Star Power

There’s no accepted road to Hollywood stardom – no fast track to the big time or guarantee of success in the hugely competitive world of film. If you were to try and chart the most obvious route to silver screen success, country Victoria, via remote parts of the Northern Territory would be an unlikely scenario.

That such an unlikely journey could yield not one but three actors from the same family would seem a stretch for even the most fertile imagination, but that’s what writers will have to work with should they ever sit down to write the  definitive screen version of the Hemsworth boys’ rise to fame.

The middle son of Leonie and Craig Hemsworth, Chris spent a very grounded early life with his brothers Luke and Liam as the family moved between Victoria and Australia’s north, unremarkable except for the tremendously close family bonds it has produced.

Now, all three Hemsworth boys are actors and bona fide stars in Hollywood, with Chris’ growing list of acting credits now making him one of the hottest properties on film.

But it is perhaps that very upbringing that now helps keep one of the world’s biggest film stars grounded in an industry that has brought many unstuck. 

That and the obvious importance he places on family – both his own and contributing his time and considerable star power to helping those families in need.

Indeed, those very normal, grounded beginnings have produced an actor who has been described as ‘the complete package’. One who boasts all of the pros with no sign of the cons so often associated with the business.               

A genuine Hollywood powerhouse, Hemsworth is also a ‘good bloke’ to use the Aussie lexicon, with nary a scandal to get tongues wagging. A happily married man who adores his wife, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky and their three kids, daughter India Rose and twin boys Tristan and Sasha, Hemsworth makes the headlines for all the right reasons – a rarity in this day and age.

Then there is his charity work. Hemsworth is a patron of the Australian Childhood Foundation, a non-profit organisation that for the past three decades has provided programs, counselling and resources to support children and families devastated by abuse, family violence and neglect.

His view on the subject is simple, honest and passionate.

“Every child has the right to a safe and loving childhood and its up to all of us to make sure that happens and look out for the  kids,” he says. His outlook only sharpened by becoming a parent himself which has given him ‘a more personalised view’.

“I think most people with children shudder to think of any kind of harm coming to their children or others. So that fear alone motivates me to want to change the unfortunate social acceptance or lack of attention the issue receives. It’s also made me very aware of how dependent children are on love and stability in order to grow into happy confident people.” 

Yes, Chris Hemsworth has it all and then some. From the outside, his meteoric rise to the top may have seemed to happen in the blink of an eye, but Hemsworth’s overnight success has been years in the making.

Although his superhero role in Thor is the one that has cemented his position as a Hollywood A-lister, his list of acting credits is diverse and shows not only the depth of his talent, but his willingness to take on different roles to showcase what he can do. 

Hemsworth is another product of that hotbed of talent that is Australian television. He appeared briefly on Neighbours before settling in to a long run on Home and Away where he worked for three years before turning his attention to film and ultimately to America.

From playing Captain Kirk’s father in J. J. Abrams Star Trek to a less than heroic end in the quirky horror classic A Cabin in the Woods, to battling Russians in the remake of Red Dawn to playing a convicted computer hacker in Blackhat – Hemsworth has continued to hone his craft and build an impressive and diverse body of work – all with that trademark twinkle in his eye.

His portrayal of Formula 1 ace, James Hunt, in Ron Howard’s Rush was compelling and eerie in its accuracy – capturing the very essence of the flamboyant champion. In Snow White and the Huntsman with Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart he charmed fellow cast members and the viewing public alike in this more classic heroic role, with director Rupert Sanders describing him as being ‘very Shakespearean in his skill set, and very muscular and well fed in his diet’.

Certainly Hemsworth brings an undeniable physicality to his roles but he says that to him, all the sword play and fights are no different to playing sport, something he has done all his life.

“I’ve got two brothers and when we were young we used to run around in the forest and hit each other with swords and things,” he says. “So it’s like being a little kid again.”

His new film In the Heart of the Sea, based on Nathaniel Philbrick’s book, In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex reunites him with Oscar-winner Ron Howard, in a film that is epic in its staging. The film chronicles the true story of the 1820 voyage of the whaling ship Essex and the hunt for an enormous whale which inspired the legend of Moby Dick. Another physical role, it required Hemsworth and the other cast members to lose significant weight to portray the members of the stricken crew.

“It’s the true story of the events that inspired Moby Dick,” says Hemsworth of the film. “It’s an epic adventure tale about survival, strength of the human spirit and what makes someone defy the odds and continue to fight when faced with the impossible.”

“The men on the ship (Essex) were basically starving for 90 days, so we had to lose a lot of weight, that’s never fun,” he says. 

Indeed In the Heart of the Sea is already being mentioned in hushed tones as an Oscar contender, raising Hemsworth’s stocks even further, but he has precious little time to sit back and reflect on his career to date as he prepares to reprise his role as the god of thunder for Thor: Ragnarok and then teams up with his fellow Avengers, Robert Downey Jnr, Jeremy Renner and Scarlet Johansson et al in Avengers: Infinity War Parts 1 and 2.

In November, Hemsworth became an Audi Australia ambassador and is just as passionate about his association with the brand as he is  about his other roles.

“They’re just beautiful cars to drive,” he says. “I’ve driven a few over the years and the consistency in style, comfort, power and ‘ahead of its time technology’ are second to none.”

“I’ve got three kids so having the room for all of us to fit was the driving force initially, but although the Q7 has all the space we need it doesn’t for a second feel like a big heavy car. Drives like a sports car.”

Fittingly, in his first official outing with the brand in Australia, Hemsworth co-hosted a special screening of In the Heart of the Sea in Sydney to benefit the Australian Childhood Foundation. He may exist in the rarified atmosphere of Hollywood’s A list, but it hasn’t changed the down to earth bloke he is. 

Hemsworth epitomises laid back cool, both on the screen and off it. While a maelstrom of publicity now follows him wherever he goes, he remains the calm in the eye of the storm, always taking time out for fans, never far from wife Elsa’s side and giving a convincing rendition of a man completely in control of the situation.