Hemsworth studies the construction beam before undertaking the death-defying stunt
(Picture: National Geographic/Disney Plus)For many people, Chris Hemsworth is simply one thing: Thor. But now the actor is as much an athlete as he is a thespian, following nearly two years of intense physical training and experiments to see if he could improve his body to the point where it might prolong his life.
This all plays out in new TV series Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, where viewers can watch him undertake some insane measures — from wearing ageing suits to working with a death doula. The upcoming series has spawned headlines for different, though not entirely unrelated reasons, too. Hemsworth revealed he is taking a break from acting, following test results obtained while filming the TV show, which showed that he has 10 times the average risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, due to his genetic makeup.
Hemsworth called this his “biggest fear”, and the irony that this was discovered while filming a show about prolonging his life is not lost on him. “The show, which initially was an exploration of longevity and, of course, should be fun, became even more relevant and important for me, even more poignant than I ever thought it would be,” he told Vanity Fair.
So what did Hemsworth try out in Limitless to prolong his life or, in the case of one episode, face his death?
1. Surfed a Norweigan fjord
In one of Hemsworth’s documented activities, he was instructed to swim and surf the crashing waves of a Norwegian fjord with a water temperature of around one degree celsius — just above freezing — to study the impacts of extreme temperatures on his body. To train for this, Hemsworth enlisted the help of his trainer for the film Thor: Love and Thunder, Ross Edgley, who is the only man to swim around the coast of Great Britain, roughly 1,780 miles.
Hemsworth, who is Australian, already knew how to surf, and takes his kids surfing regularly. Darren Aronofsky, one of the documentary directors, told National Geographic that he had a dip himself, but Chris endured the real deal: “It was an amazing experience to […] see Chris really pushing himself to the edge,” he said.
2. Wore a suit that made him feel 80 years old
In a more humorous turn, in one episode Hemsworth dons a suit to help replicate the impact of ageing. The suit, designed by engineers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, replicates aging by limiting movement and dulling the senses — it makes you slower, restricts your hearing and senses, and essentially makes you feel like you’re 80 years old.
In an even crazier turn of events, producers lead him over to a woman, who Chris instantly realises is his wife — dressed in elaborate ageing makeup, so the couple can see what they will look and feel like in 40 years.
3. Endured a four-day fast
Hemsworth packed on more muscle than ever during the filming of Thor: Love and Thunder, to emphasise his god-like physique, but during Limitless, he had a period of attempting the absolute opposite. Hemsworth was tasked with fasting for four whole days, which he did not take well. In a clip from the series, he says: “I feel pretty weak trying to walk up the stairs, trying to walk down the hall, I feel like it's tough to catch my breath. [...] I can't even think... I'm losing it.”
This fasting experience is under the guidance of Canadian physician Dr Peter Attia, who specialises in longevity medicine. In another clip, Attia says of Hemsworth’s fast: “I don't think Chris has found this to be a pleasant experience at all. But a big part of fasting is understanding why you're doing it. And that's the key to tolerating this thing: it's being able to focus on the motivation behind the fast.” And for Chris, that’s living longer, and spending more time with his family.
4. Faced fears on a 200 ft construction beam
In the first episode ofLimitless, Hemsworth undergoes the most I’m a Celeb x James Bond of all his challenges: balancing alone on a construction beam that is suspended 200 ft in the air. Seems a bit like the antithesis of training to live longer, you might think, but it’s all in the name of managing Hemsworth’s stress response, apparently.
He is guided by Dr Modupe Akinola, a professor at Columbia Business School, covering leadership and ethics, and an expert in stress. Over the course of the episode, Dr Akinola trains Hemsworth with “powerful physical and psychological techniques” to help combat stress in his daily life.
5. Came face-to-face with death
In what many are calling the best episode of the series, as well as dealing with ageing in his MIT-forged anti-supersuit, Hemsworth is also tasked with facing and accepting his death. He spends three days at a retirement home, speaking to residents and learning about the prospect of dying from people whose deaths were much more imminent. Hemsworth told National Geographic this was a lesson “in many ways of health and wellness but, most importantly, in how to live a beautiful life”.
Hemsworth also acknowledged that this was the best episode. Speaking to Vanity Fair in the same interview where he mentions stepping back from acting, he says: “I think that's my favorite episode. I worked with the death doula [an end-of-life support worker] and people who worked in palliative care and end-of-life care and then spoke to a number of people who were at the end of their days or coming upon them — even younger people that were diagnosed with cancer and didn't have long to live. For me, the positive of it was like, “Right, if I didn't know this information [about Alzheimer’s], I wouldn't have made the changes I made.”
