There's a lot you may not know about Australian hunk Chris Hemsworth from before he caught
his big break as Thor, Marvel's God of Thunder.
From scrapping with his brothers to starring on an Australian soap opera, here's what we
dug up about the hammer-wielding Avenger before he took Hollywood by storm.
Fashion forward
Given his rugged Hollywood image, it's somewhat surprising that as a young kid, Hemsworth
had a knack for, well, sewing.
"For some reason, cross-stitch was one that I enjoyed."
He told W Magazine, "I think it's because I couldn't afford any cool clothes, so I was
like, 'I'm gonna make them myself.'"
Hemsworth's interest in sewing faded when he tried unsuccessfully to make his own pants,
but the experience set him on the path to his future career.
He went on to explain,
"I had a different idea every week of what I wanted to do professionally.
I'd see movies and be inspired by things."
"I guess that's why acting fits, because I get to pretend to be all those things with
no great amount of risk or effort."
Sibling rivalry
Hemsworth has fond memories of growing up with two brothers — even if their childhood
antics sound more like Fight Club than a Hallmark movie.
On The Graham Norton Show, Hemsworth's brother Liam recalled the two of them fighting when
they were kids.
"Our childhood rivalry was a bit vicious — a bit like The Hunger Games"
He wasn't joking.
Apparently, during a fight in their kitchen, Liam threw a knife at Chris's head.
"The handle hit him in the head"
"OH!
The handle side go him!"
"Yea, it was a warning, it was like, if you mess with me, I'll throw a knife at your head."
A soap star
Though Chris and Liam found success in Hollywood, it was actually their oldest brother, Luke,
who found stardom first — in Australia.
After landing a role on the soap opera Neighbours in 2001, Luke quickly grew disillusioned with
acting and started his own flooring business where his younger brothers often worked.
In 2004, Chris followed in Luke's footsteps and landed a role on the popular soap opera
Home and Away, which led to "heartthrob status" down under — not to mention winning industry
awards.
Dancing down under
While starring on Home and Away, Hemsworth competed on Dancing With The Stars Australia
in 2006 — and lasted seven weeks.
It's a tidbit from his past that he doesn't normally bring up.
But during an appearance on The Tonight Show, Jay Leno surprised him with a clip from his
dancing competition days.
The audience applauded wildly, but Hemsworth assured them,
"That ended my dancing career."
Captain Kirk's dad
In 2007, Hemsworth left Home and Away — and Australia — to pursue an acting career in
Hollywood.
Before long, he made his big-screen debut in the 2009 reboot of Star Trek, playing Captain
Kirk's doomed father in an intensely emotional opening scene.
Despite that fast break, Hemsworth almost quit acting and moved back to Australia after
Star Trek.
He was turning heads, but the roles weren't exactly pouring in.
"I was ready to pack it in and come home.
It was like, 'This is killing me.'"
Work begets work
After a nine month dry spell, Hemsworth landed a role in Cabin in the Woods, a horror movie
produced by Joss Whedon, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator who would later go on to direct
Marvel's The Avengers.
Cabin didn't see the light of day until 2012, but it helped Hemsworth make an important
connection.
It was Whedon, along with Cabin in the Woods director Drew Goddard, who encouraged him
to re-audition for the title role in Thor, after he'd already auditioned once and been
rejected.
"Both of them were looking at the trades at this sort of top five guys for Thor and saying,
'Why aren't you in the mix here?
What happened?'
I said, 'I don't know.
I blew my audition, I guess.'"
After a supportive phone call from Whedon to Thor director Kenneth Branagh, Hemsworth
was back in the mix.
And the rest was history.
"I'm glad you know this."
"Know what?"
"I know that…"
"Know what?"
(laughs)
Superhero strength
After landing the coveted role of the God of Thunder, Hemsworth started preparing for
the role and quickly realized he needed to get bigger.
He told the Los Angeles Times, "They kept saying 'Yeah, get as big as you can, as big
as you can."
Months later, when he returned for a final camera test, he put on his costume and went
numb within a couple minutes.
His costume was altered, but the director still told him to cut back on his thickness.
"Ken said, it's good you know. You've got the size there. You should pull it back just a little bit.
It's just sorta blocky."
Hemsworth switched up his workout program to include more cardio and less heavy lifting
— though you wouldn't know it from watching the movie.
"It's a good look."
A Red remake
In 2012, a year after the success of Thor, Hemsworth appeared in a remake of the 1980s
classic Red Dawn.
With a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 13 percent, the movie wasn't exactly a hit.
It also seemed like an odd follow-up film for Hemsworth — and that's because it really
wasn't.
During the dry spell after Star Trek, Hemsworth landed Red Dawn in the same week he got the
title role in Thor.
And like Cabin in the Woods, the movie was actually shot before his Marvel days.
Regarding the delay in his earlier films, Hemsworth told MTV,
"During shooting, I didn't have any clue there would be problems.
And then afterwards, I heard there was a holdup and they were having some delays, and now
it's kind of a Benjamin Button thing.
As my films come out, I get younger and less experienced."
"It's like it upsets me now."
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