Everything you need to know about Chris Hemsworth

Who is Chris Hemsworth?

Chris Hemsworth, best known for his role as Thor in the big-budget Hollywood movie franchise by Marvel, was born August 11, 1983, the middle child of Leonie, an English teacher, and Craig Hemsworth, a social-services counsellor.

In his early years, Chris spent time travelling around Australia, before his family settled in the rural enclave of Phillip Island, outside of Melbourne. In the early noughties Chris’ acting career took off in Australia thanks to a role in popular Aussie soap, Home and Away. In 2007 he relocated to Los Angeles to pursue a career Stateside. He is now based in Byron Bay, on New South Wales’ north coast, where he lives with his wife Elsa Pataky and their three children, India, 7, and twins Sasha and Tristan, 5.

Are all the Hemsworth brothers famous?

Yes! All three Hemsworth brothers are established actors who have gained international success thanks to roles in big budget Hollywood film and television series. Chris’ older brother, Luke, is best known for his role as Ashley Stubbs in the sci-fi hit, Westworld, while Liam Hemsworth shot to fame at a relatively young age thanks to a recurring role in The Hunger Games franchise.

Liam is also known for his relationship with pop/country music megastar Miley Cyrus, whom he was with for ten years, and married to for eight months (the couple filed for divorce in late 2019).

Where did Chris Hemsworth grow up?

Chris Hemsworth spent a lot of his childhood travelling outback Australia. When he was school age, the family relocated to Phillip Island, two hours east of Melbourne. His was a simple childhood, spent playing with his two brothers and surfing daily before school – a young Hemsworth reportedly used to get up at 4am every morning to squeeze in a visit to the beach!

How did Chris Hemsworth get famous?

Chris became interested in acting while at high school, and as he watched his older brother Luke begin to carve a career for himself, thanks to a role on popular Aussie soap Neighbours, he decided to follow suit. In 2004 Chris scored his first major role, playing Kim Hyde in Home and Away, which saw him relocate from Melbourne to Sydney for the duration of filming. He starred on the soap until 2007 when he decided to relocate to LA, where he joined brother Luke in attempting to crack the Hollywood market.

His first major role was playing James T. Kirk's father, George Kirk, in the opening scenes of J.J. Abrams' film, Star Trek. JJ was apparently so impressed with Chris he cast the relatively unknown Aussie star after Matt Damon passed on the role.

Chris went on to appear in a number of films until his big breakthrough came in 2011 when he was cast as the fictional god Thor in the Marvel comics movie adaptation. He has since starred in a number of spin-off films, including The Avengers (2012), Thor: The Dark World (2013), Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), Thor: Ragnarok (2017), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019), which he filmed with friend Taika Waititi.

How did Chris Hemsworth meet his wife Elsa Pataky?

Chris is married to Spanish actress and model Elsa Pataky. The couple met after they were introduced to one another by talent agent William Ward in early 2010 – they were married just three months later while on holiday in Indonesia.

“There was no light-bulb moment," Chris has said. "From the first time we met, we just made sense. She's fun. She's outgoing, and she has a sense of humour and a passionate attitude toward life, which is nice to try to keep up with."

Elsa, originally from Madrid in Spain, starred in several Spanish productions before relocating to Hollywood where she landed a recurring role in the The Fast and The Furious movies.

In recent years, Elsa has stepped back from the spotlight to raise the couple’s three children, but recently returned to acting for a role in the locally-produced Netflix series, Tidelands.

Chris has credited Elsa, and the fact he got married and had a family young, with helping him stay sane in the notoriously fickle world of Hollywood.

"It's certainly kept my feet planted firmly on the ground – I've been able to bypass a whole lot of garbage [and] traps that I could have fallen into."

Where does Chris Hemsworth live?

Though he travels a lot for work, Chris is primarily based in Byron Bay, on the New South Wales North Coast. In recent years, Chris has made headlines for the $20million mansion he and wife Elsa have been building, on beachfront land.

The couple bought the 4.2 hectare property south of Byron Bay for $7 million in 2014 and began building their “dream house” not long after. The dwelling has been roundly criticised for its size, but Elsa insists it’s actually not that big.

“The problem is all the photos of all those drones are all from the top,” she recently told the Kyle and Jackie O radio show. “And the top is, like, a lot of the outside areas. They look like the inside areas, and they’re not. It’s a house to live a lot outside.

“We just put a big roof for the solar. That’s it. That’s the only thing that we wanted; to have solar,” she added.

Chris and Elsa have been based in Byron since 2014, moving there full time after the birth of their twins. Over the years a steady stream of Hollywood A-List buddies have visited the couple, enjoying some good old fashioned Aussie hospitality courtesy of the Hemsworths!

How many kids does Chris Hemsworth have?

Chris and his wife Elsa have three children, India, 7 and twins Sasha and Tristan, 5. The three kids are regularly featured on Elsa’s Instagram page, which boasts an astonishing 3.5million followers. Chris has said in the past that he got to keep the Thor hammers from each of his movies – apparently his kids have great fun playing with them!

Can Chris Hemsworth dance?

Um – yes! Many of his overseas fans will be unaware that Chris actually competed on the Aussie version of Dancing With The Stars back in 2006, when he was still starring on Home and Away.

According to reports, the fact he appeared on the show very nearly cost him his role of Thor, as Marvel Studios CEO Kevin Feige was apparently worried fans would discover videos of his old performances online and be skeptical of his choice. We say fooey to that – it just makes us love him more!

What is Chris Hemsworth’s exercise regime?

Chris is a big fan of keeping fit and has long been a keen surfer. However, when it came time to get in shape for the role of Norse god Thor he had up his fitness game considerably.

“In the comic strip Thor looks to be around 500lb (227kg), so obviously that wasn’t my goal, but it was very important for me to look the part and be as powerful and strong as I could while still maintaining that element of agility,” he told Coach magazine at the time.

To get his god-like physique, Chris worked with personal trainer, Michael Knight.

“Chris’s regime was split into two parts,” Michael told Coach. “The first was a bodybuilder-type protocol focused on high-weight, low-rep moves designed to pack on maximum size, while the second was total-body circuits designed to shift his excess fat while maintaining muscle.”

Michael got Chris using kettlebells to bulk up, something the Muay Thai/boxing enthusiast initially found difficult to get used to. He trained five days a week for the role, squeezing training sessions around filming commitments for another of his movies, Red Dawn.

Each time Chris has picked up the hammer to play Thor he’s had to regain his giganteum physique, which he does by upping his exercise regime and maxing out on a protein-rich diet.

“I basically overfeed on protein and endless amounts of chicken breast and steak and fish and vegetables and brown rice,” Chris told Coach.

What AFL team does Chris Hemsworth barrack for?

Chris is a lifelong Western Bulldogs supporter, regularly taking to social media to express his support for the Melbourne team. In 2014 he even took part in their marketing campaign!

Does Chris Hemsworth have an Australian accent?

He sure dues! But unfortunately, aside from his early roles in Australia, the only part he’s got to sport it in is the all-female Ghostbusters remake from 2016.

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