Christopher Eccleston: Making Thor like 'having a gun in your mouth'

Christopher Eccleston has slammed his time in many blockbuster films. Photo / Getty Images

Outspoken British actor Christopher Eccleston has starred as Doctor Who and appeared in big budget Hollywood blockbusters G.I. Joe and Thor — and he doesn't have a good thing to say about any of them.

In a disarmingly frank new interview with The Guardian, Eccleston, 54, opens up about what it was really like for an acclaimed stage and screen actor to take on roles in Hollywood blockbusters.

"Working on something like G.I. Joe was horrendous," Eccleston said of his role as the baddie in the 2009 action film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, which earned over $300 million at the box office.

"I just wanted to cut my throat every day. And Thor? Just a gun in your mouth."

Eccleston played Malekith in the 2013 Marvel sequel Thor: The Dark World, which received mixed reviews.

Eccleston said he didn't hate every experience he had making Hollywood blockbusters.

"Gone in 60 Seconds was a good experience. Nic Cage is a gentleman and fantastic actor. But G.I. Joe and Thor were … I really paid for being a whore those times."

Back in his homeland, Eccleston earned rave reviews when he played the Doctor in the first revived season of longrunning sci-fi television show Doctor Who in 2005. Eccleston left after one season — a decision that he says the show's broadcaster, the BBC, punished him for.

"What happened around Doctor Who almost destroyed my career," he told The Guardian.

"I gave them a hit show and I left with dignity and then they put me on a blacklist. I was carrying my own insecurities as it was something I had never done before and then I was abandoned, vilified in the tabloid press and blacklisted.

"I was told by my agent at the time: 'The BBC regimen is against you. You're going to have to get out of the country and wait for regimen change.'

"So I went away to America and I kept on working because that's what my parents instilled in me."