The risk of Alzheimer’s made Chris Hemsworth realize that he needed to slow down and listen to himself from within. He still acts in movies but only accepts a few suitable scripts.

Chris Hemsworth expressed regret in Vanity Fair on April 30 for revealing his risk of Alzheimer’s to the public. His public disclosure of his personal problems has received negative reactions.

“I was really upset and angry because I felt like I was being vulnerable by sharing this,” he said. “No matter how many times I explained ‘this is not a death sentence’, the story kept being led to the direction that I was crazy and should consider retiring.”

The truth about the “God of Thunder” hanging up his hammer

According to Variety , in 2022, doctors diagnosed the Australian actor with a risk of Alzheimer’s disease 8-10 times higher than the world’s population because he carries the APOE4 gene from both his parents. Hemsworth’s grandfather had the disease.

Upon hearing the news, Hemsworth decided to limit his acting, only accepting suitable roles so he could have more time to take care of himself and his family. He tries to maintain a healthy lifestyle and stay optimistic.

The actor shared at the time: “Most of us avoid talking about death, but then suddenly we get notified of some big signs indicating it’s coming. Still, we always believe we’ll find a way.”

The diagnosis was a reminder for Hemsworth to take care of his health. So he focused on nurturing it from within. Every day, he practiced mindfulness exercises, regulated his breathing, tried to improve his sleep, and made it a habit to read books instead of using his phone before bed. The important thing he always reminded himself was not to let outside influences or external circumstances affect his tranquility.

Talking about slowing down, he said: “I tried to build muscle for too long because of the obsession of building a career, and then became exhausted. I worried about everything. Now it’s time for me to take a break, listen to myself more.”

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Chris Hemsworth needs more time to rest, not to retire completely. Photo: Vanity Fair.

Before that, Hemsworth was constantly filming, busy promoting projects around the world. He got married and welcomed 3 children. All of this happened at the same time, sometimes overwhelming Hemsworth.

Since November 2022, Hemsworth has taken a break from acting and returned home to Byron Bay, Australia, helping his wife take their children to school, and occasionally surfing with friends. That’s when he began to reflect more deeply on life. “Suddenly, a lot of questions came back to me: Who am I? What am I doing? What is my contribution? Is what I’m doing valuable?”‘, Hemsworth revealed to GQ.

According to the Daily Mail , Hemsworth is preparing to publish a memoir to preserve family memories after discovering the risk of dementia. The actor has signed a contract with Matt Martin – the person responsible for purchasing manuscripts of the talent management company Creative Artist Agency (CAA). The news agency revealed that Hemsworth hired a writer from CAA to complete the book as soon as possible.

Waiting more than 10 years for a satisfactory role

As Hemsworth stated, he hasn’t made many films this year. The Direct confirmed that only two of the actor’s upcoming works will be released in theaters, including Furya : A Mad Max Saga (May 24) and Transformers One (September 20). Of which, the Mad Max spin-off had finished filming in February 2022, before Hemsworth heard the bad news.

In the film, he plays the villain Dementus, described as having “good looks but a scar across his forehead sewn with a shiny chrome pin that detracts from his friendly appearance”.

This is Hemsworth’s favorite role since starring in the racing film Rush (2013), taking him out of the circle of transforming into a muscular action guy. For the actor, Dementus is a complex and dark character.

“I’ve been waiting a long time for the opportunity to show other aspects, instead of just a muscular hero,” the actor told Variety in a recent interview.

Chris Hemsworth’s appearance in the blockbuster Furya : A Mad Max Saga. Photo: Empire.

Pulling off Thor’s heavy armor has made Hemsworth remembered as a hulking, muscular Hollywood action star. But the actor craves more. Beyond the relentless fight genre, he wants to collaborate with deep, psychological drama filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Kathryn Bigelow, Greta Gerwig, Martin Scorsese and Steven Spielberg.

He also revealed that Darren Aronofsky, producer of the adventure documentary series Limitless , is developing two potential projects that he plans to star in. One is a dark comedy, the other a science fiction work.

Regarding the possibility of returning to the role of “God of Thunder”, Hemsworth did not reveal a specific time. He only said that he would take on the character when Thor 5 is developed into an extremely potential project.

“I don’t want to continue if the audience is just going to roll their eyes and get exhausted when they see me as Thor the way they’ve seen me. If the audience still loves the character, if the new script has a lot of interesting things, then great. I love creating the character a few more times. But right now, I don’t have an answer,” he told Vanity Fair.