Chris Hemsworth's life from nearly losing Thor role to brother to discovering Alzheimer's risk
Chris Hemsworth is returning for a second season of Limitless on Disney+ which sees him focus on ways to live better.
Chris Hemsworth is one of Hollywood’s biggest stars so it’s understandable that fans are eager to know all there is about the Marvel icon.
Disney+ and National Geographic are once again teaming up for the second series of Limitless with Chris Hemsworth takes on some new terrifying challenges.
The first season revolved around ways to live longer while this new series focusses on how to live better, from learning a new skill to taking on your biggest fears.
As Hemsworth returns to the small screen, let’s take a closer look at the star’s life behind the cameras.
Cleaning breast pumps
Australian actor Chris Hemsworth may now be best known for starring in some major blockbusters like the Thor franchise and Extraction, he didn’t always have the most glamorous of jobs.
When asked about his worst ever jobs, he candidly told Collider: "Cleaning breast pumps.
"I worked for like a pharmacy that would rent out milk extractors, breast pumps, for pregnant women.
"I swear to God I had a toothbrush and a spray, and I would scrub off dried milk off the machines."
Almost missing out on Thor
Without a doubt, the 42-year-old is best recognised for portraying Thor, God of Thunder, in the Avengers franchise, with the first film coming out in 2011.
While he may seem like the obvious choice, Hemsworth wasn’t always guaranteed the part and almost lost it to his brother Liam Hemsworth from The Hunger Games.
Speaking to Wired, Chris shared: "I auditioned for Thor many years ago, probably 11 or 12 years ago, and I didn't get a callback. I think my audition sucked.
"And then my younger brother auditioned, and he got very close — he got down to the last five people. And didn't get it.
“They were like, 'Look, he's great, but he's a bit young.’
Chris’ manager then pushed him forward for the part again and thankfully, he was given another chance.
"I came back in, re-auditioned a few times, and just had a different attitude.
“Maybe I had a little more sort of motivation that my little brother got a look in and I hadn't.
“"I also had done a couple of films in between those two auditions, so I had a bit more experience and confidence in what I was going to do."
Love life
Hemsworth was first introduced to his now-wife Spanish model and actress Elsa Pataky in early 2010 through their shared dialect coach.
He said on The Drew Barrymore Show that their first date “set the stage for most of our relationship” as Hemsworth explained: “She turned up on a motorcycle…and I thought, ‘Oh cool, she’s adventurous.’”
He continued: “You want to have similar interests.
“It’s interesting and fun to be from completely different walks of life and then there’s different things to talk about and different dynamics.
“But having the same interests and the same enthusiasm for the outdoors and sports and so on just keeps it interesting.”
Hemsworth and Pataky got married in December 2010 and welcomed their daughter in May 2012 and then their twin sons in March 2014.
Alzheimer’s risk
It was during filming of Limitless season one that the star took a test which told him that biologically, he was eight to 10 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s as he carries two copies of the APOE4 gene.
One in every 50 people inherit two copies of this gene and research has found that nearly all of those that are double carriers showed early signs of the disease which causes dementia by age 55.
Talking to Sky News, Hemsworth said: “It was just kind of this point in my life where up until your 40s, you're kind of gathering data and information and it's all reactionary and then you get to a point where you think, oh some of this sort of identity that I've sort of built doesn't hold true anymore.
"There's some inner sort of protest or inner voice that has a deeper need to understand and there's deeper questions and what is the purpose and the why behind what I'm doing ... and what am I seeking, what am I contributing, as opposed to just what I am collecting."
What’s next
Apart from Limitless season two, the actor has an abundance of other projects in the works.
This includes an action film called Subversion with Cinderella actress Lily James, Avengers: Doomsday which is in production and thriller Crime 101 with Mark Ruffalo and Barry Keoghan.
He has also been rumoured to star in a Transformers and GI Joe crossover, as well as a movie entitled Prince Charming, with Hemsworth portraying the fairytale figure himself.
Limitless season two premieres on Friday, August 15, on Disney+.