There’s not been a year where Chris Hemsworth hasn’t been in multiple projects since landing his breakout role as Thor in 2011. His busy schedule would dictate that he loves working in Hollywood. However, there was more to his full schedule than just his love for acting. After years of constantly working in Hollywood, the MCU star explained his feelings about not taking an acting break and why he’s ready for one now.
The Furiosa star was candid about his acting break fears as he promoted his latest film Extraction 2 (available through a Netflix subscription starting June 16) with GQ. Hemsworth revealed he was currently “unemployed” after doing film after film for years. He’s appeared in numerous blockbusters from Thor and Extraction franchises to Ghostbusters. The father of three couldn’t imagine pausing his career as a bankable Hollywood star, but he began pondering the idea while filming Thor: Love and Thunder.
From when Thor started to the last couple of years. I was going from one film to another, didn’t know if the phone was going to stop ringing. I’d spent so many years coming up thinking, Am I going to make it? And once it starts to roll, you’re like, I don’t want to get off this train. This could be my one shot. All of these beautiful moments were rapidly flying past me. It made me just kind of want to wrap that show and get back and see my family. And I did.
Hemsworth’s thoughts weren’t surprising as the Extraction star has shared photos and videos of his wife Elsa Pataky and kids in recent years. He wanted to spend more time with his family after working consistently for years. The 39-year-old actor just wanted to slow down for a moment, but his fears over missing the train were warranted. Not striking while the iron was fire could’ve been detrimental to a then-unknown Chris Hemsworth.
Chris Hemsworth revealed to the publication that he’s “been enjoying” his downtime after keeping up a steady stream of film and TV work for a decade. The Thor: Love and Thunder star admitted his steady work schedule kept him from “sitting with his thought” for years. He explained how being with his thoughts was a double-edged sword for him.
I find most of your problems are created through boredom, when you’re sitting around and you have nothing else to think about except, ‘Oh, what can I pick apart here, what else can I assess and criticize within myself?’ All of a sudden, there’s a lot of questions that I probably haven’t answered… I’ve been conveniently distracted and all of a sudden, it’s like, ‘Oh, let’s look a little deeper.’ What were those questions? Nothing overly dramatic. Who am I? What am I doing? What’s my contribution? Is what I’m doing of value?
Having downtime was good and bad for Hemsworth like many workaholics have experienced in recent years. It seemed like embracing self-evaluation worked for the Hollywood A-lister, especially after moving from Los Angeles and back to Australia a few years ago. Fortunately, his kids have kept the MCU star grounded whether it’s his workout training or catching flak over Love and Thunder. So, redefining himself beyond his career is something he must do after years in the Hollywood whirlwind.
Chris Hemsworth might be gearing up for an acting break (a la Ryan Reynolds) that doesn’t mean viewers won’t see him anymore on the big screen. Aside from Extraction 2, he will appear in the Mad Max prequel Furiosa and the animated film Transformers One in 2024. The former will hit theaters on May 24, 2024. In the meantime, check out our 2023 movie schedule to see what other films will premiere this year.
