Tessa Thompson felt 'happily terrified' taking on Hedda Gabler in new movie adaptation

Tessa Thompson felt "happily terrified" taking on one of theatre's great dramatic roles in her movie Hedda.

The Thor: Ragnarok actress stars as the titular character in Nia DaCosta's adaptation of the classic Henrik Ibsen play, Hedda Gabbler, and she admitted she was both thrilled and nervous about taking on one of the great dramatic female roles in theatre.

"I felt happily terrified," she told Deadline. "I didn't go to drama school, but I remember an actress saying to me, 'You always have to have your Hedda ready.' And I was like, wow, that's very cool."

Considering Hedda to be akin to Shakespeare's Hamlet, Thompson continued, "She's a part of the theatre canon as one of the roles that you must play if you're a woman in theatre... If you look at the history and the canon, there's very few for us that are those ones that you just strive for."

Hedda is a woman who is so dissatisfied with her marriage and life that she resorts to manipulation and creating chaos. In the upcoming reimagining, the story is set in 1950s England and the male role of Eilert is changed to a woman named Eileen.

Thompson, who described the character as both "beautiful and horrifying", added that she enjoyed being a part of Hedda's enduring legacy and watching other people's interpretations of the role.

"I think that felt really ripe to me and to get to engage with people that have interpreted it - I loved talking to (co-star) Nina (Hoss) about her time playing Hedda, and I just loved watching everything I could get my hands on and seeing what people did with the material," she shared. "I think that's what makes these plays so tremendous, is you can continue to engage with them for centuries."

Following its film festival run, Hedda will be released on Prime Video on 29 October.