the outfit/makeup/accessories support and enhance that. To that end, if this dress had long sleeves and a high neckline, it would have worked much better for her.
Someone dun Natalie dirty.
And dun right by Tessa (even if you think she looks uncomfortable, she looks gorgeous).
Wow, I really disagree with a lot of the comments here.
Tacky is tacky.