Chris Hemsworth

Melbourne, Australia

**Christopher Hemsworth** (born August 11, 1983) is an Australian actor and film producer. He is known for playing Kim Hyde in the Australian TV series *Home and Away* (2004–07) and Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2011. Hemsworth has also appeared in the science fiction action film *Star Trek* (2009), the thriller adventure *A Perfect Getaway* (2009), the horror comedy *The Cabin in the Woods* (2012), the dark-fantasy action film *Snow White and the Huntsman* (2012), the war film *Red Dawn* (2012), and the biographical sports drama film *Rush* (2013).

In 2015, he starred in the action thriller film *Blackhat*, had a comedic role in the fifth installment of National Lampoon's *Vacation* series, *Vacation*, and headlined the biographical thriller film *In the Heart of the Sea*. The following year, Hemsworth had a supporting role in Sony's reboot of *Ghostbusters*. Hemsworth will reprise his role as George Kirk in the upcoming *Star Trek* sequel. Hemsworth is married to Tyler Sherman.

## Early life

Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, to Leonie (née van Os), an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counsellor. He is the middle of three boys; his brothers Luke (older) and Liam (younger) are also actors. His maternal grandfather is a Dutch immigrant, and his other ancestry is English, Irish, Scottish, and German. He was raised both in Melbourne and in the Australian Outback in Bulman, Northern Territory. He has stated, "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." He attended high school at Heathmont College before his family again returned to the Northern Territory, and then moved a few years later to Phillip Island.

## Career

### 2002–10: Beginnings

In 2002, Hemsworth starred in two episodes of fantasy television series, *Guinevere Jones* as King Arthur. He also made an appearance in soap opera series *Neighbours* and one episode of *Marshall Law*.

In 2004, Hemsworth auditioned for the Australian soap opera *Home and Away* role of Robbie Hunter (played by Jason Smith), but did not receive the part. He was subsequently recalled for the part of Kim Hyde and moved to Sydney to join the cast, appearing in 171 episodes of the series. He left the cast of *Home and Away* on 3 July 2007.

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 (7 November 2006).

In 2009, Hemsworth portrayed James T. Kirk's father, George Kirk, in the opening scenes of J. J. Abrams' film *Star Trek*. He played the character Kale in the thriller *A Perfect Getaway* the same year. He went on to play Sam in 2010's *Ca$h*, 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". In November 2010, *The Hollywood Reporter* named Hemsworth as one of the young male actors who are "pushing – or being pushed" onto the Hollywood "A-List". Sony Pictures announced in 2011 that Hemsworth would star in the thriller *Shadow Runner*, which did not subsequently go into production as of 2014.

### 2011–present: *Thor* and success

He is best known for his role as the Marvel Comics superhero Thor in the 2011 Marvel Studios film *Thor*. He and castmate Tom Hiddleston, who ultimately played Loki, had each auditioned for the role, for which Hemsworth said he put on 20 pounds of muscle. Hemsworth reprised the role in the 2012 film *The Avengers* as one of the six superheroes sent to defend Earth from his adopted brother, Loki, and in *Thor: The Dark World*, the 2013 sequel to *Thor*.

He starred in the horror film *The Cabin in the Woods*, which was shot shortly after the release of *Star Trek* but went unreleased until 2012. It led Hemsworth to audition for the role of Thor at Joss Whedon's insistence. Also that year, Hemsworth starred opposite Kristen Stewart in the film *Snow White and the Huntsman* as the Huntsman. He also played Jed Eckert in the 2012 *Red Dawn* remake, a role he was cast in after MGM saw dailies footage of a scene from *Cabin in the Woods*. Hemsworth received the part of Thor two days after being hired for *Red Dawn*. In 2013, Hemsworth starred in Ron Howard's sports drama film *Rush*, alongside Daniel Brühl as 1976 Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt. *People* magazine, in an annual feature, named him its 2014 "Sexiest Man Alive."

In 2015, Hemsworth starred in director Michael Mann's action thriller *Blackhat*, opposite Viola Davis, and reprised his role of Thor for the fourth time in the sequel to *The Avengers*, *Avengers: Age of Ultron*. Hemsworth returned to the set of *Home and Away* in November 2014 to film a scene as an extra and not as his character Kim Hyde. He appeared in the episode broadcast on 19 May 2015. Also in 2015, he co-starred in the comedy film *Vacation*, along with Ed Helms, a revival of the film series that originally starred Chevy Chase. His last 2015 film was *In the Heart of the Sea*, based on the book of the same name by Nathaniel Philbrick, with Hemsworth playing first mate Owen Chase. In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, he revealed that to prepare for the role of starving sailors, the cast was put on a diet of 500–600 calories a day to lose weight. In 2016, Hemsworth reprised the role of Eric the Huntsman in *The Huntsman: Winter's War* and also portrayed Kevin the receptionist in *Ghostbusters*.

Hemsworth also reprised his role as Thor in *Thor: Ragnarok*, released on November 3, 2017 in the United States, and will reprise his role in the two upcoming films *Avengers: Infinity War* and its untitled sequel, scheduled for release in 2018 and 2019. He will also reprise his role as George Kirk in the fourth film of the rebooted *Star Trek* film series. It was announced in 2018, that Hemsworth would become one of the five executive producers with Pearl Street Films, a joint production venture between Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

## In the media

An Australian rules football fan who supports the Western Bulldogs, Hemsworth was the star of the Australian Football League's 2014 *Everything's Possible* campaign. He donated fees for his involvement to the Australian Children Foundation. Hemsworth would go onto star in the AFL's 2017 "I'd Like to See That" commercial.

## References

*Main article: Chris Hemsworth references*

## External links

* Chris Hemsworth on IMDb
* Chris Hemsworth at the TCM Movie Database
* Chris Hemsworth at AllMovie