Thor actor Chris Hemsworth has said he wants to take a break to spend more time with his family after discovering he is more likely to develop a serious health condition. The 39-year-old is on the face of it a perfectly healthy specimen - but while filming the Disney+ docu-series Limitless made a sobering discovery.
He found out he is genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s - and being forced to confront the fear of death on the show made him re-evaluate. Speaking about the episode, the Hollywood star told Vanity Fair it’s now important he takes a break to be with his loved ones. He said: “Doing an episode on death and facing your own mortality made me go, ‘Oh God, I’m not ready to go yet’.
“I want to sit and be in this space with a greater sense of stillness and gratitude. And then you start talking about kids and family...", reports the Mirror.
Read more: Joe Lycett shreds £10,000 live after World Cup ultimatum to David Beckham
Chris went on to explain how doing the show “really triggered something in me”, prompting him to take an unforced break from the limelight. He’s since completed his contractual obligations and pencilled in a “good chunk of time off” to enjoy with wife Elsa Pataky and their three kids, India, 10, and twins Sasha and Tristan, 8.
The episodes see him meet with a death doula, walk out on a platform from the top of a skyscraper and face the most stressful test for New South Wales Fire and Rescue academy recruits. Hemsworth continued: “Then, I was asked by the death doula, ‘What would make a good death? What would your death look like? Who would you have around in those last moments?’ and I realised, it’s everything I have now.
“It’s every Sunday afternoon when we’re having friends and family over, and we’re together. I think for most of us, it’s all perspective.
“And what we have right in front of us, in this moment now, is the most important thing. And it gave me sort of a lightbulb moment of gratitude and an awareness and that is what I keep trying to bring myself back to.”
After blood samples were taken prior to the show, the actor was told he is between eight and 10 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than the general population. He was informed this was due to him being among only two to three percent of people globally who have two copies of the gene APOE4.
However, it is possible to take steps to reduce the risk, including ensuring he has a good night’s sleep, cutting back on alcohol consumption, and not smoking.
After undergoing six challenges during the series – each with a different part to play in understanding how humans can stay fitter, healthier and happier – Hemsworth also revealed a number of things that have stuck with him since he finished filming. “I was asked to question a whole lot of things that I hadn’t even thought about before and confront ideas that hadn’t ever really been in my ether of thinking.
“Ever since I finished the show, I try and implement all those tips and techniques and practices that were taught to me. But also there was a wonderful sense of gratitude, and thanks, and living in the moment that I took away from the whole experience.”
He added: “Thinking about all the wonderful things I’ve been a part of, and how fortunate and lucky I am, and grateful, that has stayed with me since the show.”
Limitless With Chris Hemsworth is available now on Disney+.
Read next:
- ITV I'm A Celebrity star Boy George 'threatens to quit' show in explosive rant at crew
Amazon customer spends £630 on new phone - but is sent wire cutters instead
New jobs created after car garage opens on Nottinghamshire industrial estate
Nottingham baker gets her 'happy ending' after having to shut down bakery
