LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Marvel superstar Chris Hemsworth is a person whose primary desire in life is to be remembered as a “good bloke.” An inherently “good person”, Hemsworth, 39, has always yearned to “be involved in new adventures,” and that has taken him to heights with eight Marvel blockbusters in his kitty just in the span of 12 years. But apart from being known as a Marvel superstar, he is known for being a great family man too. In his recent interview with British GQ, the ‘Thor’ actor has spoken in detail about his life following recent knowledge about the risk of Alzheimer's.
In 2022, the ‘Extraction’ actor came to know about his risk of getting Alzheimer’s while filming for episode five, ‘Memory’, of a National Geographic and Disney+ docu-series 'Limitless'. The father of three got to know that he is one of only two to three percent of the population with two copies of the gene APOE4. In another interview to Vanity Fair in 2022, the Australian actor also revealed that he is “eight to 10 times more likely” to suffer from Alzheimer's in the future.
While Alzheimer’s has certainly rattled the actor about his career, it has also instilled a fear in him about his family - his fear of forgetting his loved ones. The ‘Home and Away’ actor, who is married to actress Elsa Pataky with three children, daughter India, 10, and twin sons Sasha and Tristan, eight, said on the show, “The idea that I won't be able to remember the life I've experienced or my wife, my kids, this is probably my biggest fear.” However, when one has a loving partner at home, these fears might be dissipated.
During one of the later episodes of the same series, ‘Limitless’, Hemsworth was surprised by an 87-year-old version of his wife who took the disguise to ease his fear of mortality that stemmed in after the diagnosis. While he was initially told that he would be meeting an old woman who is her fan, the ‘Avengers’ actor was left stunned when he found out that the fan was none other than his wife, only artificially enhanced in age.
Pataky took the help of prosthetics, special effects makeup and a wig to achieve the look of her 87-year-old self. Hemsworth, though was stunned, told his wife lovingly, “You’re still beautiful.”
'I couldn’t have done any of the things I’ve done without it'
In the interview with British GQ too, Hemsworth spoke about the fear of losing people he loves. Talking about his grandfather, whom he lost recently, he said, “We’re getting to the age now where we’re going to start losing people we love.”
But, as the natural way of life is, any loss can only be compensated with love. And who is better than one’s partner to be the pillar of support? Hemsworth, who is always vocal of his wife’s sacrifices, shared about the nourishing love that he gets from Pataky. He reminisced about his decade long marital journey, that’s getting stronger every day, saying, time goes so fast. He continued, “We were having kids the same time my career was taking off, same time we were getting married, same time we were getting to know each other. It feels like we got to know each other halfway through our relationship, five, six years ago. In a beautiful way.”
However, he also acknowledged, “Once our kids were out of nappies, things became a bit more manageable.” Their love, which is growing everyday, is founded on the wish to “have a good time, to laugh, and be involved in new adventures”.
Pataky has always been a supportive partner, who gets praised by her superstar husband, “Her sacrifice, commitment, work, support, forgiveness – everything that she has given me over the years has been incredible. I couldn’t have done any of the things I’ve done without it.”
‘The reality of it sinks in’
When he was first diagnosed, he also said in the interview, “Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death in the hope that we'll somehow avoid it. We all have this belief that we'll figure it out. Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in. Your own mortality.”
