Chris Hemsworth’s BRAVE BATTLE
After a devastating health check, the star is fighting for his family
Chris Hemsworth has announced he’s putting his Hollywood career on hold for a quiet life back home in Byron Bay with his family after a life-changing health scare.
The Thor star is still reeling after discovering his risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease is eight to 10 times higher than that of the general population during filming for his new Disney+ series Limitless.
The 39-year-old says the news confirmed his “greatest fear” and pushed him to press pause on acting.
“It really triggered something in me to want to take some time off,” says Chris, whose grandfather suffers from Alzheimer’s. “Be with the kids, be with my wife.”
The star, who shares 10-year-old India and eight-year-old twins Sasha and Tristan with his wife of almost 12 years Elsa Pataky, 46, is determined this diagnosis isn’t a death sentence, though. “My concern was I just didn’t want to manipulate it and overdramatise it and make it into some sort of hokey grab at empathy, or whatever, for entertainment,” he says. “It’s not like I’ve been handed my resignation.”
Instead, Chris says he plans to do everything he can to stay healthy for his family.
“It was a really good catalyst to dive into everything I needed to be doing in either the prevention front or the management front,” he says. “For me, the positive of it was like, ‘Right, if I didn't know this [Alzheimer's] information, I wouldn't have made the changes I made.’ I just wasn't aware of any of it, so now I feel thankful that I have in my arsenal the sort of tools to best prepare myself and prevent things happening in that way.
“I went, ‘OK, great. I now have to work on this more.’ If you look at Alzheimer's prevention, the benefit of preventative steps is that it affects the rest of your life. When you have preposition to cardiovascular heart disease, cancer, anything – it’s all about sleep management, stress management, nutrition, movement, fitness. It’s all kind of the same tools that need to be applied in a consistent way.”
SHOW OF SUPPORT
Elsa showed her support for her husband by jetting over to New York for the launch of Limitless. The Poker Face star has praised Chris’ latest project as “an amazing journey full of emotions and great experiences”.
Now, the couple are back in Oz and bunkering down in their Byron Bay compound with their kids. “We live on about 11 acres along the coast, and then we have a big farm nearby with a bunch of horses on it. And my kids are as outdoorsy and adventurous as they come. It’s about trying to keep up with them these days. We’re very, very lucky,” Chris told Vanity Fair. And he wants it to stay that way!
‘Facing my mortality made me say, “I’m not ready to go yet”’
“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 and going, ‘Oh my God, they're getting older, they’re growing up and I keep slapping another movie on top of another movie.’ Before you know it, they’re 18 and they’ve moved out of house, and I missed the window,” he says.
Fans are praising the Aussie star for making the bold move to step back.
“Stay healthy Chris! We love you, you’re such a great actor and if it’s true you are taking a break from acting, we support you because your health comes first,” wrote one. “You and your family are strong in body, mind and heart,” added another. “You'll get through this.”