Chris Hemsworth on facing fears, ageing and return of Thor

Getty ImagesChris Hemsworth is finest referred to as the hammer-wielding Norse god Thor in Marvel’s cinematic universe. However now the Australian actor is buying and selling superpowers for science, introspection and a brand new set of private challenges, lots of that are far scarier than battling fictional villains. The 41-year-old is again for a second season of Limitless which sees him confront a few of his deepest fears as he explores how one can stay longer, more healthy and higher. “The primary season virtually killed me,” Hemsworth tells the BBC. “And I assumed, ‘by no means once more.'” In season one, Hemsworth tackled bodily and psychological challenges designed to delay growing older together with free diving, fasting, stress coaching and strolling alongside a crane 900 toes above the bottom.The actor says he selected to “torture” himself once more as he had a burning curiosity to “ask greater and deeper questions” about growing older and the that means of life.”It was exhausting but additionally profoundly rewarding,” he says. “However now I do have extra questions fairly than solutions!”Season two takes a special path as Hemsworth continues to check himself, however not simply bodily. With the assistance of Ed Sheeran, he learns to play a musical instrument for the primary time and impressed by his kids’s carefree risk-taking, he climbs a 600-foot Alpine dam. Nationwide GeographicHemsworth joined Ed Sheeran on stage in Romania final yr after studying to play the drums “Being thrust into unfamiliar environments the place you are going through adversity or threat helps you perceive how fragile life is and the way rapidly it will possibly change,” he says. Hemsworth, whose brothers, Liam and Luke, are additionally well-known actors, says he now takes nothing as a right and has learnt to not “accept the straightforward route as the best classes come from the more difficult occasions”. One of many largest challenges for the actor was within the first season of the Nationwide Geographic sequence when a genetic check revealed he carries two copies of the gene ApoE4, one from his mom and one from his father, making him between eight and 10 occasions extra prone to develop Alzheimer’s than these with out each copies of the gene.”That warning signal was additional motivation to deal with myself,” Hemsworth explains. “It additionally felt like an awesome alternative to supply up training and a greater understanding for individuals navigating it as Alzheimer’s is one thing lots of people face.” Watch: Chris Hemsworth on Limitless’ return and his elevated threat of Alzheimer’sWhile Hemsworth has change into more and more keen on how one can stay higher, he says there is a positive line between wholesome growing older and excessive biohacking. Biohackers need to make their our bodies and brains perform higher by “hacking” their biology.”You need to stay an extended and higher life however at what price? You could possibly have your precise routine however there is not any level doing all of that in the event you’re remoted and lonely at residence,” says Hemsworth.”I’ll put vitality into well being and wellness however I additionally need to get pleasure from life.”This mindset places him at odds with extra excessive components of the biohacking motion, which has gained consideration by means of figures like tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson. Getty ImagesBryan Johnson’s Mission Blueprint is a controversial plan to reverse ageing and stay foreverJohnson, 47, has spent hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in a bid to decelerate growing older – his regime, Mission Blueprint, has seen him take quite a few dietary supplements a day, comply with a strict eating regimen and sleep routine and bear a plasma change.It is an strategy that Hemsworth finds intriguing however admits he has “no curiosity to discover”. “I like dancing out and in of these areas,” Hemsworth explains. “Generally I strive one factor, then one other, and completely different items of science resonate at completely different occasions in your life. “In case you’re too boxed in with one mind-set, you shut the doorways to different alternatives.” In addition to reversing his organic age, Johnson additionally needs to crack the code on how one can stay endlessly. However the Marvel star says nobody has found out how one can cheat loss of life but and he would not assume anybody will so “we’ve to embrace loss of life”. “Struggling comes from denial of our inevitability of loss of life – all of us have an expiration loss of life.”Getty ImagesHemsworth lives in Australia together with his three kids He provides: “In case you had been informed you had 200 years assured you’d change into extra complacent and reckless. The concept that life might be taken away at any second is a wonderful reminder to understand each second.” He additionally explains that if people may stay endlessly then relationships with different individuals would not be as vital, and for Hemsworth, household seems to actually matter.The Thor actor lives in Byron Bay together with his spouse, actress Elsa Pataky, and their three kids. Limitless touches on how his decisions have an effect on not simply his personal life, however these round him.A part of what spurred him on to movie a second sequence was “the nice suggestions from younger children, mother and father and grandparents” and realising that he was in a position to encourage others to problem themselves. Getty ImagesHemsworth has performed the function of Thor within the MCU since 2011Despite his standing as a worldwide motion star, Hemsworth could be very introspective and appears to be deeply pushed find fixed that means and function to his life. “This expertise jogs my memory of what I am providing up and receiving,” he says, including that it is vital for him to all the time do not forget that “we do not survive and thrive on our personal”. Alongside his lifelong quest to stay higher, Hemsworth can be excited about what’s subsequent in his performing profession. Thor will return in Avengers: Doomsday which is about to be launched within the winter of 2026.As as to if there will likely be one other standalone movie, the actors says: “I do not know, we’ll need to see the place this one goes as I am unpacking all of that now.” “It is one thing I definitely love and so we’ll see what occurs.Nationwide Geographic’s Limitless: Dwell Higher Now’s out there to stream on Disney+ from 15 August.