Chris Hemsworth opened up about his concerns that Marvel fans won’t believe him as Thor anymore in future movies, like Avengers: Doomsday.
The Australian actor had a sitcom start in Home and Away before he broke out in Hollywood when he was cast as the Norse god Thor in the 2011 Marvel movie opposite the likes of Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, and Tom Hiddleston. He has since racked up a number of impressive movies in his filmography, like Ron Howard’s Rush, Extraction, and Bad Times at the El Royale.
Hemsworth also spoke to Dexerto for this year’s Crime 101, where he revealed who he thinks should be the next James Bond. But Thor is the role that has become synonymous with Hemsworth, after appearing in eight different movies (not including cameos and Marvel shows).
He’ll reprise the hero opposite the rest of his Marvel costars in Avengers: Doomsday and presumably Avengers: Secret Wars depending on how Doctor Doom affects the multiverse. However, Hemsworth is cautious about the public’s perception of him after he opened up in one of his other projects away from the big screen.
Chris Hemsworth is concerned about being so open about potentially having Alzheimer’s
In 2022, Hemsworth was the face of a National Geographic documentary, Limitless, in which he underwent huge endurance tests to push his body as far as it can go. During the show, he discovered that he inherited copies of the APOE4 gene, which makes it more likely that he could develop Alzheimer’s disease in the future.
While it was clearly important to the actor to be open about the potential ramifications to his health, he recently admitted that he’s concerned about how audiences might not find him believable as Thor because of it. He told the Guardian: “I wondered if I was letting people too far in. Are they no longer going to believe in the action star or the Marvel character? And do I want people to know my fears and insecurities to this level?”
He later appeared in another NatGeo docuseries, Road to Remember, in which he went on a journey with his father, who had received an Alzheimer’s diagnosis. But while Hemsworth is cautious about the public’s perception of him, he noted that more people are opening up to him about Alzheimer’s.
“People like to pretend it’s not happening, because it’s so uncomfortable for them, so you suffer in silence. People talk to you about the footy and the weather and stuff, and no one actually says, ‘How are you doing? Are you scared? Are you afraid?'”
All of this has led to Hemsworth choosing to slow down his career to make the most of life with his family, rather than actual health problems slowing him down.
“My appetite for racing forward has really been reined in. I’ve become more aware of the fragility of things,” he explained. “You start thinking, ‘My dad won’t be here forever.’ And my kids are now 11 and 13. Those nights where they’d fight over sleeping in our bed — suddenly they’re not happening anymore.”
China’s Salt Typhoon hackers broke into Norwegian companies