‘Playing God has become a safety net’: Chris Hemsworth talks Thor, money and his insecurities | Chris Hemsworth

‘I“It’s like a therapy sofa,” says Chris Hemsworth, as he sits on a chaise longue in the London hotel room where we meet. He laughs, but it soon becomes clear that the Australian actor is more than ready to examine his life and the image he has long presented to the world.

As Thor, the god of thunder, Hemsworth has come to embody a certain idea of ​​masculinity: invincible, assured, and unwavering. This role, which spanned nine films, made him one of the highest-paid actors in the world and brought him to the attention of the world. However, trust was, in part, just a construct. “The persona you see in interviews,” he says, sitting on the sofa, “and the presentation I’ve given over the past two decades working in Hollywood, is me — but it’s also creativity. That’s what I thought people wanted to see.”

In his new lead role in Crime 101, director Bart Layton’s brilliant procedural thriller, Hemsworth plays a different kind of character. An action figure, sure, but her inner world is defined by doubt and vulnerability. “I felt completely exposed in this role,” the 42-year-old says as Leighton sits next to him. “I couldn’t hide behind voice quality or pose the way I could with Thor and these larger characters. It was about doing the opposite.”

When Hemsworth was first cast in the role of Thor, he said he was “more annoying and goofy” than he was willing to give. Backstage, he was dealing with severe performance anxiety and panic attacks, but the physical transformation helped him feel less afraid. By training his body, lowering his voice, and assuming a more imposing posture, he felt able to occupy the space. “I felt like, ‘Okay, great, no one can have sex with me.’ Playing God became a safety net. People were fooled into thinking I was confident, that’s for sure.

“When I met you,” Layton says. “I was expecting a completely different type of human, which was more of a classic alpha. And what you find is someone who is really thoughtful and sensitive and insecure in the way we all are.”

These were the qualities Hemsworth had to tap into in Crime 101. Based on a 2020 novella by Don Winslow, the film revolves around Mike Davis, a gentleman jewelry thief whose string of robberies along Route 101 stuns the police. When he plans the outcome of a lifetime, his path crosses with that of a disillusioned insurance broker (Halle Berry) and a disheveled detective (Mark Ruffalo), forcing each to confront their own existential crises.

The film, which also stars Barry Keoghan as Davis’ rival and Monica Barbaro as his love interest, is a neo-noir love letter to Los Angeles, evoking cinematic thrillers like Michael Mann’s Thief and Heat, as well as The Thomas Crown Affair and The Getaway, both of which star Steve McQueen, Davis’ hero in the film.

“We talked about all the movies we grew up with, and we were like, ‘Where is she now?’” Leighton says. This question resonates with the British director’s ambivalence about Los Angeles and the anxiety that social status generates, and how easily self-esteem becomes entangled with the way others see you. “I was fascinated by that. How much of what we all do — even me who wants to direct a movie in Hollywood — is about how other people see me?”

The same preoccupation applies to Layton’s previous two films, his 2012 BAFTA-winning documentary The Imposter — about a French con man who convinces a Texas family that he is their missing son — and the 2018 docudrama American Animals, which dealt with a real-life robbery of the Transylvania University library in Kentucky. Both films interweave fictional scenes and interviews with the actual people involved, revealing how easily fantasy and self-mythology collapse into reality. “Most of us live within a set of social expectations,” Layton says. “What about the people who deviate from that?”

It stands to reason, then, that in Crime 101 there are no moral absolutes. The good guys aren’t all good, and the bad guys aren’t all bad. Davis only takes what insurance can replace and ensures that anyone who steals from him will never get hurt. He even returns his victims’ phones so they don’t lose their family photos. What unites the characters is ambiguity, and the feeling of being trapped in roles that no longer fit.

“They’re all at a point where transformation needs to happen,” Hemsworth says. “They’re saying, ‘I’m done wearing this mask.’ This embodiment of myself that was created either by societal expectations, or my own assumptions that if I added these things to my being I would feel good.” But what they are all looking for is connection, love, and friendship.

One film that particularly resonated with the actor was Paul Schrader’s American Gigolo, about a man who had all the visible signs of success — Armani suits, cars, beautiful women — and yet remained desperately lonely. “There’s a great tragedy about it. He’s still an only child in a way.”

Has his own concept of success changed over the years? “Absolutely. I used to think that maybe if I got nominated for something, I’d feel good about myself. Or maybe if I had the biggest movie ever, or launched another franchise, I’d feel good. It’s ridiculous. My self-worth doesn’t depend on all those external things anymore — although I still have to remind myself.”

This recalibration process was sharpened by what he described as life’s “middle passage.” Recent years, especially his father’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s, have slowed him down. “My appetite for racing ahead has really been curbed,” he says. “I’ve become more aware of the fragility of things. You start thinking, ‘Daddy’s not going to be here forever.’ My kids are now 11 and 13. Those nights when they were fighting over sleeping in our bed — suddenly these things don’t happen anymore.”

It has reshaped the way he thinks about work. Early in his career, his choices were driven by a desire for financial security. “I was thinking: I came from nothing. Who am I to turn down that kind of money?” Excusing things wasn’t the purest creative decision – but I would be able to pay for my parents’ house, or I would be able to help my cousins.

He is now more aware of asking himself when is enough enough – a question that reflects his character’s dilemma in Crime 101. “My wife [Spanish actor Elsa Pataky] Jokes, “What’s the number?” I’m still wrestling with that. But I’m getting better at relaxing, making more structured decisions, and working with people I like.

In his 2022 docu-series Unlimited, Hemsworth revealed that his maternal grandfather had Alzheimer’s disease, and that he himself is eight to 10 times more likely to develop the condition than average. The theme was further explored in 2025’s follow-up, A Road Trip to Remember, which focused on his father Craig’s diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease.

Hemsworth says going public was not an easy decision. “I wondered if I was letting people dig too deep. Do they no longer believe in the action star or Marvel character? And do I want people to know my fears and insecurities to that level?”

But he considers the documentary one of the most important things he’s ever made. “It was very personal. It was a love letter to my father. It empowered him for a while, and it triggered the memories that were taken from him.” He even had strangers with Alzheimer’s come up to him and say they wanted their children to see the movie. “People like to pretend it’s not happening, because it’s uncomfortable for them, so you suffer in silence. People talk to you about football, the weather and stuff, and no one actually says to you: ‘How are you?’ Are you afraid? Are you afraid?”

Hemsworth’s father worked as a social services counselor in the field of child protection, which the actor relied on while researching the character of Mike in Crime 101. “I discussed with my father the tragic circumstances that children face, the deep need for love and connection, and how you can look in all the wrong places when you don’t get it.” He also used an app to read testimonies from people on Skid Row, who “feel their grief with every inch of their being.”

Meanwhile, Layton talked to his real-life counterparts with all of his characters, including jewel thieves in prison. “We heard some crazy stories. A famous jeweler said he was going to send jewelry through a FedEx service, and these fake FedEx guys showed up early and pointed guns at them. The stories were stranger than fiction.”

For Leighton, this kind of heist was an opportunity to make something propulsive and thoughtful. “I wanted to give you what you want from a really fun night at the movies,” he says. “It’s not driven by intellectual property. It’s more like the movies we grew up loving — while also making us think. And I think people will come away feeling awestruck by what Chris has done.”