Chris Hemsworth
Christopher Hemsworth AM (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian actor. He rose to prominence playing Kim Hyde in the Australian television series Home and Away (2004–2007) before beginning a film career in Hollywood. In the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), Hemsworth starred as Thor in the 2011 film of the same name and reprised the role in several films, including in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), which established him among the world's highest-paid actors.[1][2]
Chris Hemsworth
- Actor
- film producer
2002–present
3
- Luke Hemsworth (brother)
- Liam Hemsworth (brother)
- Joanne van Os (aunt)
His other film roles include the action films Star Trek (2009), Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and its sequel The Huntsman: Winter's War (2016), Red Dawn (2012), Blackhat (2015), Men in Black: International (2019), Extraction (2020) and its 2023 sequel, the thriller A Perfect Getaway (2009) and the comedy Ghostbusters (2016). Hemsworth's most critically acclaimed films include the comedy horror The Cabin in the Woods (2012) and the biographical sports film Rush (2013) in which he portrayed James Hunt.
Early life
Christopher Hemsworth[3] was born on 11 August 1983[4] in Melbourne,[5] to Leonie (née van Os),[6] an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counsellor.[7][8] He is the second of three sons, following Luke (b. 1980) and preceding Liam (b. 1990); both of them are also actors. His maternal grandfather is a Dutch immigrant and his maternal grandmother is of Irish descent;[9] on his paternal line he is of English, Scottish, and German ancestry.[6] He was brought up both in Melbourne and in the Outback in Bulman, Northern Territory. He has said, "My earliest memories were on the cattle stations up in the Outback, and then we moved back to Melbourne and then back out there and then back again. Certainly most of my childhood was in Melbourne but probably my most vivid memories were up there [in Bulman] with crocodiles and buffalo. Very different walks of life."[5] He attended high school at Heathmont College[5] before his family again returned to the Northern Territory, and then moved a few years later to Phillip Island.[10]
Career
Early work (2002–2010)
Hemsworth started his career by appearing in several television series. In 2002, Hemsworth starred in two episodes of fantasy television series Guinevere Jones as King Arthur, as well as making an appearance in soap opera series Neighbours and one episode of Marshall Law. The following year, he appeared in an episode of The Saddle Club. In 2004, Hemsworth auditioned for the role of Robbie Hunter in Australian soap opera Home and Away. He did not receive the part, but was subsequently recalled for the part of Kim Hyde. He moved to Sydney to join the cast, appearing in 171 episodes of the series.[11] He left the cast of Home and Away on 3 July 2007. Hemsworth later remarked that although he became more visible after Home and Away, his work on a soap opera did not earn him respect within the film industry.[12]
Hemsworth was a contestant on the fifth season of Dancing with the Stars Australia, partnered with professional dancer Abbey Ross. The season premiered on 26 September 2006, and after six weeks, Hemsworth was eliminated on 7 November. Hemsworth's appearance in the franchise almost cost him the role of Thor, as producers of the Marvel film franchise feared fans would be put off.[13]
In 2009, Hemsworth played James T. Kirk's father, George Kirk, in the opening scenes of J. J. Abrams' film Star Trek. The role was initially offered to Matt Damon, who turned it down; Abrams appreciated Hemsworth taking on the role.[14] Josh Tyler of CinemaBlend was impressed with Hemsworth, describing the actor's scene as the "best five minutes I've spent in a movie theater this year."[15] The film was a box office success, grossing US$385.7 million.[16] That same year, Hemsworth played the character Kale Garrity in the thriller A Perfect Getaway. It was a modest success, grossing US$22 million against a US$14 million budget,[17] and received mixed reviews,[18][19] but Hemsworth was praised for his "appropriately intimidating" performance of a "thuggish backpacker."[20] Paul Young of Screen Rant also praised Hemsworth's performance as "solid."[21]
Hemsworth went on to play Sam in 2010's Ca$h alongside English actor Sean Bean, which was the first film he shot when he arrived in the United States. The film's director, Stephen Milburn Anderson, said Hemsworth had only been in the United States for six weeks when he had auditioned for the role, recalling, "Here's a guy who is young, has the right look, is a very good actor and, let's face it, he's beautiful. So I say, we need to get this guy in. I was very impressed".[22] In November 2010, The Hollywood Reporter named Hemsworth one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" onto the Hollywood "A-List".[23]
Thor and worldwide recognition (2011–2015)
In 2011, Sony Pictures announced that Hemsworth would star in the thriller Shadow Runner,[24] but the film has yet to go into production. That same year, Hemsworth was cast as the superhero Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. His first film in the franchise was 2011's Thor. He and castmate Tom Hiddleston, who ultimately played Loki, had each auditioned for the role, for which Hemsworth said he gained 20 pounds of muscle.[25] With a worldwide gross of US$449.3 million,[26] Thor was the 15th highest-grossing film of 2011.[27] The film received positive reviews,[28] and Hemsworth's portrayal of the God of Thunder was praised by Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times.[29] Hemsworth reprised the role the following year for the film The Avengers (2012) as one of the six superheroes—alongside Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark / Iron Man, Chris Evans' Steve Rogers / Captain America, Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner / Hulk, Scarlett Johansson's Natasha Romanova / Black Widow, and Jeremy Renner's Clint Barton / Hawkeye—sent to defend Earth from his adopted brother, Loki.[30] The film was a critical[31] and commercial success, grossing over US$1.5 billion worldwide.[32] The ensemble cast was praised for their onscreen chemistry by Peter Travers of Rolling Stone.[33]
Hemsworth shot the horror film The Cabin in the Woods shortly after the release of Star Trek, but it went unreleased until 2012. It garnered positive reviews,[34] and his portrayal of Alpha male jock Curt Vaughan was described by Alison Foreman of Mashable as his "sexiest" role yet.[35] Hemsworth later starred opposite Kristen Stewart in the film Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) as the Huntsman. Although a commercial success, grossing US$396 million worldwide,[36] it received mixed reviews.[37] Critics were critical of Hemsworth and Stewart's onscreen chemistry, and Angela Watercutter of Wired felt the characters were "not fully fleshed-out."[38] Hemsworth was cast as Jed Eckert in the 2012 Red Dawn remake after MGM saw dailies footage of a scene from The Cabin in the Woods;[39] he was cast as Thor two days after being cast in Red Dawn.[39] The film was a box-office bomb, grossing only US$50 million against a production budget of US$65 million,[40] and received negative reviews.[41]
Personal life
Hemsworth began dating Spanish model and actress Elsa Pataky in early 2010, after meeting through their mutual representatives.[118] They married in December 2010.[119] The couple have a daughter, born in May 2012[120] and twin sons, born in March 2014.[121] In 2015, the family moved from Los Angeles to Byron Bay, New South Wales, in his native Australia.[122]
Hemsworth's children train Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Thalison Soares, and he has regularly taken them to compete in national tournaments.[123]
Hemsworth was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2021 Queen's Birthday Honours.[124]
In episode five of his National Geographic documentary Limitless (2022), Hemsworth revealed that his maternal grandfather suffers from Alzheimer's disease. It was also revealed that Hemsworth himself has inherited two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from his mother and one from his father, which makes it eight to ten times likelier for him to eventually develop Alzheimer's disease than the general population.[125][126]