Avengers: Endgame Star Tessa Thompson Shares Swimsuit Photo of "Sweater Weather"

Avengers: Endgame star Tessa Thompson doesn’t rely on the seasons to dictate when she can or can not don a swimsuit. Thompson, 40, shared a picture of herself wearing a sparkly bronze bikini, posing against a wall as she glowed in the bright sunshine. “Sweater weather,” she captioned the post. Thompson put on 15 pounds of muscle for her role as Valkyrie in the movie—here’s how that made her feel, and what else makes her feel happy.

1. Putting On Muscle

Thompson put on muscle for her role as Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok. “I gained about 15 pounds of muscle mass, which yeah, it was a lot for me,” she says. “I like sort of bucking this conventional idea of a woman is beautiful or sexy if she’s sort of thin. She’s felt, but you can’t really see her strength. I like the idea that she can just be ripped, like Valkyrie is in the comics. Yeah, I found that sort of essential, that not really caring about how I looked, but caring more about how I felt. I felt so strong, and in my skin.”

2. Loving Those Muscles

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Thompson loved how strong the muscle made her feel. “It felt great!” she says. “Yeah, it felt great. Particularly for the five months that I was there, and I was working on the stage where did all the stunt choreography and the likes of folks like Chris Hemsworth. It felt good to be able to be on par with everyone around me.”

3. At-Home Beauty Masks

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Thompson learned how to make at-home face masks during the pandemic. “I would take goat yogurt and put turmeric in it,” she says. “It stained my fingers, which was fine because I had nowhere to go. I would use that as a mask, which was amazing. I have also newly discovered how incredible apple cider vinegar is. It's amazing for your hair, for your skin — I recently had a bunch of mosquito bites, it helped with that. I also use it as a toner sometimes.”

4. No-Makeup Makeup

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Thompson loves the no-makeup makeup look. “I think makeup should enhance what exists,” she says. “I put my foundation on with my fingers, although sometimes I'll use a sponge. I don't like to wear a ton of foundation in my everyday life. I wear so much makeup when I'm working, that it's really nice to give my skin some time to breathe. Typically, I like to use moisturizer and then mix a little foundation into it and make a little cream. That's what I'll use all over my face. Sometimes, I want to cover up areas of hyperpigmentation, so I'll go in with a little foundation. Sometimes I'll cheat and buff it in with a little blending brush, like one that you would use for eyeshadow so it's really, really blended.”

5. Reinventing Valkyrie

Thompson is proud of her reinvention of Valkyrie. “We had lots of conversations about diversity and inclusion,” she says. “It shouldn’t all be rhetorical. I think it’s important the films that we make reflect the times that we live in, to realize that big movies have the power to also shift culture. I think it’s really great that young comic book readers that look like me can see themselves in a film. I think it’s about time.”

Manifest star Ellen Tamaki had a beautiful few months spent with friends and family, posting highlights on her social media. Tamaki, who plays Drea Mikami on the Netflix show, shared pictures of herself from video phone conversations, including a snap of her posing in a brown bikini in a beautiful little yard. “It’s been real,” she captioned the post. Here’s how Mikami lives her best life, and what she’s hoping for next career-wise.

1. Beauty Maven

Tamaki swears by specific beauty products for her gorgeous complexion. “Laneige lip sleeping mask- at all hours of the day,” she says. “Weleda Skin Food single handedly changed my skin. It’s very thick, so perfect for winter dryness. Supergoop glow screen SPF every day, but sometimes I use this as my foundation! There’s a little tint and shimmer to it. PawPaw ointment- for problem areas, I have had an ongoing feud with a dry patch under my nose for as long as I can remember. One of my makeup artists on manifest introduced me to pawpaw and I slather it on. I rarely wear makeup when home for the holidays, so my favorite beauty look is glowy skin! Sometimes my siblings line up and I do all of their skin care, too.”

2. Not Just a Love Interest

Tamaki is appreciative about playing a strong, complex character who isn’t just the romantic interest. “I love seeing women on TV who have more relationships than just romantic ones, and I think there can be something so dynamic and professional about female friendships and that’s kind of what we have been discovering throughout the season is the way that these two characters get along and learn from each other,” she says. “Drea comes in at the beginning and is just so infatuated with Mic and is trying to get Mic to warm up to her a little bit.”

3. Ocean Swimming

Tamaki went on a magical trip to Bali earlier in 2023 where she swam and snorkeled in the ocean. “To my Bali baddieeees- thank you for the trip of a lifetime. From spirituality and support, to morning bintangs and debauchery, I’d like to think that all of our little islands formed a perfect archipelago. Thank you @adawsss for bringing us all together. This insane jet lag was worth it,” she captioned an Instagram post detailing her adventures.

4. Superhero Dreams

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Tamaki wants to explore more physically challenging roles in the future. “When I think into the future and the projects I want to work, I feel like I love and gravitate toward roles that are super grounded and driven and moral,” she says. “I’ve read some scripts recently that are really fascinating about incoming new Congresswomen who want to evoke change in the government. Or maybe even in the vein of a detective, but the scrappy detectives who figures out that there’s something wrong with the system and she goes on and tries to fix it. I’d love to work on something really physical. My training is in physical acting, and I once played Billie Jean King, the tennis player, and so I think that if there were something where I could use my physical acting training, maybe like a superhero that I would love to dive into.”

5. Love On Set

Tamaki genuinely loves her co-stars and enjoys spending time with them. “I mean, that’s the judicious answer, right? To be like ‘everyone’s amazing,’ but it’s true, this is one of the greatest shows I’ve worked on, cast and crew and you know everybody involved, but the person who actually came to mind is Parveen [Kaur], who plays Saanvi,” she says. “I ended up getting close to her hanging out in New York and we were able to have like a couple of days on set together, but we didn’t have to get to have a big story-arc. Our characters have two totally separate situations going on and they’re really complicated stories, but I think it would be really cool to work with her and to see how these two women could maybe start figuring stuff out together.”

The Mandalorian star Katee Sackhoff is enjoying a drink and some well-earned R&R in the sunshine. Sackhoff, who plays Bo-Katan Kryze on the show, shared a picture of herself relaxing in the hot tub in her swimsuit, soaking up the bright sun. “Sunny happy hour 😘🌞 Cheers ❤️,” she captioned the post. Sackhoff is known for playing strong, fit female characters—here’s what her training regimen looks like.

1. Star Wars Universe

Sackhoff is thrilled with her part in The Mandalorian. “I love the Star Wars universe,” she says. “It’s one of the coolest things that I’ve ever been able to be a part of. I was so excited. To be able to play Bo-Katan is just awesome. I’m the first female Mandalorian warrior. It’s my Star Wars version of Starbuck… Star Wars was the first time that I watched a movie that took me into another universe, completely. I remember watching that when I was probably five, six or seven, and it was one of the coolest moments, ever. I wanted an Ewok. I think everybody wanted an Ewok, but that was my goal in life. I was like, ‘I want one of those teddy bear things.’”

2. Sweating With Sackhoff

Sackhoff has her own YouTube workout channel called Sweating With Sackhoff, where she details her at-home exercises and fitness routine. “I realized that since I'm working out at home anyway, I might as well share the routines I do with you guys!” she says. “Most of the workouts are timed intervals so that you can just play the video and workout along with us.”

3. Blonde Action Hero

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Sackhoff refuses to accept certain stereotypes related to her appearance. “When you play a tough character and you’re blonde, there is a complete disconnect,” she says. “I’m naturally blonde, but I’ve been told so many times, when I do one of these [action] roles, ‘We should really dye your hair brown. Because blonde girls aren’t tough. We should cut your hair off because girls with long hair just aren’t tough.’ People associate girls with long blonde hair with the girls in Clueless or Legally Blonde. You can’t be smart and educated and have an opinion because you are supposed to be stupid. They’re the same struggles, but they manifest themselves very differently in this business.”

4. Adding Muscle

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Sackhoff had to add ten pounds of muscle to play Lieutenant Kara "Starbuck" Thraceon in Battlestar Galactica. “That was a physical challenge for me,” she says. “I was working out, very, very hard, for three months before we even got there. I cut out alcohol for five months, and I cut out anything that tasted good. Not really, but I went on a paleo diet, so everything was very clean, with no processed sugar, no gluten, no alcohol, and none of that fun stuff, because I had to maintain what I thought she would like, which is the opposite of me. She’s also very capable. Starbuck had these scenes where she fought, but she was very much a bruiser. She was a boxer.”

5. Battlestar Galactica Pride

Sackhoff will forever be proud of her role in Battlestar Galactica. “There is a reason that I waited 10 or 12 years, or whatever it’s been, to go back into space,” she says. “There’s a reason I did a Western first. Nobody could compare it. Whether it had anything to do with my part in it or not, Battlestar Galactica hit it out of the park. It is still, to this day, getting new fans and a new appreciation for it. People are watching it for a second time with their children, who weren’t even born when we were filming. Battlestar Galactica will live on forever, which is the biggest blessing.”