Christopher Eccleston longed to work with Sir Anthony Hopkins.

The 'Thor: The Dark World' actor - who plays villainous Malekith in the superhero sequel - grew up in awe of Hopkins after seeing his stage performance as Lambert Le Roux in 'Pravda' at the National Theatre as a young drama student, so the opportunity to act alongside him in the new movie was a dream come true.

He said: ''I'd never experienced a presence like him in 'Pravda'. You felt that although he was on stage, he may just leave it at any time or jump into the audience. Then I'd go up to the canteen and he would be sat, usually alone, eating beans on toast. It made me think, 'I could do it.' He does look like a god on stage, but backstage he doesn't.''

Eccleston was working as a wide-eyed usher at the theatre at the time and told Hopkins about their past encounter when filming 'Thor'.

He added: ''He looked at me and he delivered the first line of his performance in 'Pravda'.''

The former 'Doctor Who' actor also admits he worried about being able to give a dramatic performance while covered in tons of prosthetics and make-up to transform him into his dark elf character.

He told The Times newspaper: ''I worried about it because the process was so long. I thought, 'They could have had anybody.' ''