
Engage your core: it’s Chris Hemsworth. Back tats, trigger environments, a dorsal fin, not-caring, and the sheer adventure of it. “Your mind goes blank but your mouth keeps talking,” …on an all-new SmartLess.
Loading summary
Jason Bateman
Checking Allstate first could save you hundreds on car insurance. That's smart. Not checking the day's weather forecast before breaking out new suede shoes. That's a big oops. Confidence started high, but that fashion optimism dissolved fast into a wet reality. Yeah, checking first is smart, so check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds. You're in good hands with Allstate. Potential savings vary, some subject to terms, conditions and availability. Allstate North American Insurance Company and affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois
Will Arnett
jumpstart your January goals at Whole Foods Market. They have hundreds of yellow sale tags for feel good savings across the store. Explore sales on sustainable wild caught sockeye salmon filets, organic boneless chicken breasts, and many more quality finds to support your wellness journey. In fact, Whole Foods Market is the only certified organic national grocer shop. Whole Foods Market with so many ways to save all month long terms apply.
Sean Hayes
We're gonna go. We're gonna go cold and we're gonna go. We're gonna go live in five. We're gonna go.
Will Arnett
Well, let's do a quick, quick cold, right?
Sean Hayes
Let's do a quick cold. Let's do it in five. When I get down. We're gonna go cold. This is the. This is how we count down to the cold open, right?
Will Arnett
Are you going to say one or are you just going to stop at two?
Sean Hayes
I'm not going to say one, and I'm also not going to say two. Old broadcast house. I'm going to go five, four, three.
Will Arnett
By the way, you're wrong about that. You know, I've heard you say that before. Everyone always says the two. It's just the one. That's not. That's not.
Sean Hayes
Five, four, three. Welcome to the cold open. Welcome to Smartless. Smart, Smart, Smart.
Jason Bateman
Ah,
Sean Hayes
Jay. In through the nose, out through the mouth. Now we start. Hi.
Will Arnett
Hi.
Jason Bateman
Hey, thanks for coming today. Hey, you want to know? Oh, go ahead.
Sean Hayes
Oh, no, sorry. Do you have a story all queued up?
Jason Bateman
Yeah, I just. No, I just actually thought of this. The. Our show opened last Saturday.
Will Arnett
You know, I saw you on my Instagram ish thing and a photo. You were saying hi to the audience and I, I immediately got a little nervous. I was like, oh, my God, there he is. He's on stage. He's in front. He did it. So you did it. You did an initial. Are we in previews right now?
Jason Bateman
Yeah. First preview went great. Second one went terrible.
Sean Hayes
I love all the photos. You look like. You look like you're standing on the. On the, like the Bow of a boat. Because you're always, like, standing there, like, looking off into the distance.
Jason Bateman
Yeah. Simon, the king of the world.
Will Arnett
Yeah. He's proud. And he's. He's.
Jason Bateman
He's.
Will Arnett
He's here. Hey. Okay, tell us. Okay, so tell us what was good about the first and bad about the second.
Jason Bateman
Well, you'll relate. You like this kind of talk. It's talking shop. You know, when you kind of connect to what you're saying, it's very real and it's authentic.
Will Arnett
Right, Right.
Jason Bateman
And then sometimes when you do a show after a million times, you. Sometimes there's a little tiny veil between you and the word associate. Yeah. And so. But you're doing the actions and you're emoting, but it's a little manufactured.
Sean Hayes
Yeah. And that's how the second show was.
Jason Bateman
That's how the second show was.
Will Arnett
But I bet the audience. I bet it didn't feel good, but I bet it still was good.
Sean Hayes
Sean, explain to the audience a little bit. Cause you told me that you and I spoke earlier, and you told that. And. And I said, well, that's to be expected. And. And I said that because it's very frightening. It's kind of a known thing. Right. You do your first show.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Sean Hayes
And it's great.
Jason Bateman
Gangbusters.
Sean Hayes
Yeah. And then there's that sort of soft sophomore slump.
Jason Bateman
Yeah. I guess. I wonder if it's an energy thing. Like, oh, man, I'm exhausted. Right. And then maybe that's just. I don't know.
Sean Hayes
And then you kind of build back up again.
Jason Bateman
Yeah. But when you're. Yeah. When you're standing on the stage and you're saying the words and, like, you. Your mind goes blank, but your mouth keeps talking.
Will Arnett
Right. Was it just you going through this, or were the. The other actors have a good time? Was it a good show for them? How were they? Sometimes you can just rely on the rest of the team.
Sean Hayes
JB and I and our crew were coming next week to see you and jb. I don't know if you know this. This is the best news Sean told me today. You ready? It's an hour 15.
Jason Bateman
Yeah.
Will Arnett
Oh, it's a tight hour 15. Do I get to sit front row?
Sean Hayes
We're at dinner before we know it.
Will Arnett
Do I get to hold the book? Can I hold the book? Front row?
Sean Hayes
Yeah.
Will Arnett
And be the guy you turn to if you forget a line.
Jason Bateman
I would love that.
Will Arnett
And then I give you the wrong line. Or. Or you just. You look to me and I just look up at you, and I just Give you a real polite middle finger.
Jason Bateman
Yeah.
Sean Hayes
If you gave JB the book, I, I would say this is the.
Jason Bateman
Just give me a line from 12.
Sean Hayes
JB would be off book in 10 minutes.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, that's the way is.
Jason Bateman
You would be really good at that.
Sean Hayes
Ridiculous.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, but when those curtains open and the lights come on, you're like, oh, there's, I have to do this. It's the scariest thing in the world.
Will Arnett
How was Scotty? Was Scotty a puddle of nerves? I bet he was.
Jason Bateman
He was. He looks scared. But you know what?
Sean Hayes
Look like he doesn't know what to do.
Jason Bateman
I, I, I went to PT today, physical therapy, because I'm standing so long on stage and so even right now as I'm talking to you, I have to learn how to do sit ups. Like, you know, like, you.
Will Arnett
Oh, is that what they're. Core.
Sean Hayes
You got to engage your core.
Jason Bateman
Engage your core. Yeah.
Will Arnett
Doctor said the middle's too soft.
Sean Hayes
And you're wearing, you're wearing double hokas, right? You've got custom hokas on.
Will Arnett
Hey, why don't you get one of those cashier mats?
Sean Hayes
Custom double hokas hook to my, the
Jason Bateman
bottom of my shoes.
Will Arnett
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Cut out a couple of shoe size, shoe size cashier mats.
Jason Bateman
Like snowboards, like.
Will Arnett
Huh.
Sean Hayes
So you've got to engage. So you're doing sit ups. You're trying to do exercises to engage
Jason Bateman
your core, your core, so your back. Right. You guys all know that. Yeah, but I, I just kind of haven't been doing that. Anyway, who cares?
Sean Hayes
They'll get me going on core.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Jason Bateman
You know, guys, someone who has a really good core is my guest today. He, he. Right. He grew up in a remote Australian community four hours from the nearest town. Spent his teenage years and at one point repaired breast pumps in a factory for 10 bucks an hour. He moved to LA to be an actor and was about to quit until one last audition. Flipped the script the way it always happened. He named his son after Brad Pitt's character in Legends of the Fall. But you may know him as Captain Kirk's father. It's the brilliant, charming Chris Hemsworth.
Will Arnett
Hemsworth.
Chris Hemsworth
Hello.
Will Arnett
Wow. Hello. How are you? How are you doing?
Sean Hayes
Well, Chris.
Will Arnett
Guys, this is. Chris knows my wife. Okay. And.
Sean Hayes
Oh, really?
Chris Hemsworth
How do you.
Jason Bateman
Well, we got to start there.
Sean Hayes
You'll leave it at that and I'll pick it up from there. Chris, wait, for real?
Will Arnett
Yeah, they've done a little bit of partying together. Yeah, it's getting worse.
Chris Hemsworth
Where have you been at all those parties?
Will Arnett
I know you weren't involved. I'm kind of jealous. Well, I lost my privileges years ago and I think it's better for me to stay out of what we call trigger environments.
Chris Hemsworth
I should probably do this.
Sean Hayes
Wait, wait, what are we alluding to? What happened with.
Will Arnett
They've got some mutual friends and they have fun and they create trips and they go places and like recently or
Chris Hemsworth
in the past trips of Okons?
Will Arnett
Yeah, yeah, I think recently. Yeah. And then I, you know, I stay home and I, I just, I work on, I work on stuff. I do charity work, you know, and I, I, I fix the house, I take care of the kids.
Sean Hayes
Watching TV now, huh?
Jason Bateman
Yeah. Can you share? Chris? Hi, nice to meet you. By the way. Thank you for being here. Can you share share with us one of those vacations or trips.
Will Arnett
They're hard to recall, aren't they?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, they're quite, quite a blur. The last one was at Palm Springs and there was about.
Jason Bateman
Oh, that's nice.
Chris Hemsworth
50 or 60 people flown out there and it was quite a big three day event and. And you were missed, Jason. But we talked about it.
Will Arnett
I would have, I gotta crushed.
Chris Hemsworth
You would have crushed me. You would have been back in the old days.
Will Arnett
Be there. Hey, Will. You know what, Will? It's amazing you and I never partied.
Sean Hayes
I know. We did. We've been through this. We did one night. Jason doesn't. Chris, Jason doesn't remember but before our privileges. Privileges were suspended years ago. Jason and I had a night out and an. I don't want to get into the details of but we were irresponsible in our 20s and there were moments where we had fun.
Will Arnett
I had some fun with David Cross too a couple of times too.
Chris Hemsworth
Anyway, free iPhones and cameras and you can kind of get little bit of.
Sean Hayes
Jason one time took his belt off. He tried to climb a light pole once I was with him and David Cross and I only stayed late because I was like looking out for their safety because they were both acting like ding dongs. And remember I stole your. I had your belt for like six years.
Will Arnett
Why did my belt come off?
Chris Hemsworth
What happened just after that?
Will Arnett
Was I looking to self asphyxiate?
Sean Hayes
God. Anyway, Chris, welcome to Smart. Yes, thank you so much.
Jason Bateman
I want to start like in the intro, like learn. I read so much about you coming up to this and I knew none of this. First of all, I just want to. In the intro you named your son after Brad Pitt's character. Is that true, Tristan?
Chris Hemsworth
It was a from Legend of the Fall.
Jason Bateman
And did you talk about it with your wife?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah. No. So we liked the name. And then we were sitting on the couch one day, we had a few different ideas, and that film came on, and the scene where he's on the horse and rolls into the space across the field and couldn't look more legendary, and me and my wife both went, ah, this is the coolest character ever, isn't it? And his name was Tristan. And I was like, what about Tristan?
Jason Bateman
How about that?
Chris Hemsworth
That could work. And then off we went, how about that?
Jason Bateman
That's pretty cool.
Will Arnett
Now, has your kid grown into that name? Like, does he look like a Tristan now to you?
Chris Hemsworth
He does. I mean, he is shorter hair now, but he had. For the first kind of. He's 11 now. For the first kind of nine, 10 years, he didn't cut his hair. So it was long blonde hair. He would.
Sean Hayes
I mean, you really went with the Legends of the Flock.
Chris Hemsworth
I didn't know if it was an influence via outdoing or whether there was some sort of.
Jason Bateman
It wasn't a Halloween costume.
Chris Hemsworth
No, but he did he look.
Will Arnett
Did he look like mini Thor?
Chris Hemsworth
He absolutely did, yeah. And he's incredibly high energy and rides horses and motorbikes and surfs and so.
Jason Bateman
Oh, that's cool.
Chris Hemsworth
He fits the name. You'd be proud.
Jason Bateman
Did you ever meet Brad and tell him that?
Chris Hemsworth
Not that particular story, no. I met Brad once and I'm a big fan, obviously, and kind of had this awkward interaction where I went for the handshake or he went for the handshake, I went for the hug, that kind of in between thing, and almost turned into a kiss. And then I was thrown out of the party.
Will Arnett
My God, it would slow down. Too slow for me.
Chris Hemsworth
At that moment, I was standing across the room and my agent was like, he wants to meet you. I'm like, who? No, he doesn't want to meet me. Whatever. And then eventually, an hour later, I was like, oh, Brad, you're here. Oh, just trying to act all nonchalant.
Will Arnett
Hey, look at you.
Jason Bateman
One of those.
Chris Hemsworth
Look at you.
Will Arnett
You're doing well. Where are you? Are you. Are you down under?
Chris Hemsworth
No, I'm in New York. I'm in a press Tour for Crime 101. A film.
Will Arnett
Oh, I can't wait to see that.
Sean Hayes
You know where he is, J.B. look, you can see. You can see where he is.
Will Arnett
Oh, yeah, yeah, that's. That's right. That light switch right there turns on the fireplace. If you. If you've been. If you've been looking.
Chris Hemsworth
That's what that does.
Will Arnett
Yeah. I never knew where. Yeah, it's going to take a little while. It's going to click for a bit. You won't explode. Hey, that Bart Leighton, I love that guy. What a great director he is. I can't wait to see your film.
Jason Bateman
I just saw it last night, it was fantastic. Oh, you loved it. Yeah. Incredible.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Jason Bateman
Edge of your shoe the whole time.
Will Arnett
No notes.
Chris Hemsworth
A couple.
Jason Bateman
They're locked.
Will Arnett
Oh, they're not locked yet.
Sean Hayes
Always notes.
Chris Hemsworth
Okay. If you want to give us a few notes off air, I can. I won't take them so personally.
Will Arnett
No, Chris, don't. Don't you. Don't you want. Don't you want some. Don't you want to do a film next that doesn't take like six months to shoot and all these sort of life threatening stunts you've got to do? And don't you want like a nice calm sort of like, like the equivalent of a sitco?
Chris Hemsworth
Sure.
Will Arnett
You know that you can just relax.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, yeah. The four, five, six month shoots are tedious and I know you've all experienced this, but unnecessary too. I feel like at this point, you know, like the technology of cameras and lighting and what you do in post production and everything is still done how we did it 10, 20 years ago. Yeah. And. And you have, you know, 20 big trucks there full of equipment sitting there just in case and especially on the bigger budget, you know, and you just stand around and do nothing. Then you do a smaller film and everyone's. It's fast paced. You don't have the luxury to sit around and wonder and you know, it feels like the preparation's almost done in a far more specific way because there's such a limited time frame. And I love that style of working. Like I grew up working on a soap opera and it was. We'd shoot 20 scenes a day and as you know, the scripts were not great, but you made them work. But just the momentum you get from that and the sort of. Just by having your feet on the ground continuously day after day. The knowledge you gain from that I think is fantastic.
Will Arnett
Yeah. Learning to be good quick. Right. Like you've gotta be good fast on those soap operas. Yeah, yeah.
Sean Hayes
What was the soap opera?
Chris Hemsworth
Or you're going to be bad fast too, which was what most of what I did.
Will Arnett
But yeah, we just had Margot Robbie on. She said she was on a show.
Jason Bateman
She was on Neighbors. And you.
Chris Hemsworth
I did Neighbors for like an episode and then I did Home and Away, which is the sort of competing one for like three years and when Margot
Jason Bateman
was on, she talked about when she moved to la, that there was like an Australian mafia that helped each other out kind of thing. Right. You know what I mean? Were you part of that?
Chris Hemsworth
There was like a drive, honest. I always felt there was the Australian mafia kind of film industry and then the folks that had trained at NIDA and I think Mel Gibson and Cate Blanchett and, you know, the big acting schools and then the theater group. And then I was on the soap opera. And I always felt a little outside of that cool mafia bubble.
Will Arnett
Right.
Chris Hemsworth
And I remember kind of turning up to a few premieres and kind of being on the guest list, but not really and having all those awkward moments and. And honestly, when I came to la, I didn't know that whole crew of Australian people. And I started working and eventually met them all and, you know, Joel Edgerton and a few folks that, you know, good friends of mine now, but Joel, I always felt I was. I did, you know, I did so proper. I did Dancing with the Stars, so I wasn't seen as being taken serious.
Jason Bateman
Wow.
Will Arnett
Everyone was giving you the Brad Pitt handshake.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Sean Hayes
Did you rent a car from the Romanian guy? Margo rented a car from a Romanian dude who didn't require any id.
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, God, no.
Will Arnett
Well, now I imagine you're fully embraced and it's all one big deal.
Chris Hemsworth
It is. It's such a. It is because it's. It is such a small industry, you know, and. And those who have had success in Australia and make the leap overseas and work there is just such a cool gang of, you know, people in support now.
Sean Hayes
It's remarkable. Again, we said it with Margot, but it's remarkable how many Australians come off those two shows and come and have huge success in this country in the film business. It's remarkable. It really is.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Jason Bateman
It's the SNL of Australia.
Sean Hayes
Yes.
Jason Bateman
You know what I mean? SNL bores so many stars.
Will Arnett
All right, so you're in New York and you're doing a bunch of press for crime 101. I would imagine you're gonn do a talk show or two. But are you. Are you noticing, Are you doing like some of the content stuff that is kind of like a part of most of these press tours now? Like, Willie, I know you've got a Hot Wings out there. I still haven't seen, but I'm dying too.
Jason Bateman
But like, I saw clips of it.
Will Arnett
It's really good. So like every. Have you been doing some of that stuff?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, I did. I actually did Hot Wings for a previous film. A lot of fun. Not. Not on the show.
Will Arnett
How far did you get? Did you do all 10?
Chris Hemsworth
I did. And I was getting really cocky and kind of just more and more, more, more, more. And this one's not so bad.
Jason Bateman
And.
Chris Hemsworth
And will, you know, by, like, the 9th or 10th one, it's just a different game. And they just stopped recording. Cause I was like. We had to throw up. And they got me ice cream and milk, and I was.
Sean Hayes
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Hemsworth
And we were all supposed to go out for dinner that night, and I hadn't eaten all day. And I did the show. And by the time I did the show, it was. The first thing I put in my stomach was this.
Will Arnett
So you were hungry, too?
Chris Hemsworth
Hot sauce. And then I just went back to the hotel room and I sat there for the next 12 hours hugging the toilet bowl.
Will Arnett
Did you sit down?
Jason Bateman
I didn't.
Chris Hemsworth
I was just on the floor. Nothing was operating properly. Everything wanted to come out.
Jason Bateman
Why does it.
Sean Hayes
I had to take the ice cream, and I. And I ended up slathering it on my lips like zinc, like a. Like a surfer.
Will Arnett
Tell me slow. And then was it dripping down your chin?
Sean Hayes
It was. I. Honestly, at one point, I was like. I wanted to rip. Like, it was spurting so bad. And I was just. The whole time, I was slightly angry.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, and then you enjoyed it.
Will Arnett
He just kept looking at Louis K, by the way.
Sean Hayes
I did. I called him out. And by the way, the only reason I went all the way through is because they told me, jb, that you had made it all the way through.
Will Arnett
Sure, not a problem.
Sean Hayes
Shut up.
Will Arnett
This mouth can. This mouth can take a lot. Hey, but what. I only took one bite.
Sean Hayes
Enjoyable. About having it that hot. Anybody wants to have that on their food.
Will Arnett
Like, did you do the. Did you eat the whole wing? I just took one bite.
Sean Hayes
No, one bite. One bite.
Will Arnett
Yeah.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah. That's all it took.
Sean Hayes
That's all it took.
Jason Bateman
Well, Chris ate the bones. That's why he threw up.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, but it was just on. I did Graham Norton with John Bishop.
Will Arnett
Oh, you did? Yeah.
Sean Hayes
Oh, nice.
Chris Hemsworth
Lovely bloke. And a fantastic film, by the way.
Sean Hayes
Oh, thanks, man. He's a great dude, isn't he?
Chris Hemsworth
He's great. He's amazing. And he told the whole story and. Yeah. What a beautiful. What a beautiful story. The kind of thing you. You can't write. You know what I mean? Real life kind of shows you the. The better stories. But I love what the sequel.
Will Arnett
Be on that, Willie. What would be the sequel Is this thing still. What's going on? What's. John. John Bishop. Yeah. What would happen with you? And you would. You'd go. You'd go to the Olympics with Laura. Right.
Sean Hayes
By the way, no bad pitches. Keep going. And she'd win the gold as a coach.
Will Arnett
She'd win the gold as a coach.
Sean Hayes
As a coach. Yeah.
Will Arnett
And then you guys would go on tour, doing a stand up. Stand up tour.
Sean Hayes
And I'd get canceled. And I'd get canceled on tour. And. And then it would be, you know. Friday. Yeah. Let's write it.
Will Arnett
Here we go.
Jason Bateman
It writes itself.
Sean Hayes
Chris, I haven't seen you since we were singing that song in that car on that crazy commercial.
Will Arnett
You did Karaoke?
Chris Hemsworth
No. What was it? It was for a video game.
Sean Hayes
For a video game.
Chris Hemsworth
Some head banging.
Will Arnett
Sounds like a payday.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah. And artistic, you know, integrity, expression, all of that.
Sean Hayes
Yeah, yeah, that too. It was a crazy, huge production for a video game commercial. Not even. It was a mobile game.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah. Yeah, it was. Well, God, what was it called?
Will Arnett
Chris? Do you play?
Sean Hayes
We had fun, though. We loved it. We love it. We loved it so much.
Jason Bateman
We love.
Will Arnett
Whatever those video games that you need, like a headset to play, you know, you're shooting people up. Willie does that. Well, you don't still do that, do you?
Sean Hayes
I don't. It's been years, actually, to be honest. Yeah.
Will Arnett
I want to know, Sean, you're into Sonic, aren't you?
Jason Bateman
The burgers or.
Will Arnett
No, immediately.
Chris Hemsworth
The food.
Jason Bateman
We'll be right back. What do you guys love to do? I love to hang out with friends. I love watching movies. I love playing piano. I love music. I love art. I love theater. I even love sports, believe it or not. Do what you love to end alls lets you turn something you love into a fundraising event to end Alzheimer's and all dementia. By doing something you love to do, you can make a big difference in ending Alzheimer's. All proceeds benefit the care, support and research efforts of the Alzheimer's Association. What's your thing? Golf. Running. Live streaming. Pickleball. Baking. Hiking.
Will Arnett
Parties.
Jason Bateman
Flag football. Something else. Do what you love to end alls gives you the flexibility to host your own fundraiser. Doing something you love on your own time. By doing one simple thing, you can change everything. Select an activity, pick a date, and fundraise for a future without Alzheimer's. Learn more@alz.org do what you love
Will Arnett
My home. Like your home. It's a retreat, right? It's your nest, right? And you want to be able to just lay out in that nest, you know, after a long day. So you know, like my couch, like your couch is probably deep, it's soft, highly crashable. Right. The home should show off who you are and Ashley has styles that balance timeless appeal and modern trends to bring your personal look home. Ashley offers well crafted, affordable pieces built to stand up to real life with great looks that are made to last more than just eye catching design. Get features like stain resistant performance fabric options that are incredibly durable, stain resistant with machine washable cushion covers. Plus Ashley provides fast reliable white glove delivery right to your door. Now my buns are very familiar with the Jersonloh swivel chair. I sat in this chair at our show in Los Angeles that we did in front of a live audience. And let me tell you something, I would have sat there for another three, four, five hours but then we would have had to have charged everybody four, five times the amount they spent on the one hour show. So it didn't make any sense. But the Jerson Low swivel chair made that a temptation for me. Visit your local Ashley store or head to Ashley.com to find your style.
Jason Bateman
This is an ad by Better Help. So life is filled with complications and one of those complications can sometimes be romantic relationships. I mean everyone is still figuring out even when it looks like they have it all together. February is the month of hearts, roses and chocolates. But no matter where you are on your romance journey, single dating or just focusing on you therapy can be a helpful way to sort through it all. Signing up for therapy with Better Help can help you find your way by understanding what you want from a relationship and taking some of the pressure off yourself. BetterHelp is the world's largest online therapy platform and handles the initial therapist matching work for you. Just take a short questionnaire to share your needs and preferences. And thanks to BetterHelp's industry leading match fulfillment rate, they usually get your match right the first time. You can also feel confident knowing BetterHelp therapists work according to a strict code of conduct and are fully qualified. Everyone is still finding their way. Find yours and feel lighter. Sign up and get 10% off@betterhelp.com smartless that's betterhelp.com smartless.
Will Arnett
And now back to the show.
Jason Bateman
So hey Chris, I want to know about growing up and talk to me how that started and where the first love came from. Like what was the first thing?
Sean Hayes
Also like also an acting family. Sean, it should be pointed out. No for sure.
Jason Bateman
Well, I was getting there.
Sean Hayes
Well, I'm sorry.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, neither Neither of my parents were. Were actors. My mum has more of an artistic flair. You know, she paints a lot and writes, but and was interested in acting and then she got pregnant with my older brother when she was 19 and then had me and then had my younger brother. And so we kind of ruined her dreams in that sense.
Jason Bateman
And there's three. Are there any more than the three brothers?
Chris Hemsworth
No, it's just the three of us.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, there's three, yeah.
Chris Hemsworth
And grew up in Melbourne and then moved to Northern Territory in the outback and lived in an Aboriginal community there. And my dad was mustard cattle and buffalo and so on. And it was. Yeah, it was the complete removal from the suburban Melbourne city life. We were literally. You mentioned before, but 4 and a half hours outside of Catherine, southeast Arnhem Land and just a different world. Like my most vivid memories and some of the most. Most beautiful memories I've heard from.
Will Arnett
How old were you when you. When you left there?
Chris Hemsworth
I was. First time was about 4 to 6. And then came back to Melbourne for a year and then went back up for another year and a half. Wow.
Will Arnett
So, you know, do you know your way around a farm then with. With cattle and stuff like that? Could you, could you get by?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, I mean, I was young, you know, I was just kind of.
Will Arnett
Yeah.
Chris Hemsworth
Exploring and doing, you know.
Will Arnett
Doesn't make you uncomfortable though?
Chris Hemsworth
No, no, no. I was around it all and was sort of fascinated.
Sean Hayes
I don't think he gets uncomfortable with a lot. Jb Let'
Will Arnett
Unlike me.
Sean Hayes
Yeah, he's, you know, he's not, he's not skateboarding around Hollywood, you know, going on auditions.
Will Arnett
I know I'm so soft. Why am I so soft? Grown up out back.
Sean Hayes
But. But what?
Jason Bateman
But did you have, like, this is a dumb question, but in the middle of basically nowhere where you grew up, like, what was the impetus for. Did you have a tv? And you're like, oh, I want to see that from that person on that TV show or so.
Chris Hemsworth
The first time we lived there, we were in kind of shanty looking shacks and then a tent at one point, like it was proper, like out in the middle of nowhere on different cattle stations. And so no TV during that time. The second time we had a TV and the. There was a truck that would come and deliver food and supplies to the community every, you know, month or so on, and he'd drop us off a couple of VHS tapes. And I remember watching as a really Young Kid Terminator 1, a bunch of other random sort of things which are great for kids at the age of five or six. Yeah, sure. And it wasn't that that inspired me, but that was kind of, I don't know, my earliest memories of what cinema was and that experience. And then I just love watching movies and not so much to be an actor. It was more of like, oh, I want to be Legolas in Lord of the Rings, and I want to go and, you know, swing a sword and be in that fantasy world and.
Jason Bateman
Right.
Chris Hemsworth
And again, not escaping what I was in, you know, in my own world, but just the sheer adventure of it. And then by the time I was 18 and finishing high school, it just became a real obsession, like it does, and like it needs to be, I guess. And.
Will Arnett
Right.
Chris Hemsworth
And then I did. Yeah, I did the soap opera and then off to la, and then.
Will Arnett
Wait, I want to get back to. So the Whole Foods truck just drove right up to the community and they just open up the back.
Chris Hemsworth
There was a big shed in this community. There's a lot of separate communities throughout Arnhem Land, and they would do deliveries with basic sort of, you know, bits and pieces that would go into this. What was the shop, which was literally just a big shed. I did a documentary, actually, with my dad that when we go back to that community and there's the same shed there from 30 something years ago, did
Will Arnett
it come back to you?
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, my God. The huge, like, sort of nostalgia and the detail to which, like, these places prompted the vivid memories was astounding. Yeah.
Will Arnett
Probably surprised you, right? You didn't know it was gonna come back.
Chris Hemsworth
I thought it would have changed dramatically. And I went, oh. And I remember every little corner of the little streets we were living on. And I remember what games I was playing at what places and where I was hanging out. And there was this big freezer in the back of their shed where they kept all the cold food, which mean, my mate, you should just go and sit in and, you know, eat the chocolate bars and so on, because it was so hot out there in the middle of the outback. But it was, yeah, fascinating and beautiful place.
Will Arnett
And that's still. Is that still home? Is that still main base for you? Australia.
Chris Hemsworth
Australia, yeah. Byron Bay. We live, like, northern New South Wales now and moved back there 11, 12 years ago. It was kind of like, my daughter is 13, my boys were 11. So it was right around the time my boys were born. And it was. It was just. We kind of were set up in LA and not enjoying it, you know, like, nothing was shooting there. We were filming kind of everywhere else,
Sean Hayes
but, well, you're traveling anyway, so you might as well. I mean, it's a lot longer, but you might as well live where you want to live. Is that the idea?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, absolutely. And then we, you know, you'd come home and paparazzi and all the sort of the trappings of, you know, living in the sort of that space and moved back to Australia and. And that just was. It's been the greatest decision because it's such a. It's like, you know, when you come back from work, you want to go on a holiday. Like, coming home for me feels like a holiday. We have big farm and horses and motorbikes and surf and that's so cool.
Jason Bateman
And that's how I read. That's how you guys, you and your brothers grew up too. Just like, no helmets riding, like no supervision.
Sean Hayes
Just like.
Jason Bateman
It's crazy, right?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not cause my parents didn't care, it was just cause.
Jason Bateman
No, right. I didn't mean that.
Sean Hayes
Jesus, Sean.
Chris Hemsworth
Jesus, Sean. No, it was. We lived about 20 minutes from like the main sort of suburban areas of Melbourne, up in the hills. And the nearest neighbour was, you know, a kilometre or two away. And it was just all bushland and rainforest sort of set up around us. And so we would just spend, you know, outdoors, adventures and playing different characters. And I think that's, to be honest, where the sort of intrigue or interest into that, you know, transportation into another.
Sean Hayes
So then how do you go from that, from. And you have this sort of interest and what was the first audition like, what was the first thing you go like, I'm gonna go read for that.
Chris Hemsworth
I had a. I did a. Like a. Every Wednesday night I used to drive an hour and a half into the city, into Melbourne to do this acting course. It was like a two hour, you know, session where they record everything you did. And you'd have a little VHS tape and you go home and watch it and you go, wow, it doesn't look anything like I thought it would. And so it's great. You shocked at the system and trial by fire and a pretty good sort of wake up. But you learn quick, you know, as opposed to just doing acting classes and not ever being confronted with what you're actually putting on screen.
Will Arnett
You learn a lot from watching yourself. I do about, you know, oh, shit, don't do that again.
Chris Hemsworth
100%. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And all your little sort of tells or habits or things you're repeating, you're like, oh, wow. I thought I was kind of in a completely different space and I'M doing exactly the same thing I did before. Right, right, right. But I got an agent and then my first audition was, I think the first job I got was, I think it was called the Saddle Club and it was a Canadian, Australian show about Sean.
Will Arnett
You used to run the door at the Saddle Club, didn't you?
Jason Bateman
I still do. I still do. Just for some extra money.
Will Arnett
We take those, those easy, cheap shots. Feel free to jump in anytime you think of one.
Chris Hemsworth
It was a good show based around horses and, you know, Horse club. And I came in as a vet at the age of 18, you know, Doogie House of the vet world.
Jason Bateman
That's funny.
Will Arnett
Sean would let the bears in too, as well, for sure.
Sean Hayes
So he was a vet of sorts, I guess in that way.
Jason Bateman
Veteran, you know. Wait, which brother got the first job?
Chris Hemsworth
My older brother Luke. He worked on Neighbours actually for a while as a steroid selling football player.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, that's funny.
Chris Hemsworth
Quite a role.
Jason Bateman
And then in the intro, I read that one job because you said you wanted to quit. And like Jason was saying, it always happens that way when you're like, I can't do this anymore. And then something in the universe goes, wait a minute, you have to. And what was that? Was that cabin in the woods?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, it was. It was. And it's funny. Is it the universe or is it this sort of you just surrender to the process and you remove some of the desperation that may be coming out.
Will Arnett
Yeah. You kind of hit fuck it.
Chris Hemsworth
You fuck it.
Sean Hayes
Yeah.
Will Arnett
And people can tell and it's kind of. It's that sexy indifference, guys. Yeah, right?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Sean Hayes
Now what is that, what is that expression?
Chris Hemsworth
So here's what it is, Trump.
Sean Hayes
It is true.
Will Arnett
It's a bumper sticker.
Sean Hayes
It's amazing. We all know what that means.
Chris Hemsworth
When you're exhausted or you come in and you're hungover or what, and all of a sudden it's like your body just doesn't have the strength to light, you know, you're being up with adrenaline and it just kind of sits in the pocket.
Sean Hayes
You're not thirsty, you're not looking, you're not desperate, you're just, this is me. This is the way it is. Take it or leave it. And there's something about that. People are like, I like that.
Chris Hemsworth
Which comes through the, like excessive sort of the preparation too. You know what I mean? And that was what I learned. I then would try and replicate that by not caring, which of course I did care. So it was like, well, how can I get to the point where I can Let go. And then it was just about over preparation and where there was no stone unturned, then you felt like, well, I've done everything I could. Anytime I would walk into a room and audition and feel like, oh, you could have learned these lines a bit better, or you should have done this. And then that kind of voice takes off and does all sorts of shitty things.
Will Arnett
You were falling into the trap. I used to fall in this trap of trying to pretend like I didn't care. So acting twice in an audition, it was like the most idiotic, most exhausting bullshit thing. Like, I'm already sweating, you know, Trying to pretend like I'm not gonna sweat.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, yeah.
Jason Bateman
Wait, so just the sidebar, I was gonna say is the day that Cabin in the woods came out was also the same day my movie Three Stooges came out. But I think you guys beat us. Anyway, moving on.
Will Arnett
Let me tell you something about this picture, Sean. I actually watched 10 minutes of that, like, not four days ago.
Jason Bateman
Thank you. What, the Three Stooges?
Will Arnett
Yeah.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Sean Hayes
On the big screen.
Jason Bateman
You gave it a full 10 minutes?
Will Arnett
A full 10 here on TV. And then we lost power or something like that, and so I couldn't see any more.
Sean Hayes
But it literally crashed the power at your house.
Chris Hemsworth
Jason, you mentioned before, you know, Bart Leighton or you.
Will Arnett
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm a huge fan of his film American Animals, and I just started pursuing him like some crazy fan after that. And he sat down and had lunch with me and humored me for a bit. But, yeah, cannot wait to see this.
Chris Hemsworth
He's incredible. This was, I think, the sort of the best experience I've ever had in a set. And I've had some amazing times. And it kind of reminded me, to be honest, of, like, Furiosa with George Miller felt like this and Rush many years ago. And it's that thing where there's just this beautiful. He is just such a craftsman, such a master. Attention to detail is beyond anyone I've ever seen.
Jason Bateman
Some of those shots are incredible.
Chris Hemsworth
The cinematography's stunning. And he wrote the script, so there's this deeper sort of understanding of every element to it. But then it's just this kind, collaborative, humble human being, which you don't get. The two.
Will Arnett
I was just gonna say that kind. Yeah. Kind leadership. Right. Ron Howard on Rush, Bart on this. It just. It. It ends up yielding that great input from this entire team.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Will Arnett
If somebody at the top is not a monster.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Sean Hayes
You should look into that.
Will Arnett
Yeah. I'm reading and reading.
Sean Hayes
Just take note.
Will Arnett
Yeah.
Sean Hayes
Because I've heard a lot of stories from your sets. From a lot of. I get a lot of anonymous emails.
Will Arnett
A lot of it's true. A lot of it's true. Working it.
Sean Hayes
Yeah, Real groucher. Me, Groucherton. Is your nickname jk? Everybody loves jk.
Jason Bateman
Wait, so. So a couple, like, things I didn't know. Okay.
Will Arnett
Are we back off the sidebar or we.
Jason Bateman
We're into mainstream questions. I don't know if we have enough
Sean Hayes
time for the segment. Things you don't know.
Jason Bateman
No, but look, you got. I love all the places you'll go.
Chris Hemsworth
So you.
Jason Bateman
Right, so, right. So when I first of all talk about your tattoos, I want to. Then I'll get into that. So you've got tattoos, which I never. I didn't know you've had this many tattoos. So tell us, tell us the tattoos you have.
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, there are a bunch of random kind of.
Will Arnett
Start with the back tat.
Chris Hemsworth
Starts the back tat. The holly died. And the hawk. That's.
Will Arnett
No, no, no, the one on the tailback.
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, the barbed wire.
Will Arnett
The one that says, just breathe, open for business.
Jason Bateman
Oh, my God, that's hilarious.
Chris Hemsworth
My tattoos. So I have a Dr. Seuss tattoo. My daughter was. I used to read that book to her a lot and my mum read it to me. Oh, the places we go, you'll go. And she just would draw that little character and loved it. And so I got that tattoo. Oh, I love that.
Jason Bateman
Isn't that great?
Chris Hemsworth
And then a few years later, I was like, I'm kind of sick of it. So I started getting it taken off and I did like one laser session. And then she came home one day and she goes, it's rubbing off. What happened to it? It's rubbing off. And I was like, oh, did you. Do you still? I don't know. I thought you were sick of it. She goes, no, I love it, I love it. So it's now kind of half faded, you know, but it's still there. And then I've got another. It's a bunch of my arm, actually. The little drawings that she did that I was sitting with a tattoo artist one night and it was like 10 o' clock and he's designing all these different things and all this sort of sacred geometry and trippy looking stuff and. And my daughter walked out and goes, dad, I can't sleep. You're making too much noise. I'm like, sorry, sorry. And she sits down and starts squiggling and drew the three little images here. Which one of them? And the Guy next to us goes, that's the wheel of Dharma. It's the eight steps to enlightenment. So it's this. She's drawn that.
Jason Bateman
Oh, really?
Chris Hemsworth
And then the five pointed star. And, you know. So he looked at me and go, I think they're way cooler than anything we're designing. And so took a photo of that, and that's that. And then that's awesome.
Sean Hayes
So cool.
Chris Hemsworth
A bunch of other sort of scribbles
Jason Bateman
and your Avengers friends, which is cool.
Sean Hayes
I made disparaging remarks about people with tattoos on a podcast in the uk. Do you know that guy Ramesh? He's hilarious. Do you know that dude over in London? Anyway, I made a sweeping generalization kind of as a bit, and I got a bunch of hate from it. What I was like, I said, there's a direct correspondence between. The more tattoos you have, by the way, I don't even believe this. The more tattoos you have, the less interest. The more. More tattoos you have, the more boring you are. All I said was boring. People freaked out. And I'm like, I'm just fucking around. It's like, I don't have a scientific opinion on this. I'm just fucking around.
Jason Bateman
All right.
Will Arnett
Sounds like someone who would like a few tattoos. Would you like a couple?
Sean Hayes
I would like a couple, actually.
Jason Bateman
I thought you had your kids.
Will Arnett
I don't have one. All I have are just my kids here on the inside of my arm. That's it. But I feel like I want like a thousand more. I feel like the damn friends who
Sean Hayes
are covered in tattoos, that would mean that I hate all my friends. Yeah.
Chris Hemsworth
I feel the problem is I get. I get sick of them, and so I'm into them for a few weeks.
Sean Hayes
That's what I'm worried about.
Chris Hemsworth
I want to just get them all removed.
Sean Hayes
But you're not sick of the ones
Will Arnett
from your kids, though?
Sean Hayes
Yeah, the kids.
Chris Hemsworth
Ones that have a bit of something to it. But I've got some other ones that, like the weird sort of psychodrometry one, which looks like the Illuminati kind of vibe to it.
Will Arnett
I love all those little tiny drawing ones, you know, like. Like, I think like what you were showing on your arm, like, just like the little doodles. Yeah, that's what I. Yeah, I love that. I want some of those.
Sean Hayes
Yeah, I love. You know, but then you get a lot. Do you have any of the ones they see people like, like on their arm? It's like, stay alert. And I'm like, do you have to look at it to remind yourself like breathe.
Jason Bateman
And if you're looking at it, you're not alert.
Sean Hayes
Just breathe. Just breathe.
Chris Hemsworth
Any quotes or any.
Sean Hayes
I wanted jb. I always threatened that if the Leafs win the Stanley Cup, I'm going to get my whole back of Wendell Clark, who's been retired for years, but my hockey idol. Holding the Stanley cup on my back. I think I'm safe for now. For a while, it looks like.
Will Arnett
Yeah. We're struggling along with you here in Los Angeles.
Sean Hayes
Sean. You don't have any, right? You don't have any tattoos?
Jason Bateman
No, I've always wanted one. I was one.
Sean Hayes
Let's do one. Let's design. I'll design one for you and then you design one for me.
Will Arnett
Sean, if you had to put. If you had to get a tattoo of a snack food on your body, what would it be? Oh, you have to. A guns to your head 1. Snack food on the body.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, it would have to probably.
Sean Hayes
It can't be hot dog. Can it be.
Will Arnett
Can it be a Twinkie? What about.
Jason Bateman
No, it'd probably be a Snickers bar.
Will Arnett
A Snickers bar. And where would you put that?
Jason Bateman
What about right on my neck?
Sean Hayes
Just right on your tummy. Right across your tummy.
Jason Bateman
That's where it ends up.
Chris Hemsworth
Next to Bob Wire and people.
Jason Bateman
Because that's what people will snicker.
Will Arnett
Yeah. Yeah.
Jason Bateman
We'll be right back. How do you like to play when you travel? Maybe you're doing something relaxing like lounging by a Palm Springs pool or sipping your way through Napa Valley. Or maybe you're into checking out the local scene, like exploring Griffith park or taking a San Francisco food tour. What are some of your favorite California foods? I'm a sucker for the staple of avocado toast. Never had it till I lived in Los Angeles. And it's great. The best way to get to NOAA City is through hitting all the must see stops. Feeling adventurous? Ride dune buggies through the desert? Hike Yosemite's stunning trails. Or kayak through San Diego's sea caves. Or perhaps it's all of the above. Whatever you love to do, you're sure to find it in California. The ultimate playground. With 840 miles of coastline, nine national parks, endless sunshine, and some of the most diverse cities and landscapes in the world, California truly is the ultimate vacation destination. From iconic road trips along the Pacific coast highway to world class food and wine regions, every turn offers something unforgettable. And everyone can experience their own way to play. Start planning your trip to the ultimate playground@VisitCalifornia.com.
Will Arnett
This Heart Health Month show your heart you care with GoodRx. GoodRx now offers 30 popular heart health meds meds for less than $30. Plus get expert advice on managing high cholesterol, blood pressure and diabetes. Check GoodRx before every trip to the pharmacy to save up to 80% on both brand and generic medications. GoodRx is free and easy to use. Just search for your prescription on the website or the app, compare prices and get a free coupon to show your pharmacist. Check GoodRx to save at over 70,000 pharmacies nationwide, including Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Publix, Kroger and many more. Or get prescriptions delivered right to your front door. GoodRx is not insurance, but even if you have Insurance or Medicare, GoodRx may beat your copay price. Stay smart about your heart. Check GoodRx to save time and money on prescriptions. Go to GoodRx.com smartless that's GoodRx. A well built wardrobe is about pieces that work together and hold up over time. Am I right? That's what Quince does best. Premium materials, thoughtful design and everyday staples that feel easy to wear and easy to rely on even as the weather shifts. Gifts. Quince has the everyday essentials with quality that lasts. Organic cotton sweaters, Polos for every occasion, lighter jackets that keep you warm in the changing seasons. The list goes on. Quince works directly with top factories and cuts out the middlemen. So you're not paying for brand markup, just quality clothing. I mean, it makes sense, does it not? And guys, this is real. This is the real deal. Sean P. Hayes was looking super sharp the other day. I said, sean, what's the deal? He said, said one word, Quince telling you refresh your wardrobe with quince. Go to quince.com smartlist for free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. Now available in Canada too. That's Q U I n c e.com smartless free shipping and 365 day returns quince.com smartless. All right, back to the show.
Jason Bateman
So Chris in Crime 101 this is, I mean we always talk about this on this podcast, but like when people from Australia or the UK have to do these American accents and they're so good and they're so believable and then you speak in your regular Australia. It's just like, I don't know what happens. It's like, how do you do that? I could never do an Australian accent. That's the hardest one.
Sean Hayes
Try red.
Jason Bateman
No, no, I couldn't do it.
Will Arnett
Guns to your head.
Jason Bateman
I can say one word. Chest is cheesed. That's all I know.
Chris Hemsworth
That sounds more Kiwi chist.
Jason Bateman
That sounds weird.
Chris Hemsworth
Like, Kiwi sounds like more New Zealand chichist.
Sean Hayes
Yeah.
Jason Bateman
Oh, it does.
Chris Hemsworth
We'd say chest. Oh, you would say chest.
Will Arnett
Say aluminium, Sean.
Jason Bateman
Aluminium.
Chris Hemsworth
Aluminium.
Jason Bateman
I can do a British one. I can't do it.
Sean Hayes
Let's hear that guy. I mean, is it from that guy?
Chris Hemsworth
It's we. I think. I mean, most of our television and film growing up is American, so there's a bit of, you know, we have a need for it, I guess, but I've also screwed it up many times as well.
Will Arnett
And, you know, how often will you go back in? Will you ask, like, you'll see an early cut of something and you'll ask the director, hey, could I go in and redo that line or that line more now?
Chris Hemsworth
Like, I didn't even know I had the option in the past. And I, you know, see some review talking about, you know, not so favorably. And then the worst was a Scottish accent I did for something and. And someone said, it's the worst Glaswegian accent we've heard since the Fat Bastard in Austin Powers, which is one of the greatest. I was like, a great job.
Jason Bateman
Yeah.
Will Arnett
I love these guys on the sidelines throwing bombs. Yeah, do it.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, I know. I think you're brilliant at it. And what about. And then you met. Didn't you meet Elsa, your wife, through a dialect coach?
Chris Hemsworth
We did, yeah. Yep. Yep. It was like, what. What was she going for the Darlit coach or Elsa?
Jason Bateman
Yeah, I mean, but I meant, like, why, like, why were you there at the same time?
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, no, we just. We were both training separately with her, and she said, oh, I think you'd like, you know, someone else I'm working with. And I said, oh, what's her name? And looked her up and thought, oh, she looks lovely. Sure. Give me a phone number. And then we really.
Jason Bateman
It was that simple.
Chris Hemsworth
And then we. We went out for dinner, and then I went and shot a movie and then came back, had dinner, and then went off, shot, shot another movie. And so it was like we weren't together, but we'd sort of been in contact for kind of eight months and then got together and very quickly had kids in marriage and all that fun stuff.
Sean Hayes
But that's nice, though. That's kind of a nice slow burn, though. Like, you kind of, like, ease into it a little bit. Couple Dinners here and there, and.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, a bit of distance. Kind of long distance.
Will Arnett
Is that a novel idea to you, Will. Just a couple of dates before you start. Hey, so. Wow. So you took her out to dinner a couple of times, did you? So, Chris. So, Chris, your kids are now at the age where. Where they can see how badass dad is, and they can appreciate kind of like, what a set is like, and that. That might be a fun sort of atypical work environment. Any of them getting kind of the bug to do what you do? Any interest there?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, they do. My daughter was in Love and Thunder, the last Thor film, and she played Christian Bale's daughter. And then she's.
Will Arnett
Did she dig it?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, but she was like. I asked her to. You know, I said, look, I can. Do you want to do this role? And she goes, oh, yeah, cool. What do I have to do? And I said, I'll just read these lines. She goes, no, I don't want to read the lines. And I was like, I gotta record something to send to Kevin Feige. She's like, no, I'm not doing it. And I was like, okay, well, you can't do it. She goes, no, but I want to do it. I'm like, yeah, but you got it. This is like an audition she won't read. So she finally did it. They were like, great. Loved it. And then she did Avengers, and this is three, four years later. And by this point, she's so much more jaded about it all. She kind of is like. Doesn't. Hates the whole scene and everything, but, you know, tells me she enjoys acting. We do one take, wide take, mostly sort of in my direction. And she gets up and goes, okay, we done? I said, no, you serious? And she goes, how much longer? And I'm like, we're here all week, and you've done, like, one wide shot. And every single time we'd go back to the tent or the trailer and they call us in, she'd be like, oh, God. And I was like, india, you begged me to do this. You wanted to do it. And then her brothers are like, we'll do it. We'll do it. You're such a silk India. And so they probably have more. My boys probably have more of a. Like, I don't know. They like the kind of. They're a bit more of a showman kind of. You know, they like that space.
Will Arnett
How were the Russos on her? Did the Russos take care of her, or was Joe just hammering her with notes?
Chris Hemsworth
Just heaps of Notes, backstory, incessant. On sort of the study and the preps you've done? No, not at all. They're fantastic.
Jason Bateman
And Chris, do your kids, I read that they critique your movies. Do they actually write them or do they just tell you?
Chris Hemsworth
No, they'll just blatantly tell me. I mean, but that whole generation, they're like, yeah, visual effects weren't as good in that one, dad. Or the action was. I don't ever remember commenting on any of that as a kid.
Will Arnett
Yeah, my kids never like watching anything that's like five years old old. That's the. The sick.
Sean Hayes
My kids, My kids came. My kids came and saw our mind. Bradley, that is this thing on. And Abel, my 15 year old goes a lot better than that one. The movie you did with the talking dogs. I go, hey, dude.
Jason Bateman
Yeah?
Sean Hayes
Did your braces get paid for?
Chris Hemsworth
How you doing the house you're living in?
Sean Hayes
Yeah, yeah. Pretty comfy.
Jason Bateman
Exactly.
Sean Hayes
Pretty comfy right now.
Will Arnett
Do your kids, do your kids. Give it up, Chris. Well, like if you do something great, will they go? You don't have to.
Sean Hayes
Have to do.
Chris Hemsworth
They're really supportive. I remember the first time when they were sort of realising what it was that I did. And the first time my son, I took him to the cinema to watch, to see Thor. And he was just running up and down the aisle and I was like, just gotta sit down. And he's jumping up and down the chairs and I was just like, you know, just trying to sit him down, hold him down, hold him down. And then I was like, fuck, this is my movie. I'm fucking on the screen, you know, worried about someone's gonna yell at us. But I thought, and in the end he was like having so much fun. He's sweating, he's sweating and he's like, right, let's go. And then, so he left halfway through and he ran up and down the hallway and he's like that he's turbulence pig. But he became obsessed with it and had a little hammer that he'd run around with and smash things and.
Jason Bateman
Oh, really? That's cool.
Sean Hayes
I mean, that's pretty cool. I get it. My 15 year old wishes you were his dad too. It's unbelievable.
Will Arnett
Long line of kids, but it's changing.
Chris Hemsworth
Like the 11, 13 year old time when there's a whole new vernacular and all this sort of new language they seem to roll with and everything's got like a sarcastic sort of twist to it now. Cause all the YouTube shit and so on. And I'll say something and they've got. Ugh, cringe. I'm like, no, no, no, no.
Will Arnett
I'm fucking cool.
Sean Hayes
Right?
Chris Hemsworth
I'm one of the cooler dads. Right? And it's like, yes. It's all fighting in the distance.
Will Arnett
Honest.
Jason Bateman
I love that. You know, this. The Avengers, Doomsday. I was at Anthony Russo's house and we saw the trailer. We were the first people to see the trailer. Yeah, it was. It was incredible. This will be the. I don't know if you know this. This will be the 10th time you've played Thor, which is really cool.
Chris Hemsworth
It's wild. Is it? I know.
Jason Bateman
It's wild. Really cool.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Jason Bateman
Oh, really? There's more.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Jason Bateman
Oh, that's great.
Chris Hemsworth
Yep. But it's just been the. It's been so much fun. And what I've really enjoyed is unlike, I think a lot of what the other characters that the scripts were given, they have had to be pretty consistent. Whereas working with Taika on his films versus Kenneth Branagh with those films, and then from, you know, with the Russos, all quite a different sort of tonal opinion. But also let me kind of try different things. Cause I was getting same with my tattoos. I'd be getting really bored of the same thing and having a real need to kind of just throw it in different directions. And I was talking to Kevin about it, and he said, oh, it's cool. Because we've the audience now expect dramatic turns with the character. And whatever we do next, that we've got some ideas to do something pretty unique again or hopefully be.
Will Arnett
Yeah, I was gonna say you must have ide. All must have ideas about where your characters might go. Because now. Now you guys. I guess for a long time now, you guys have been going, there aren't comic books to write these scripts off of. You guys have gone past those, and so do you guys.
Sean Hayes
There's also an obligation, though, JB within. Isn't there, like, not an obligation, but, like. Because the fans are so. They know these characters so well. So you've got to handle it kind of with care. Like, you take chances.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Sean Hayes
But you've also gotta, like, make sure that they don't get pissed off.
Chris Hemsworth
No, for sure. Because, I mean, you still can pull from. There's so many different stories within the comic books, and you pull from ideas and certain, you know, directions. But. And each. Even within the different comic book artists, writers, they had sort of slightly different takes as well. So there's variations. But you do have to be careful, because when we made Ragnarok it was quite a twist, you know, and with Taika's tone. Yeah.
Jason Bateman
Such a great movie.
Chris Hemsworth
And it was so good and it was so fun. And there was a huge kind of, like, appreciation for the shift. And then love and Thunder was kind of like a Monty Python sketch. And we sort of took the piss probably a little much. And then there was some of that backlash, you know, that there was the sort of real kind of, why is he a goofball? And why is it this? And. And, you know, violently offended. And we were like, oh, we're just, you know, having fun or trying to try something different. And so.
Will Arnett
But it is cool that there's that partnership there, though, with the audience as well as the filmmakers that doesn't really exist in other. I mean, maybe Star Wars. There's some of that as well, but that part is really cool.
Jason Bateman
Star Wars.
Sean Hayes
Sorry.
Jason Bateman
If you can stick around for a couple hours because we think about Star Wars. Wait, what about, like, in the intro? I didn't know. This is total left turn, but when you were growing up, you repaired breast milk pumps. What?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, I worked for Fisher and Paykel. This home. What do you call it? White goods. Home goods, yeah. Fridges and stuff.
Sean Hayes
They also make dishwashers.
Chris Hemsworth
Dishwashers. And they make breast pumps.
Sean Hayes
They make the. I didn't know that.
Chris Hemsworth
And they would rent them to different pharmacies and chemists and they would come back to us and I'd have to repair them when they're like. The little belt. The motor belt would break. I'd also have to clean all the dried milk that was on them. So I'd have a toothbrush and some spray and wipe. And that was my first job.
Jason Bateman
How about that?
Chris Hemsworth
A lot of time to think about what else I would prefer to be doing.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, for sure. And you're a big surfer and you do snowboarding and it's like, by the way, is it. When is there snow there in Australia?
Chris Hemsworth
Right now, Summer now. But I was just in Courchevel, France, last week with my family, snowboarding.
Will Arnett
Did you do some skiing?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, a lot of skiing. Snowboarding. And kids were all doing backflips.
Jason Bateman
Did you.
Sean Hayes
Did you. You must have played a lot of sports growing up.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, I did the 110 hurdles. That was my event. Wasn't quite quick enough for the hundred, but I was tall enough and agile enough for the hurdle, so it was a good combination.
Will Arnett
What about footy? Did you play any footy?
Chris Hemsworth
Afl. Football. Yep. And AFL. Played for eight or nine years, and then when I was 17, I dislocated my shoulder and tore all the ligaments. And I'd been surfing a lot at the same time, and so I had eight weeks of sitting on the couch doing nothing, and I was like, I don't want to risk not surfing anymore. And then sort of gave that up.
Sean Hayes
Must be a lot of dislocated shoulders in afl.
Chris Hemsworth
Every injury I have now, that, like, back and the things that start to play up, I swear we're from, like, nine years of just getting belted on the football field. Like, it. Yeah, it's intense and. And you. Your body would shatter if you got hit at that speed now. But running full pelt into each other. You know, I got two concussions when I was like, 14, 15.
Sean Hayes
I remember going to. Going to Australia, going to Melbourne and seeing if. Going to an AFL match and just watching and just seeing, like, the pure athleticism of these guys. Running, kicking, catching, tackling, all of them just incredible athletes. It's amazing. I'm surprised. Yes.
Will Arnett
Wow. Hey. So I'm still. Still just in awe of your. Just general manhood and exposure to elements and things like that. So down there in Australia, you got the snakes, you got the spiders, you got the sharks. When you're. When you're surfing, did you ever. Have you ever seen a dorsal fin? And when you were out back just running around with your motorcycles and pop guns and shit, did you ever see any of the snakes or spiders or things like that?
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, yeah. Yeah. When I first moved to Byron Bay, there was a string of shark attacks. Two deaths, and then one guy survived in the space of two weeks. One out the front of my house and one 10 minutes south of me and five minutes north. And I was like, where have I moved to? What have I done? This is crazy. And then. So for the next.
Will Arnett
Still paddling out.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah. When there was other people in the water. So there was your chances. Your odds were a little better. But no, there was a period when there would just be choppers, helicopters going up and down the coastline and just like, shark spotting. And then they'd have a siren on because there was, for whatever reason, just this kind of feeding friends.
Will Arnett
Oh, that's how they do it. So they. They fly above, and then if they see one, there's a little. There's a little siren from the helicopter,
Chris Hemsworth
or they tell the police, and the police would come down with a big speaker and tell you to get out of the water. And. And everyone would sort of sit there and not get out the water. And as each guy starts paddling and it's like, all right, fine, fine, we'll go in. Right, Right.
Will Arnett
These aren't sand sharks. The only kind of shark they've got down there are the big daddies. Right?
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah, they're bullsharks and great white bites, the most predominant.
Sean Hayes
No, thanks.
Will Arnett
What about the snakes? You saw snakes?
Chris Hemsworth
Heaps of snakes. Yeah, yeah, a lot of like king.
Sean Hayes
Heaps of snakes.
Chris Hemsworth
Heaps of snakes. King brown. Like all the brown snakes, which is, you know, you've got kind of 15 minutes if you get the anti venom in you before yet.
Will Arnett
Yeah. And the brown spider is also like the most venom.
Chris Hemsworth
The red back spider is. And then what's the brown spider?
Sean Hayes
Physically pulling his shirt down. You have an anxiety attack.
Will Arnett
I gotta hang up.
Chris Hemsworth
I mean, we see a lot of snakes around our house, but also a lot of big pythons. And the pythons are really territorial and keep the bad ones away. And so you kind of. You want those ones around.
Will Arnett
Python. Python is not bad. What are you?
Chris Hemsworth
Pythons? No, they're not. They're not venomous, but they're. But they're very territorial with, with the brown snakes and the red belly black snakes and the ones that are nasty and so we don't mind having.
Sean Hayes
The pythons aren't looking to mess you up. They're not looking to attack.
Chris Hemsworth
No. I mean, you can. My kids will go and grab them by the tail sometimes and.
Jason Bateman
No, no way.
Will Arnett
How do they do their killing if they don't have the venom? Do they. They just. They're squeezers.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, squeeze it.
Chris Hemsworth
But yeah, like marsh and rats and they'll just, they'll just swallow.
Jason Bateman
Squeezers. Squeezes. Wait, go back, wait.
Chris Hemsworth
Meet your mate Matt Damon. The first time he was asking me all these questions before they came out.
Will Arnett
Oh, that bitch. He won't even.
Chris Hemsworth
And he literally. Right. I was like, ah, you're fine, you're fine, you're fine. The first day he drives down the street, gets out of a car and steps straight on a snake. I've been there 42 years and never stepped on a snake. And I mean, this guy, this guy was a dummy. He's a dummy.
Will Arnett
What did the angel do? The angel buy him himself a pair of boots immediately after, right up to the hip.
Chris Hemsworth
And a helmet, gloves, a pair of white.
Jason Bateman
Oh, my God. Wait, Chris, go back to the. Go back to the water for a second with the sharks. Do you still go in the water?
Will Arnett
Sure he does.
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, yeah, I surf every day. I mean, people. It's. People still surf. It's. Again, it's like all the statistics you hear.
Will Arnett
But get hit by lightning.
Chris Hemsworth
Hit by lightning or driving a car is worse. And I heard one that more people die in America shaking a vending machine trying to get chocolate or whatever and collapsing on them. Now, I don't know if that's true, but it's Sean.
Sean Hayes
Sean's got a vending machine story.
Will Arnett
He almost got cut to cut to ribbons with an exploding glass door there at Chin Chin when they were closed too early, right?
Jason Bateman
I eat a lot of junk food, Chris. So wait a minute.
Sean Hayes
You know what I love about the Avengers crew? You guys all seem to be having a good time, don't they? Every time I see you guys, of course, you and Robert and all the whole crew, you guys are all just yucking it up. And it kind of, it's kind of fun.
Chris Hemsworth
It's a good group. It's a good group. And I think, you know, everyone had come into it expecting kind of nothing. And it was right at the beginning of, I guess, a sort of superhero emergence. And each time one of them worked, it was a win for the others and their individual films. But then when the Avengers worked, we're like, oh, I'm gonna make a second one and a third one, the fourth one. So everyone's kind of pinching themselves that we're still here and it's still working.
Jason Bateman
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Chris Hemsworth
And just a good group of people. Just such a fun people.
Jason Bateman
You deserve it, pal.
Chris Hemsworth
Thank you.
Will Arnett
You really do great films.
Chris Hemsworth
Thank you.
Sean Hayes
You do.
Jason Bateman
Chris Hemsworth, what a pleasure.
Will Arnett
Thanks for chatting with us today. Mr.
Chris Hemsworth
Thank you.
Sean Hayes
When is crime 101? What's the, what's the release?
Jason Bateman
It's already out.
Sean Hayes
It's already out?
Chris Hemsworth
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Will Arnett
When did it come out, Sean?
Jason Bateman
It came out. Wait, I have it.
Chris Hemsworth
February 13th or February 20th.
Jason Bateman
February, yeah. February 13th.
Sean Hayes
February 13th.
Chris Hemsworth
No, it's great. It's a, it's a character driven crime thriller, you know, and it's, it has a beautiful sort of suspense, a suspense with. Through the action, but also through the dramatic scenes. And the way Bart's crafted this movie. It's edgier seat, pulse pounding from start to finish.
Sean Hayes
Sick cast as well. I mean, the.
Jason Bateman
I'll just say one of the greatest. Halle Berry. You go ahead.
Chris Hemsworth
Barry Keegan, Mark Ruffalo, Monica Barbaro, Nick Nolte, phenomenal cast, but it's sort of a throwback to the heist films, 70s, 80s, 90s, but has a contemporary feel to it. But it really cool.
Will Arnett
I'm seeing it this, but I just
Jason Bateman
have to say now that I've seen it and I'm a big fan of the movie and of course you, that I won't reveal anything, but when that one character gets in the car, well,
Will Arnett
it's kind of a rude.
Jason Bateman
That's all I'll say. I mean, that was really cool. No, I mean. Well, you don't know where. You don't know where. When part of the movie. I'm talking when one.
Sean Hayes
That one character.
Jason Bateman
You know what I'm talking about? Yeah, Yeah. I was like, whoa, that's pretty cool. I was on the edge of my seat.
Sean Hayes
I'm still.
Jason Bateman
Anyway, Chris, thanks so, so much for being here.
Chris Hemsworth
Thanks for having me, Chris.
Will Arnett
Thank you. Sure. Amanda would say hi if she was here, and maybe I'll make it to the next one.
Chris Hemsworth
Please do, mate.
Will Arnett
I hope.
Chris Hemsworth
Thanks, guys. All right. Good to see. Yeah.
Will Arnett
Bye, buddy.
Jason Bateman
Thank you.
Sean Hayes
Peace.
Will Arnett
Bye, pal.
Chris Hemsworth
Boy.
Will Arnett
Splendid. Just splendid.
Chris Hemsworth
Really good.
Will Arnett
This is. This is a great guy.
Sean Hayes
I mean, this is. This is a great guy. First of all, great guy.
Will Arnett
I don't know what you guys are talking about. I think big star. He was great. I don't know.
Sean Hayes
Big star, Big star.
Jason Bateman
Huge star.
Sean Hayes
Big star. And, and yet so grounded, as you know. You know him a little bit. I, I hung out with him for a couple days. What a good dude.
Will Arnett
Humble, kind.
Sean Hayes
Oh, my God.
Jason Bateman
Wait, what's 26 minus 11?
Will Arnett
Boy, that's. That's definitely gonna be something. Honestly, somewhere around 15.
Sean Hayes
Honestly did that. That actually came out.
Jason Bateman
15 years. So he's been playing. He's been playing Thor for 15 years. That's a. Okay, that's a lot.
Sean Hayes
I want to go back to the math question because I'm.
Will Arnett
So, Is this worthy of recording? Sean, you know, we're on right now.
Jason Bateman
Always.
Sean Hayes
I'd say cut it, but I need the world to hear that.
Will Arnett
This is our life, guys.
Chris Hemsworth
Yeah.
Will Arnett
Okay. Welcome to it, listener. This is, this is, you know, it's free to you, but it costs us a great deal and just, you know, time, patience.
Sean Hayes
Yeah, He's. He's. Yeah. 15 years as Thor and then all this other stuff in between.
Jason Bateman
How about. How about I threw you guys at the beginning when I said it was Kirk's dad?
Sean Hayes
Yeah.
Will Arnett
Great job, Sean.
Sean Hayes
I mean, it's sick. Sick. What a burn.
Will Arnett
I was like, fuck, what an unreal burn.
Sean Hayes
This guy. He's unbelievable.
Will Arnett
Breast pump information.
Chris Hemsworth
Press pump information.
Jason Bateman
Right.
Will Arnett
No, that is that. I, I, I'm, I'm. Now, I, I got to join my wife on some of these. Some of These.
Jason Bateman
Yeah. By the way, I want to know what. What all that is. Hey, guys, when you have. Yeah.
Sean Hayes
Oh, that's it. You're right into it, huh?
Jason Bateman
Yeah.
Will Arnett
One more wrap up.
Jason Bateman
No.
Sean Hayes
Shy.
Jason Bateman
No, I gotta go.
Will Arnett
Wait, Sean, do you have a performance tonight?
Jason Bateman
No, this is our. Our one night off. You're dark.
Sean Hayes
Oh, good for you, jb.
Jason Bateman
We're dark. Yeah, we're dark.
Will Arnett
And then. So what do you. Then what do you end up doing tonight? Where does Scotty gets a night?
Jason Bateman
I'm not moving. I'm not moving. I'm so exhausted.
Will Arnett
That's fair to. That's fair to Scotty.
Jason Bateman
Yeah.
Will Arnett
What about this afternoon? Well, we might take him for ice cream.
Jason Bateman
Yes or no. But I. You know what I've been craving lately is sushi. And now when you guys eat sushi, do you put. And, you know, they come up with a side of ginger and usually next
Will Arnett
to it it's a little pinch mound of green mustard. Cold. Well, no, I think a better way to say that is what did the sushi say to the bumblebee? What's up?
Jason Bateman
Bye. Bye. Boy, that was a stretch.
Will Arnett
Will is sick, man.
Sean Hayes
Will is.
Will Arnett
He's just sick.
Jason Bateman
He just threw up his hot wings.
Sean Hayes
This is terr. That was terrible. Smart Bless. Smart less. Smartless is 100% organic and artisanally handcrafted by Bennett Barbico, Michael Grant, Terry and Rob Amjarf. Smart Less.
Chris Hemsworth
A cancer diagnosis changes everything.
Jason Bateman
If you or a loved one drank alcohol and was later diagnosed with cancer, you may be eligible for compensation. Go to cancerclaims.info Again, that's cancerclaims.info attorney advertising.
Will Arnett
Imagine relying on a dozen different software programs to run your business, none of which are connected, and each one more expensive and more complicated than the last. It can be pretty stressful. Now imagine Odoo. Odoo has all the programs you'll ever need, and they're all connected on one platform. Doesn't Odoo sound. Sound amazing? Let Odoo harmonize your business with simple, efficient software that can handle everything for a fraction of the price. Sign up today@odoo.com that's o-o o dot com.
Release Date: February 23, 2026<br> Hosts: Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, Will Arnett<br> Guest: Chris Hemsworth
This episode of SmartLess welcomes Chris Hemsworth, the Australian actor best known for playing Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The conversation, sprinkled with humor and camaraderie, moves from Chris's humble outback upbringing to his acting journey and career highs (and lows), sharing insights on fame, family, audition stories, and the realities of living in Australia among sharks and snakes. The hosts and Chris reflect on industry quirks, fatherhood, enduring success, and finding balance at home. The tone is playful, open, and self-deprecating throughout, with all four contributing candid and often hilarious commentary.
“First time we lived there… we were in kind of shanty-looking shacks and then a tent at one point... no TV during that time.” — Chris (24:49)
“We’d shoot 20 scenes a day... the momentum you get from that and the knowledge you gain is fantastic.” — Chris (12:15)
“Is it the universe, or is it that you just surrender to the process and remove some of the desperation…” — Chris (32:58)
“Someone said, ‘It’s the worst Glaswegian accent we’ve heard since Fat Bastard in Austin Powers.’” — Chris (47:00)
“They’ll just blatantly tell me… Visual effects weren’t as good in that one, Dad.” — Chris (50:44)
“My kids will go and grab [pythons] by the tail sometimes...” — Chris (61:14)
“There was a huge kind of… appreciation for the shift. And then Love and Thunder was kind of like a Monty Python sketch... some of that backlash.” — Chris (55:22)
On Naming His Son
“We liked the name... that film came on, and the scene where [Brad Pitt’s character] is on the horse… and his name was Tristan. And I was like, what about Tristan?” — Chris (09:17)
On Letting Go in Auditions
“You hit ‘fuck it’. People can tell, and it’s that sexy indifference.” — Will (33:09), Chris (33:10)
On Australian wildlife
“You’ve got 15 minutes if you get the anti venom in you before…” — Chris on brown snakes (60:18)
On Parenting & Fame
“In the end [my son] was having so much fun. Left halfway through [Thor]… He’s turbulence pig.” — Chris (51:31)
Chris Hemsworth comes across as grounded, candid, and quick to laugh at both himself and the hosts. From tales of rural Australia, wild animal encounters, and working-class jobs (repairing breast pumps!) to international superstardom, he remains refreshingly self-aware and humble. The episode delivers both inspiration and laughter—perfect for listeners who want to know what keeps a superstar both relatable and humble.
Recommended Listen For:
Fans of real talk about acting, parenting, and the wild contrasts between outback life and Hollywood stardom—plus a steady stream of off-the-cuff humor and industry stories.