MARVEL STARS: Chris Hemsworth on ‘Limitless’ and Life Beyond Thor

Summary

Sunday Sitdown with Willie Geist

Episode: MARVEL STARS – Chris Hemsworth on ‘Limitless’ and Life Beyond Thor

Date: December 13, 2025
Guest: Chris Hemsworth
Host: Willie Geist

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Overview

In this episode of Sunday Sitdown, Willie Geist sits down with Chris Hemsworth to discuss his National Geographic/Disney+ series Limitless, which pushes the actor beyond his superhero persona to confront aging, stress, mortality, and memory in a deeply personal and physical journey. The conversation delves into Hemsworth’s Australian upbringing, the transformations brought by fame, and the profound lessons learned during the making of Limitless. The discussion weaves together stories of Hollywood hustle, family, self-doubt, and resilience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Genesis and Purpose of Limitless

• Pitch & Development:
  • Darren Aronofsky approached Hemsworth about three years ago to host a show on longevity, testing scientific approaches to health with world experts.

    “The way it was explained to me was… we're going to test some of the science and put you through a series of pretty physical, mental, emotional challenges."
    — Chris Hemsworth (04:00)

  • Filming spanned the COVID era, growing from a planned 2.5 weeks to over 2.5 years.
• Physical & Emotional Tests:
  • The show places Hemsworth in extreme situations for authenticity: climbing beams 1,000 feet above Sydney, Arctic ocean swims, survival tests from Australian special forces.
  • The experience became unexpectedly emotional, especially tackling acceptance and death in the final episode.

2. Vulnerability, Stress & Anxiety

• Stepping Out from the Mask:
  • For Hemsworth, the hardest part was dropping the public persona and talking openly about personal anxieties and vulnerabilities.

    "It was probably my biggest hesitation… to then play yourself… dissect some pretty deep concepts… It was kind of like being in a therapy session."
    — Chris Hemsworth (06:49)

• Managing Stress:
  • Hemsworth describes the stress triggers of everyday life—public attention when with his kids, for example—and reflects on the universal impact of chronic stress.
  • Through techniques learned on the show (notably breathwork and focus), he’s able to lower his own heart rate in extreme circumstances, demonstrating practical tools for viewers.

    "In the episode when I'm walking across the skyscraper off the beam and my heart rate goes up to 145, and then through some breathing techniques and focus, bring it back down to about 85."
    — Chris Hemsworth (09:45)

3. Confronting Memory & Health Fears

• Alzheimer’s Risk Discovery:
  • In a key Limitless episode about memory, Hemsworth reveals he discovered genetic markers indicating elevated risk for Alzheimer's.

    “They did a deep dive into my blood work and my genetics and found some things… indications that put me in a very high… risk category for Alzheimer's. It was a real shock.”
    — Chris Hemsworth (10:50)

  • The shock was balanced by a sense of empowerment to improve his habits and overall brain health.

    "It became a wonderful motivator to make changes and do things differently..." (10:50–12:09)

• Lifestyle Matters:
  • Hemsworth stresses that daily habits—sleep, nutrition, stress management—have a bigger impact than genetics alone.

    "The majority of the outcome is based on our lifestyle choices...the benefits for me, not just sort of physically, but emotionally…"
    — Chris Hemsworth (12:52)

4. Acceptance, Mortality & Gratitude

• Immersive Experience on Death:
  • The final episode involves Hemsworth living in a retirement home, donning an aging simulation suit, and conversing deeply about death with residents, palliative care professionals, and his wife, Elsa Pataky (who surprised him on set).

    "I was an absolute guinea pig in this experiment...across these three days, in detail, talking about death and considering the end of life."
    — Chris Hemsworth (14:48)

  • The episode produced a lasting sense of gratitude and a determination "to rush home to my kids and family and go, right, this is what I want to do." (17:37)
• Key Takeaway:
  • Acceptance leads to greater fulfillment.

    "People with a greater acceptance of death live with a greater sense of gratitude and...purpose."
    — Chris Hemsworth (15:30)

5. Family, Motivation & Work Ethic

• Origins of Drive:
  • Hemsworth credits his relentless work ethic to humble beginnings in Australia and a desire to provide for his family.

    "When I finally paid off my parents house and took care of them...I went, oh, now what?"
    — Chris Hemsworth (21:48)

• Role Evolution:
  • Over time, his purpose has shifted from financial security to creative passion and family balance.

6. Hollywood Hustle & “Thor”

• Early Struggles:
  • Hemsworth details his tough move from Australian soaps (Home and Away, The Saddle Club) to LA, enduring rejections and visa anxiety.

    “First sort of three, four months… it was like, no, no, no, no, no, no…my visa was about to run out.” (25:19)

• Breakthroughs:
  • Landing a small role in Star Trek (via J.J. Abrams) unexpectedly paved the way to bigger projects, including Cabin in the Woods and the MCU’s Thor.
• Thor’s Impact:
  • Hemsworth reflects on the unimagined scale of Thor's success and how working with different directors kept the role evolving and fun.

    “It's been the Thor Marvel train for a while and anything else has been either side of it.” (27:53)

  • As of this interview, Hemsworth hints his run as Thor may be complete:

    "At the moment I've sort of, you know, my runner's Thor is. That's it, I think." (29:44)

7. Maintaining Normalcy

• Private Life Choices:
  • Hemsworth discusses moving his family back to Australia for greater privacy and a grounded upbringing for his children.

    "I had this sense of, I don't know, refilling of my cup, I guess."
    — Chris Hemsworth (33:23)

• Integrating Family & Career:
  • Family remains at the center, and career choices are increasingly driven by the desire for balance.

8. Comedy & Future Roles

• Surprising Fans in Ghostbusters:
  • Hemsworth recalls the fun and nerves of his comedic turn in Ghostbusters—improvising alongside top comedic actresses, and expressing regret that the series didn’t continue.

    “That was one of the funnest experiences… the whole thing was improvised and they couldn't have been more generous with kind of helping me through it.” (34:52)

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On facing his own mortality:

  “We like to think we're gonna beat it somehow...but the science shows us that people with a greater acceptance of death live with a greater sense of gratitude.”
  — Chris Hemsworth (15:15)

• On the power of vulnerability:

  "Being vulnerable, it opens people up to their own interpretation…they can put themselves in your shoes..."
  — Chris Hemsworth (07:19)

• On stress in everyday life:

  “When I'm with my kids in a restaurant, and they start flipping out…that triggers my fight or flight in a pretty intense way.”
  — Chris Hemsworth (08:15)

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Important Timestamps

• 00:27 – Podcast episode introduction by Willie Geist
• 03:25 – Start of conversation with Chris Hemsworth
• 04:50 – Hemsworth on how Limitless was pitched to him
• 06:49 – Discussing vulnerability and opening up emotionally
• 09:45 – Using stress management techniques in real scenarios
• 10:50 – The Alzheimer’s risk episode; personal health revelations
• 14:48 – The "acceptance" episode and confronting mortality
• 17:37 – Reflections on what the show changed for him personally
• 21:48 – Motivation coming from family responsibility
• 25:19 – Struggling through LA auditions; visa stress
• 27:53 – Transition from Star Trek to Thor and MCU stardom
• 29:44 – On possibly concluding his role as Thor
• 33:23 – Reasons for moving home to Australia for normalcy
• 34:52 – Comic timing in Ghostbusters and working with improv elites

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Final Thoughts

This candid conversation peels back the Hollywood myth and Marvel muscle to reveal Chris Hemsworth’s vulnerability, gratitude, and drive to make life meaningful, both for himself and viewers. Limitless isn’t just a daredevil show; it's a meditation on stress, purpose, and the universal search for balance, as modeled by one of the world’s most recognized stars.

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For fans and newcomers alike, this episode is a deep, occasionally profound, and always entertaining look into Chris Hemsworth’s journey, both on and off-screen.

Transcript

[Chris Hemsworth]

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[Chris Hemsworth]

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[Willie Geist]

Ba da ba ba ba. Hey guys, Willie Geist here with another episode of the Sunday Sit Down Podcast. My thanks as always for clicking and listening along. Got a fun one for you today with Thor himself, Chris Hemsworth. Great dude is the first thing to say. A big dude. You know that from watching the movies, but man, you see it up close in real life. We got together at a restaurant in New York City. He walks in the door about my height. I'm a tall guy. But yeah, I guess I'm man enough to admit he's a little bit better built than I am and just a great guy to sit and talk with. Grew up partly in Melbourne, Australia, but also spent a lot of time with his family on a cattle ranch in the Australian Outback. You'll hear him talk a little bit about some of that with two brothers, also actors. Older brother Luke, younger brother Liam decided after a high school film class that he was going to someday grow up.

[Interviewer]

And go to Hollywood.

[Willie Geist]

Teacher thought he was crazy. How are you going to get all the way from here to there?

[Interviewer]

He just started building a career, did.

[Willie Geist]

Commercials, did Australian soap operas. A famous one called Home and Away, where a lot of Australian actors, you know, Naomi Watts, Heath Ledger, others have appeared before coming to la. And he made that jump. Struggled for a while in Los Angeles. You'll hear him talk about that as well before being cast by J.J. abrams in the Star Trek movie Star the Marvel. People see him in the Star Trek movie in 2009 and they say, we think that's our Thor. And the rest is history. Four Thor movies made about $3 billion together. On top of that, all the Avengers movies, some of the most successful at the box office movies of all time. And now he's doing something really cool. It's a series called Limitless, produced by National Geographic, streaming on Disney Plus. It's real life. Chris Hemsworth. You may have seen some of the trailers, some of the stuff on social media where he's hanging a thousand feet above the ground from a cable car and pulling himself up on a rope. You know that rope you had to try to climb in high school class? He's doing it up to a cable car to walk on a beam a thousand feet off the ground on top of a building in Sydney. The Australian special forces tie his hands behind his back and his legs together and push him into a pool and he has to survive. Like crazy stuff, but it's not gratuitous, as you'll hear us explain. It's amazing to watch that part of it, but it's all in the name of finding ways to handle stress, of talking about aging, of talking about longevity, confronting death. It's actually once you get past all the cool Chris Hemsworth doing crazy stuff part, it's a really deep, profound show. Again, it's called Limitless. You can watch it on Disney plus. So I will step aside now and we will sit down together with Chris Hemsworth right now on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

[Interviewer]

Thanks for doing this, man. Great to see you.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Glad to see you.

[Interviewer]

I've been so excited to talk to you since watching these episodes yesterday because I think a lot of people have.

[Willie Geist]

Seen the trailer for Limitless and they.

[Interviewer]

See you hanging off a cable car and you're taking off your shirt and you're swimming in arctic waters and everything else, and they go, okay, this is an adventure show, man. There's just so much more to it than that. Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

How do you explain it?

[Interviewer]

And then how did somebody pitch it to you? How do they explain it to you at first?

[Chris Hemsworth]

Well, the way it was explained to me was about three years ago, Darren Aronofsky came to me and said, I want to do a show about longevity. And we'll have some of the world's leading experts in that space, and we're going to test some of the science and put you through a series of pretty physical, mental, emotional challenges. And I don't think he really knew what it was going to become, nor did I, because we we then shot it over pre Covid during and after. So it was spanned over two and a half years. Initially, it was supposed to be a two and a half week thing. And so the show kind of continued to grow, as did my sort of enthusiasm for it and my commitment for what we're doing. As you just said, I didn't expect it to have the emotional pull and component it has in particular the last episode, which is about acceptance and about death. So it's quite a profound sort of experience. On many levels.

[Interviewer]

So did they explain to you, Chris, though, that you'd be walking across a beam a thousand feet above Sydney, or crawling through fire or fighting for your life in a swimming pool when they.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Pitched it to you? There was little snippets of that, but I think intentionally there was a. They held back on the real details. I think they might have been. I might have been running for the hills if they told me too much. But again, it grew anyway. Like, we had to adapt to different locations. And for instance, initially, we were going to do cold water immersion, and we were doing ice baths in Australia and so on. And then it was like, let's go to Norway. We went to Norway, and it was going to be like, okay, let's, you know, do some ice baths here, and. Well, let's. Let's go and swim in this little calm patch of water here. And then it advanced into, you know, it was snowing, there was chop in the water, a lot of wind, and I was out in the open ocean in the Arctic, swimming. And, yeah, it was intense.

[Interviewer]

Wondering, how did this happen? How did I get here?

[Chris Hemsworth]

What am I doing here? Yeah.

[Interviewer]

What did your wife and your family think when you told her what you're up to?

[Chris Hemsworth]

My wife was keen. I mean, she'd do any of it. And some. My parents were kind of going, well, what are you doing? My dad was like, is this safe? Should you be doing this? Why are you doing this? And said, it's for longevity, dad. I'm going to be able to tell us all how to live longer.

[Interviewer]

And you're right. And that's the part of it. I think people are going to be excited when they see there is the adventure of you doing all these crazy things. But then we get to sort of the next beat, which is why you're doing these things. And in the first episode, it's about stress. And, yes, you are Chris Hemsworth, you are Thor. But you have a lot of the same stuff going on that we all have going on in terms of stress and anxiety. And I think part of the show that's really important to communicate to the audience is that you open yourself up. Like, you're totally vulnerable when you're sitting and talking about the things that. That give you anxiety. So was that piece of it hard for you to say, I'm gonna drop the veil a little bit and just show fans who I am off screen?

[Chris Hemsworth]

It was probably my biggest hesitation. You know, I'm used to being behind the mask of a character and developing a character, and then Diving into the sort of nuance of the story and so on, and to then play yourself. But not just in a setting like this where we're talking, where you're actually having to dissect some pretty deep concepts and deep emotions and thoughts, confront some things that are stressful are concerning, problematic. It was kind of like being in a therapy session at times, but without the rebuttal of the advice at the end of it. So I'd be lying if I said a few times I was like, am I giving too much here? And. But, you know, the response I've had so far was it allows people to connect easier with the content. I think being vulnerable, it opens people up to their own interpretation of the situation. They can put themselves in your shoes and also think, okay, how would I handle this? And how would I approach it? And if, you know, myself and everyone on the show can be a conduit for people to live a healthier life and live a longer life and a happier life, then fantastic. So my emotions aside, and my sort of resistance or hesitation, it sort of went out the window pretty quick once that became the purpose of the experience.

[Interviewer]

What are the things you think your fans will be surprised to learn that stress you out in real life? Because it's pretty mundane stuff that we all go through.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah, I mean, I talk about it in the. You know, if I can prep myself for an event and I'm walking on stage and the red carpet, I'm like, okay, I'm in the zone. I'm ready for it. For me, when I go out into public and it catches me out of nowhere or I'm sort of weaving through the crowd and it's fine. No one's really paying attention. I'm with my kids in a restaurant, and they start flipping out. There's a scene, and then people are watching, and then, you know, phones are coming out and kind of. I know it sounds kind of mundane or whatever, but that, I don't know, I think it triggers my fight or flight in a pretty intense way. And like most of us, we're conditioned now to bring upon that state unintentionally. And even without there even being any great need for it, you know, we're not being. We're often not in the danger that our body thinks we're in. And so one of the episodes was about stress and about managing that. And it was a big reminder for me. It's incredibly detrimental to our health living in that state. Constantly having the cortisol and adrenaline flooding through the body, especially when we're not exerting it physically and having to run or fight or do something.

[Interviewer]

But I think part of the lesson of the show is you can do something about it. You learn and then you apply it. And I don't want to give away too much, but you're in a very precarious position, very high in the air, and you actually stop and turn down your heart rate. You stop and say, okay, what are the things I've learned? So are you able to do that now? Are you able to use all those techniques you learned on the show?

[Chris Hemsworth]

I do. I take more moments of pause, I think, than I did before, and not just out of feeling like I need to catch my breath, but understanding the science behind it and having seen it play out in real time in the episode when I'm walking across the. The skyscraper off the beam and my heart rate goes up to 145, and then through some breathing techniques and focus, bring it back down to about 85. And, yeah, that was pretty remarkable. And I could trust the science and hear about it and hear someone tell me that going through it myself and seeing it work, it was a great sort of validation that, okay, some of this is within our control. You know, we're not, and we shouldn't be a victim to it and let it be sort of fear based constantly.

[Interviewer]

One of the other episodes is incredibly poignant, is the one about memory, which I think a lot of us, somewhere in the recesses of our mind, have this fear that we're gonna get to a point of our life where we don't remember our lives.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

That we've had these incredible experiences that escape us somehow. Why did you want to tackle the issue of memory for you?

[Chris Hemsworth]

Well, the show was designed by the producers and Darren, and that was one of the key pillars of health and wellness. And we talk about longevity. Memory is absolutely essential. I don't know how much I want to give away about the episode, but they did a deep dive into my blood work and my genetics and found some things and some indications that put me in a very high category, a risk category for Alzheimer's. And it was a real shock. The first kind of instance, I found that out, but became a wonderful motivator to make changes and do things differently and pay attention to my sleep habits and further attention to my stress management. And look again, if it also can help people go, oh, maybe I could do some investigating here and figure out some ways to give myself the best fighting chance, then great. It's not a. There wasn't a predeterministic gene that they found. But it was a pretty strong indication.

[Interviewer]

It's an extraordinary moment when the doctor tells you that and it just stops you in your tracks. You can see it written all over your face. But he also says, trust me when I tell you this will be a gift in the long run. Have you learned to see it that way?

[Chris Hemsworth]

Absolutely, yeah. I mean, pretty quickly I thought, well, this is kind of. We're all up against different things and. But none of it. You know, this certainly wasn't an official diagnosis. You know, it was a. You want to be wary of this particular thing. But whatever I do in regards to the brain health drastically affects my body in every other way too. And my long term and my short term health.

[Interviewer]

Yeah, it's again, there are things we can do and it's good for people to know that even if they're not in the risk zone yet. Unfortunately, I was checking off boxes as someone who works in morning tv. Don't sleep enough.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Don't always eat those things we're doing.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Right.

[Interviewer]

And that applies to everybody.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah. I think, like, I found it comforting also, like, genetics plays a part in everything and the outcome, but the, the, the majority of the outcome is based on our lifestyle choices and what we choose to participate in, what our sleep habits are, how we manage stress, what our exercise routine looks like, nutrition and so on. And the benefits for me, not just sort of physically, but emotionally, you know, if I'm paying attention to those things, I'm a far better, happier person when I don't. And as you say, when you don't get the sleep and so on, we're just not running at our optimal level.

[Interviewer]

And of course, because it's this show, the task is not do a crossword puzzle, it's we're gonna throw you into the woods with a buddy and good luck finding trying to get you to go. Which is kind of amazing. But I think one of the things that's cool about the episode is it reinforces how important social interaction is and having people around you that don't, you know, you're not isolated as you get later on in life. So keep those people close.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Absolutely. Yeah. I think with the blue zones, the zones that have the most centurions in them, one of the biggest commonalities between those scripture people were social connection and having family and friends and living in a community where there was support and hugely important for all of us. And the isolation is what does the most damage.

[Interviewer]

And then I promise I won't walk you through every episode, But I really enjoyed it. So the closing episode, and we'll try not to give too much away, as you said, is about acceptance and sort of being on the doorstep of death and then perhaps even encountering what that feels like at that moment. It was very emotional to watch. I can't imagine what it was like for you to go through it. What was that episode like for you? What did you take away from it?

[Chris Hemsworth]

A lot. It was. I had no idea what the episode was going to be coming into it. And that was intentional from the director and producers. I was an absolute guinea pig in this experiment. It was a sort of immersive theater situation that I was placed in. I was going to stay in an old person's retirement village for three days, wear an age simulating suit that made me feel like an 85 year old. I was then going to interact with people who were in their later years of their life who had suffered tremendous loss. A young lady who had stage four cancer. She was 27, palliative care worker, a death doula. And so across these three days, in detail, talking about death and considering the end of life. And I think for most of us, we, yeah, we like to think we're gonna beat it somehow. You know, we understand it rationally on one level that it is finite and we're all gonna come to the finish line eventually. But we trick ourselves into thinking we'll beat it or we try to figure out ways around it and avoid it. It's like this taboo thing to discuss. But the science shows us that people with a greater acceptance of death live with a greater sense of gratitude and a sense of purpose and then understanding that this isn't gonna last forever. So make the most of it. And having my wife in the episode too, was. Was amazing.

[Interviewer]

It's a beautiful scene.

[Chris Hemsworth]

And I didn't know she was gonna be there either. And so it was beautiful. And she felt incredibly vulnerable. And the whole thing, the way it was set up was there was nothing manipulative about it, but it was. There was a space created for truth and honesty. And I'm really happy that we were able to be vulnerable in that space and how the episode turned out.

[Interviewer]

First of all, I'd never heard of a death doula until that episode. That was something new. But she was so wise in the moment where she says, effectively, we're always thinking, okay, things will change at this point or I'll be happy when I reach this age or this goal. She said, no, it's happening right now. So be in the moment. Was that part of which you took away from this entire series?

[Chris Hemsworth]

For sure. Yeah. And her and BJ Miller, who's a palliative care worker, said that, you know, people get to the end of their life and they wish they had have done this and this and this. And he said, what a great opportunity to, as a young man, be considering this in such detail and be able to think, well, if there's anything I wish I have would have done different or want to do different, I have plenty of time to do it, hopefully. And so it did. I had a wonderful sense of joy and gratitude and excitement to sort of rush home to my kids and family and go, right, this is what I want to do.

[Commercial Voice 2]

Yeah.

[Chris Hemsworth]

And I've had this tremendous career and I've been so lucky and working, but I found myself kind of piling one job on top of the next and not a whole lot of time for preparation or decompression afterward. And so certainly after doing the show, you know, I want to curate my career in a different way and be a little more, have a little more time, you know, in between things just to again to appreciate them, but also get back to what's important. Family.

[Willie Geist]

Hey guys, thanks for listening to the Sunday Sit down podcast. Stick around to hear more from Chris Hemsworth right after the break.

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[Chris Hemsworth]

Subject to credit approval.

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back. Now more of my conversation with Chris Hemsworth.

[Interviewer]

You're still a young man, but was part of the reason you took on this series because you are thinking about legacies, maybe not the right word, but like what you want out of this life. You've already had huge success. Yeah. Is that part of what you. I mean, because you are, you're thinking about it a way. And I think a lot of people under 40 don't think that way. They still think I got the whole road ahead of me. But you've stopped in the series and said what is left? And what do I want to do with that time?

[Chris Hemsworth]

It was, it was a real sort of wake up to if I continue in a sprint, you know, the finish line being death, one day I'll be there and I'll go, oh, yeah, what just happened? You know, and it's flown by in an instant. And so I feel very thankful for being asked to do the series and be a part of it. I had no idea it was gonna teach me what we're talking about. But. And I hope people get the same thing from it. You know, I hope it is a nice reminder that we get one shot at it as far as we know and make the most of it.

[Interviewer]

There's a moment where you're driving at some point and you're talking about why you've taken on so much and you never stop.

[Willie Geist]

You never stop.

[Interviewer]

And you tie it back to your childhood.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Growing up in the Northern Territory where you thought, my dad said he could never pay off the loan for the home or the ranch and I want to help him pay that off. And so you've just taken, taken on everything. Was that a lot of the inspiration for your work ethic was to get to a place where maybe you didn't have in your childhood.

[Chris Hemsworth]

It was A really interesting period when I finally paid off my parents house and took care of them and they were able to retire and family and friends as well, and went, oh, now what? You know, and it's not that I didn't have a passion and a love for acting and telling stories. My initial attraction to it was as a fan. You know, it wasn't to be an actor. I just wanted to inhabit those spaces. The fantasy of it was, was inspiring. And so I was able to develop then sort of a new love for it and a different sort of passion. But, you know, we all your purposes change all the time. You have different goals and different reasons for them and. But I think when it's in sort of some sort of servitude to something outside of yourself, there's a, there's a greater sense of accomplishment, I think, and the pressure is different. It's pressure I don't mind sort of, you know, gritting my teeth through as opposed to, you know, it's based on my own personal ego and I need to check this box and do this. And you know, it's sort of, there's a lack of sort of substance there.

[Interviewer]

So how did a boy who grew up, I don't know, four or five hours from the nearest town in the outback of the Northern Territory even get the idea that he could be an actor? Let alone that that would be a job and a career? Because it runs in your family. Your brothers apparently had the same idea. How'd you even think of that?

[Chris Hemsworth]

Look, we lived in the Northern Territory when I was young, a couple of different times, then went back to Melbourne, lived there, and there was no acting school really near me. No one. There wasn't a whole lot of sort of theater projects or anything. And so I didn't even have, I wasn't even part of it. It was. I was just a fan of movies and I love books and storytelling and the fantasy and the adventure to it. When I was finishing high school, my brother did a film and television course once a week and said, oh, you should do this. And. And I did one course and was like, that's it, I'm going to Hollywood. You know, all the other ideas that I had week to week just went by the wayside and told my careers advisor at school and she was like, oh, okay, what's your backup? Don't have one, don't have one. So. And I think it's. It requires a certain obsessiveness and a compulsive commitment to it, you know, which is fantastic in the earlier days coming up and you're like deflecting the no's and the rejections and so on, you're plowing forward and then nothing's going to stop you. And then what I found has been interesting is I'm not in the sprint anymore and I can afford to relax a little bit and if there's still a party be going, it's going to work, whatever, if it just gets taken away and so on. And so that balance is, is what it's about to sort of keep those two things, you know, the, what my purpose and the fear, I guess, in, in check. And so I don't want to, I don't want to dismiss it. It got me here. But learning how to monitor that now and, and, and, and temper it and use it at the, at the right time as opposed to it just being one gear that I'm in consistently.

[Interviewer]

You had some early success on the Saddle Club. Big fan of your work as a teenage veterinarian.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Thank you. Yeah, that's. Was I old? 17.

[Interviewer]

And somehow apparently moved quickly through veterinary school.

[Chris Hemsworth]

He knew some people, that's who you know.

[Interviewer]

He was a prodigy. A prodigy.

[Chris Hemsworth]

And then you Movedie Howser.

[Interviewer]

Exactly. The Doogie Howser of the veterinary world. And then you moved to LA, I think, in 2007, about 15 years ago.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

That's a big move, obviously.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

With nothing guaranteed to you when you step off the plane there.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

What were those early years in LA like for you?

[Chris Hemsworth]

Well, I was in Australia doing a TV show and then I would. I was trying to audition through that for films and so on, and they couldn't even get an audition to. To be honest. And if I did, it wasn't any wonderful feedback. It was not. See you later. I went to la and then I. In the sort of. The first sort of three, four months I was there, it was like, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. And then my visa was about to run out and I got a small job on something which got that extended and I had sort of a couple of things that, that worked for a minute there and then I had eight, nine, ten months of nothing. And it felt like I was going backwards and, and my feedback was getting worse and, and I was getting nervous again. I had this sort of performance anxiety that I had earlier in my career that just started rearing its head and I had to kind of reconfigure my thinking. You know, I had to be. They walk into a situation and there'd be adrenaline and shortness of breath and so on, instead of thinking, okay, this signals a tragic situation and I'm going to fail, I think, no, this is excitement and I've got to treat. This is signaling my ability to think quicker, see clearer. You know, my reactions are going to speed up. And so I started to think of it as my spidey senses, you know, that adrenaline, rather than some sort of monster that was going to be detrimental to that, whatever it was that I was doing. And that really, you know, reprogrammed things for me. And then my approach to things, how I auditioned, I stopped sort of walking in and putting it on a pedestal. I'd go, no, I deserve to be here. And a little bit of self, sort of motivation, Auditions, auditions. And then Thor came along, and then it's kind of. It's been the Thor Marvel train for a while and anything else has been either side of it.

[Interviewer]

Well, an interesting step along the way to Thor is Star Trek.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

Which is a job you were called back for later, as I understand it, by J.J. abrams. And that was sort of. Right. The stepping stone.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah, to Thor.

[Interviewer]

An unexpected one, maybe.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah, it was. It was. I was on my way up to San Fran, I think I was driving up from California and I got a phone call saying he'll come back to audition for Star Trek. I was like, star Trek, the old TV show? What is this? Like, no, no, you auditioned for it like a year ago for. For Kirk. And I was like, did I? Yeah, come back and JoJo wants to meet you. He's seen that audition. I'm like, I couldn't even remember what, you know, when it was or what it was. And so I came back and. And I met with him at his desk, Paramount Studios. And he said, right, hand me the scene. He said, let's just read the scene. I was like, it's a classic. Sort of like stumbling through the lines. He's. Do it again. He goes, great. Do you want. You want the job? I was like, yeah, see you Monday. And I had no idea that it was a two, $300 million movie. And it was just big, big event. And thankfully, because I think I would have, you know, if I would have struggled through it, if I had understood the gravity of it. But that then turned some heads. Joss Whedon, Drew Goddard. I did Cabin in the woods. And then Ken Branagh saw that, and that was where the Thor edition came back in.

[Interviewer]

Did you have a sense when you started Thor just over a decade ago, you couldn't have imagined it was gonna be this big and this Life changing. But the thoroughfare. It was a huge production. You knew that. That this was going to be a step into a completely different world for you.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah. I mean, every job you're hoping it's going to be that. And there was talk that this, this may grow into something else. I think I did sign a contract that said I might do another Thor film, another Avenger, a Avengers film. In most days I was spent just waiting for the tap on the shoulder and say, this is not working, kid. Get out of here. And then we finished the film and it worked. And then we did Avengers 1 and it was huge. And then. And then it has just been kind of one after the other. And each time it's been. It's been amazing to do something different. That many times I've played the character, I think eight or nine times. But I've been able to work with different directors who bring out something different and unique. The character has gone from a sort of the Shakespearean sort of molding with Kenneth Branagh into sort of, I don't know, there's a sort of wacky romantic comedy space we had in the last film. And then the last few Avengers sat somewhere sort of in the middle. So as long as I get to keep doing something different, I'll be down for it. But at the moment I've sort of, you know, my runner's Thor is. That's it, I think.

[Interviewer]

You think so?

[Chris Hemsworth]

I don't know. You have no idea. I have nothing, you know, no more contractual obligations or anything.

[Interviewer]

They're not gonna let you go, man. They're too popular.

[Chris Hemsworth]

My daughter said that. I was like. I was like, yeah, my job's gonna be home more. And she goes, you're not gonna act anymore? I was like, maybe I'll just stay home with you. And she goes, dad, kids wanna see you play Thor. I was like, okay, well, does this kid want to see her dad?

[Commercial Voice 2]

No.

[Interviewer]

Maybe she's like, eh.

[Chris Hemsworth]

She's like, yeah, sometimes.

[Interviewer]

Mostly the other kids at school.

[Chris Hemsworth]

The other kids, yeah.

[Willie Geist]

Stick around for more of my conversation with Chris Hemsworth. Right after a quick break.

[Chris Hemsworth]

The McDonald's snack wrap is back. You brought it back. Ranch snack wrap.

[Willie Geist]

Spicy snack wrap.

[Chris Hemsworth]

You broke the Internet for a snack? Snack wrap is back.

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[Willie Geist]

Welcome back now to the rest of my conversation with Chris Hemsworth.

[Interviewer]

Have you stopped ever to think about, like, life before and after? How different personally. Now I'm talking how different your life is because of these Thor movies and these Avengers movies and. Or even think about the kid back in Australia who was just trying to get a job on a soap opera somewhere. Yeah, that now you've got an entire universe of fans and that you are Chris Hemsworth, celebrity Chris Hemsworth. What has that been like for you personally in terms of changes to your life?

[Chris Hemsworth]

It's been. It's been wonderful, you know, it's been wonderful to do something that. Or achieve something. That was my dream. And then the dream to change and achieve that and continually be in a situation where I'm pinching myself going, I remember when it was the other way, it was like that. And every time I fly into la, I pass, you know, casting offices, and immediately my heart rate goes up and still. Yeah, yeah. It's just this, like, the nostalgia to it, and, you know, so many years spent pulling up to those places, sitting in my car, going, okay, come on, we can. Come on, let's do this, you know, and. And then I come here to New York and I'm like, wow, this is like, this is the city that most of my favorite movies, this was the backdrop for. And so it brings up all sorts of emotions and feelings and how I felt as a. As a young kid watching films before I even wanted to be an actor, what this place looked like and felt like. And so, yeah, I hope I can just be in a constant state of appreciation for it. And it's been a wild, fun ride, and I hope it continues.

[Interviewer]

It seems to me from the outside, you've kept some vestige of normalcy in your private life. You got the great Instagram. We see the family, but by and large, you guys are kind of tucked away doing Your own thing. And that's a conscious effort, I suspect.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah. My wife's from Madrid. We both lived in la. We had kids there. And it was. It was just tricky, you know, to paparazzi so on. I found it was harder to switch off because I go to work and then outside of work, you're interacting with everyone from work and it's from the sort of the entertainment industry, so you're constantly sort of reminded of what you're doing, what you're not doing. And. And I felt a period of time where I didn't have much to say as me, because it felt just all make believe. And we moved back to Australia and instantly I thought I had this sense of, I don't know, refilling of my cup, I guess. And I had stories to tell because I interacted with people from all walks of life and different situations. And it wasn't just about, you know, discussing scripts and so on. And. And most importantly for my kids too, to. To not be surrounded by that constantly and just be doing very normal things and living in a sort of small country surf town and riding horses and surfing and motorbikes and fun stuff.

[Interviewer]

I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't ask you about Ghostbusters because when you talk about your daughter's thing, you're still gonna play Thor and you're thinking about other things. Comedy has to be on the radar because I think you surprised a ton of people with. Just because they hadn't seen it before.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Yeah.

[Interviewer]

With how funny you were in that movie as Kevin. Was that a blast to shoot that movie?

[Chris Hemsworth]

That was one of the funnest experiences I've had on a set. Working with four of the most talented comedic actresses in the business was. That was nerve wracking. That was one of the most nerve wracking things I've done, actually. The night before I was supposed to shoot, I called Paul Feig and I said, mate, where's the script? Like, there's nothing in there. He said, don't worry, we'll work it out tomorrow. I was like, what? So the whole thing was improvised and they couldn't have been more generous with kind of helping me through it. But I was bummed we didn't get to do another one because I love that character.

[Interviewer]

Yeah. I mean, you're working with some of the great improvisers of all time and you're right there with him.

[Willie Geist]

Right there.

[Interviewer]

That's your audition tape for the next comedy this coming.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Thank you.

[Interviewer]

Well, congratulations on Limitless.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Thanks So much.

[Interviewer]

Yes, it's fun to watch all the adventures, but at the core of it, there's so much takeaway that I think people will be excited to see and perhaps aren't expecting. So congrats and thanks for the time. Good to see you.

[Chris Hemsworth]

Thank you so much.

[Willie Geist]

Thank you. My big thanks to Chris for a great conversation. You can check out Limitless Streaming now on Disney. And thanks to all of you for listening again this week. If you want to hear more of these conversations with our guests every week, be sure to click follow so you never miss an episode. And don't forget to tune in to Sunday Today every weekend on NBC. I'm Willie Geist.

[Interviewer]

We'll see you right back here next.

[Willie Geist]

Week on the Sunday Sit down podcast.

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[Chris Hemsworth]

Subject to credit approval.