Chris Hemsworth: Fatherhood Feels Natural

Chris Hemsworth has been in some of the biggest blockbusters of recent years, including Thor, The Avengers and now Snow White and the Huntsman, but it’s his latest role as dad that has the Melbourne-born 28-year-old really excited.

Hemsworth and his wife, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, welcomed daughter India Rose on May 11, and he said fatherhood felt “surprisingly normal”.

“I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Hemsworth told WHO in Sydney of his little family.
“Having a baby has made everything else less important, and it’s just wonderful.”

While there is plenty to celebrate in the Hemsworth family – Chris’s older brother Luke has just had a baby and his younger brother Liam recently got engaged to American star Miley Cyrus – professionally he is on a high.

Hemsworth out with wife Elsa & daughter India Rose

In Snow White and the Huntsman Hemsworth is the leading man opposite two of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood – Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron.

“It was one of the most enjoyable films I’ve ever been on,” says Hemsworth, who plays the Huntsman.

“I really like that this was a broken character, unlike Thor who was regal and privileged. This was a guy from the other side of the tracks and a bit of an open wound, and he had to sort of claw his way back into existence and search for some hope in himself.”

While he is no longer “banging on doors trying to get employed” in Hollywood, Hemsworth hasn’t forgotten where he got his start, on Home and Away.

“I credit everything I’m doing to that show and that my period of my working life. It taught me so much,” Hemsworth says.

“It also kept me pretty grounded in a lot of ways because you do so much work, and you see people like Ray Meagher and Kate Ritchie who have been on that show for 20 years and just have the most wonderful work ethic and attitude and from them that really laid a foundation in my attitude to it all.”

“People think there’s a huge difference between that and, say, a $200 million film, but it’s all the same rules and if you’ve got a bad attitude you won’t last long and if you’ve got a good one then that’s appreciated.”

For our full interview with Chris Hemsworth, pick up this week's issue of WHO, on sale today.