From a bird’s eye view, Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo are longtime collaborators on the big screen. Both are longtime Marvel Cinematic Universe veterans, and not only have they worked on all of the Avengers films together, but they also had a special two-hander adventure with Thor: Ragnarok. One would think that history would lead to an automatic comfort on any project they now make together, but Hemsworth would disagree, as he felt a different kind of dynamic in the making of the new thriller Crime 101.
In the Bart Layton written and directed 2026 movie (based on the novel of the same name by Don Winslow), Hemsworth and Ruffalo participate in a cinematic cat-and-mouse game: the former is an expert thief who executes his work with impeccable planning, and the latter is the detective trying to hunt him down. It’s a totally different relationship than the one we see between between Thor and Hulk in the aforementioned Taika Waititi blockbuster from 2017, and the big screen God of Thunder reflected on that experience in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly:
I've had so much fun in the Marvel films working with everyone, but that felt incredibly special, that relationship, because we're doing something very different and unique to the space. Mark is one of the kindest people in the world and most talented, and to be able to improvise in a comedic space, and act together and it feels like you have a trusted scene partner is a blessing.
Thor: Ragnarok is a very silly movie, and the sensibilities of Waititi let Hemsworth and Ruffalo lean into their charisma and have fun. Crime 101, on the other hand, is not the same at all. The new Heat-esque action movie has its moments of levity (for example the physical comedy of Ruffalo’s out-of-shape character trying yoga for the first time), but it’s mostly a serious drama, and there definitely aren’t any laughs in the scenes that the two actors share.
Hemsworth directly pointed at this difference, saying,
When this came along, it was obviously very unfamiliar territory for our dynamic.
The tone of the work demanded something very different from them both as performers, and that change apparently took Chris Hemsworth aback. He was put on his heels a bit doing dramatic work with Ruffalo, which doesn’t sound comfortable, but he was ultimately able to use that feeling to benefit his performance, as his character is an introvert who very much does not want to go to prison:
I personally felt it was like acting in front of a family member, where they know all your tricks, and you feel a lot more self-conscious. But that kind of lent itself to what my character was supposed to be feeling in that moment, so it really helped.
To see how this dynamic plays on screen, you can see Crime 101 in theaters now – the film not only starring Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo, but also Nick Nolte, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Halle Berry.
