Australian actor Christopher Hemsworth AM was born on August 11, 1983. Before starting a film career in Hollywood, he gained notoriety for his role as Kim Hyde in the Australian television series Home and Away (2004–2007). Hemsworth first played Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in the 2011 movie of the same name. He most recently returned to the character in Thor: Love and Thunder (2022), which made him one of the highest-paid actors in the world.
Chris Hemsworth: The Secrets Behind Chris Hemsworth’s 2024 Quick Facts:
- Birth Name: Dwayne Douglas Johnson
- Birth Date: May 2, 1972
- Birth Place: Hayward, California
- Gender: Male
- Career: Actor, Professional Wrestler, Film Producer
- Most Known For: Snow White and the Huntsman (2012) and Star Trek (2009) are two of his most motion picture performances including playing Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in the 2011 movie of the same name.
Early Life
On August 11, 1983, in Melbourne, Craig Hemsworth, a social services counsellor, and Leonie (née van Os), an English teacher, welcomed Christopher into the world. He is the second of three boys, the other being actor Luke (born in 1980) and the first being actor Liam (born in 1990). On his paternal side, he is descended from English, Scottish, and German ancestors; his maternal grandparents are immigrants from the Netherlands, and his maternal grandmother is Irish.
He was raised in Bulman, Northern Territory, and in Melbourne’s Outback. He said that his first recollections were of the cattle ranches in the Outback before returning to Melbourne. Although he spent the bulk of his early years in Melbourne, he most likely has strong recollections of seeing buffalo and crocodiles in Bulman. After completing his high school education at Heathmont College, his family relocated to Phillip Island a few years later, returning to the Northern Territory once more.
Early Career
Hemsworth began his career by making cameos in a number of TV shows. Hemsworth appeared in one episode of Marshall Law and two episodes of the soap opera series Neighbours in 2002, in addition to playing King Arthur in two episodes of the fantasy television series Guinevere Jones. He made an appearance on an episode of The Saddle Club the following year.
Hemsworth tried out for the Australian serial show Home and Away in 2004 with hopes of playing Robbie Hunter. Although he was not cast for the role, he was later asked back to play Kim Hyde. He relocated to Sydney to become a cast member, and he starred in 171 episodes of the show. On July 3, 2007, he departed from the Home and Away cast.
‘Star Trek,’ ‘A Perfect Getaway,’ and Ca$h
After six weeks, Dancing with the Stars Australia participant Chris Hemsworth was eliminated, which might potentially impact his role as Thor, since Marvel was concerned about the fans’ lack of enthusiasm. Hemsworth portrayed George Kirk, the father of James T. Kirk, in the 2009 Star Trek movie’s opening sequences, directed by J. J. Abrams. Matt Damon was first given the job, but he declined; Abrams was grateful that Hemsworth accepted. At the box office, the movie brought in US$385.7 million.
Hemsworth portrayed Kale Garrity in the suspense film A Perfect Getaway that same year. Although it was met with negative reviews and only made US$22 million on a US$14 million budget, Hemsworth was commended for his “appropriately intimidating” portrayal of a “thuggish backpacker.”
Hemsworth later starred as Sam in the English actor Sean Bean film Ca$h (2010), the first movie he filmed after moving to the US. Because the film’s director, Stephen Milburn Anderson, claimed Hemsworth has the appropriate look and is a very excellent actor, The Hollywood Reporter recognized Hemsworth as one of the young male performers who are “pushing – or being pushed” onto the Hollywood “A-List” in November 2010.
Further Career Breakthrough
The thriller Shadow Runner, which stars Chris Hemsworth, was announced by Sony Pictures in 2011, although the movie hasn’t yet started filming. Hemsworth was chosen to play the superhero Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe the same year. Thor, released in 2011, was his debut movie in the series. He claimed to have put on twenty pounds of muscle for the part, which he auditioned for together with fellow cast member Tom Hiddleston, who ended up playing Loki.
Thor, which made US$449.3 million at the box office worldwide, ranked as the 15th highest-grossing movie of 2011. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times commended Hemsworth’s portrayal of the God of Thunder, and the picture got excellent reviews.
The following year, Hemsworth returned to the role for the movie The Avengers (2012). He was one of the six superheroes, including Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton/Hawkeye, Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers/Captain America, Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Hulk, and Scarlett Johansson’s Natasha Romanova/Black Widow, sent to protect Earth from his adopted brother, Loki.
The movie was a commercial and critical triumph, making over US$1.5 billion in box office receipts globally. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers lauded the ensemble group for their chemistry on film.
‘Snow White and the Huntsman,’ ‘Thor: The Dark World,’ ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron,’ and ‘In the Heart of the Sea’
Shortly after Star Trek was released, Hemsworth shot the horror movie The Cabin in the Woods, although it wasn’t released until 2012. It received favourable reviews. Later, Hemsworth played the Huntsman alongside Kristen Stewart in the 2012 movie Snow White and the Huntsman. Reviews were divided, despite being a commercial success that brought in US$396 million worldwide.
After MGM watched daily video of a sequence from The Cabin in the Woods, Hemsworth was cast as Jed Eckert in the 2012 Red Dawn remake; two days later, he was cast as Thor. Hemsworth later played 1976 Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt in Ron Howard’s sports drama film Rush (2013). The movie won accolades from critics and did well at the box office.
Hemsworth’s performance won over Henry Barnes of The Guardian, who praised the actor for executing the “superb script” with “some mastery.” Hemsworth returned to the character of Thor later that year in Thor: The Dark World (2013).
Hemsworth and Viola Davis costarred in Michael Mann’s action film Blackhat in 2015. The movie garnered negative reviews and flopped at the box office. The choice of Hemsworth to play a hacker raised serious concerns for many commentators, who contended that a hacker couldn’t be hunky. Later on, Hemsworth said that he wasn’t happy with his performance and that he didn’t love his role in the movie. As he put it, “It just felt flat.”
In Avengers: Age of Ultron, the follow-up to The Avengers, he played Thor for a fourth time. Not only did the movie get great reviews, but it also brought him the title of Favourite Action Movie Actor at the People’s Choice Awards. He co-starred with Ed Helms in the comedy Vacation the same year, which was a reboot of the Chevy Chase film series. He received a nomination for Best Kiss alongside Leslie Mann at the MTV Movie Awards.
Hemsworth portrayed first mate Owen Chase in his latest movie from 2015, In the Heart of the Sea, which was based on the Nathaniel Philbrick novel of the same name. In an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he said that the actors were placed on a 500–600 calorie diet each day in order to help them lose weight in order to play the part of hungry sailors.
Critics gave In the Heart of the Sea varying reviews, and despite the film’s poor box office performance, Hemsworth was nominated for an 18th Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actor: Action.
Recent Roles
Hemsworth returned to the role of Eric the Huntsman in The Huntsman: Winter’s War (2016), costarring with Jessica Chastain as his love interest. He later returned to the role of Thor in Thor: Ragnarok, which was released on November 3, 2017 in the United States. Additionally, Hemsworth played Thor again in the third and fourth Avengers movies, Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), both of which were critically and commercially successful.
Hemsworth was scheduled to play George Kirk again in the fourth movie of the revived Star Trek movie series, but he bowed out of the production in August 2018 due to unsatisfactory contract talks. He subsequently stated that the screenplay was unimpressive.
He also featured in Men in Black: International, a spin-off of the Men in Black television series, in 2019. The film brought in US$253 million at the box office worldwide, but critics criticized it for having “lacklustre action and forgettable plot,” although praising Hemsworth and co-star Tessa Thompson’s spark.
Reunited with the Russo brothers, who produced, Hemsworth appeared in the action thriller Extraction on Netflix the following year. The movie surpassed Bird Box’s previous record for Netflix viewing in its first month of release, having been viewed by 90 million households. In the fourth movie, Thor: Love and Thunder, Hemsworth played the character again. Australia was the location for filming, which started in February 2021 and ended in 2022.
In the Netflix film Extraction 2 (2023), Hemsworth made a comeback as Tyler Rake, earning him $20 million. Hemsworth’s upcoming project is Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, a spin-off to Mad Max: Fury Road. In the Transformers prequel movie Transformers One, he will also provide the voice of a youthful Optimus Prime.
Personal Life
Hemsworth met Spanish model and actress Elsa Pataky through mutual representation, and the two started dating in early 2010. December 2010 saw their marriage. The couple gave birth to twin boys in March 2014 and a girl in May 2012. The family relocated to Byron Bay, New South Wales, in his home Australia in 2015 from Los Angeles.
Thalison Soares teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu to Hemsworth’s kids, and he frequently takes them to compete in national competitions. A Member of the Order of Australia, Hemsworth was named in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for 2021.
Hemsworth disclosed that his maternal grandpa has Alzheimer’s disease in the fifth episode of his National Geographic documentary Limitless (2022). Additionally, it was discovered that Hemsworth had two copies of the APOE4 gene—one from his father and one from his mother—making him eight to 10 times more susceptible to Alzheimer’s disease than the average person.
Hemsworth is now among the highest-paid actors in the world as a result of the advancement of his Hollywood film career. The World’s Highest Paid Actors list published by Forbes included him in 2014, 2015, and 2018. With an estimated salary of US$76.4 million, he also placed 31st on the magazine’s list of the Highest Paid Celebrities in 2018 and 24th in 2019.
