Chris Hemsworth is hoping to clarify any lingering confusion about his future in Hollywood a year and a half after he publicly disclosed some health concerns.
In a 2022 episode of the National Geographic docuseries Limitless, the “Thor” actor underwent testing that found he was genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease, a common type of dementia that progressively affects memory, thinking and behaviour.
Given that the episode came out just as Chris was already planning to take some time off, many outlets claimed that the test results had prompted him to step away from the spotlight.
Speaking to Vanity Fair in an interview published on Tuesday, however, he said that wasn’t the case at all.
“It really kind of pissed me off because it felt like I had been vulnerable with something personal and shared this,” he told the publication.
“No matter how much I said ‘This is not a death sentence,’ the story became that I have dementia and I’m reconsidering life and retiring and so on.”
He went on to note: “I did read a really funny comment at the bottom of one article: ‘I hope Chris forgets he’s retiring and comes back.’”
Chris previously touched on the misinterpretations of his Limitless announcement in an Entertainment Weekly interview last year. Still, he acknowledged that learning of his predisposition made him “start asking bigger questions”.
The 2022 revelation also set the stage for a memorable sequence on Limitless when Hemsworth’s wife, model Elsa Pataky, dressed up as an 87-year-old version of herself in a bid to assuage her husband’s health concerns.
At the time, Chris was told that he’d be meeting an elderly fan – but he seemed moved upon realising that he’d been set up with an artificially “aged” Elsa, with whom he shares three children.
Much of Tuesday’s Vanity Fair feature was dedicated to Chris’ return to the big screen next month as Warlord Dementus in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. The prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road also stars Anya Taylor-Joy.
Later in the interview, however, Chris shared that his whole family underwent genetic testing as the result of his discovery.
It was then that his father, Craig Hemsworth, also learned that he was predisposed to Alzheimer’s, prompting him to begin confronting early signs of the disease.
“I know my dad is going through a transition of acceptance around ‘I’m not this big, strong man with all the answers who everybody looks to for guidance now,’” the actor said.
“He’s much more the observer now, rather than leading the pack. It’s a reminder to me because those are exactly the qualities I need: stillness, observation, absorption, a respect for the present moment.”