Chris Hemsworth is more than just his muscles, as big as they may be.
The Thor actor tells The Telegraph that movie fanatics do not rank his acting talents alongside the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio or Daniel Day Lewis simply because he's muscular.
"Bodybuilding is seen as vanity, whereas if I put on a bunch of unhealthy weight, or got unhealthily skinny for a role, I'd probably be called a serious actor," he explains, before adding that portraying Thor is not an easy task. "The training across 10 years of doing it is a full-time job."
The Aussie continues, "That and then a 12-hour shooting day—it's real grind. It's incredibly rewarding, too—you have to look at it like a professional athlete."
Indeed, as the Marvel star explains, "there's an aesthetic that the role requires." After all, Thor is a literal Norse god.
Chris and the rest of the crew have started filming on the fourth installment of the franchise, Thor: Love and Thunder, following a postponement caused by the coronavirus pandemic. He says the nearly five-month delay was for the best, as it gave him more time to prepare for the role.
"This is probably the fittest and strongest I've been before all the Thors," he shares. "Having this time at home meant I explored different methods, to see how I can manipulate my body with just the right amount of powerlifting and bodybuilding workouts."
The actor adds that he and his trainer particularly focused on his arms, but not so much that he looked disproportionate. The 37 year old quips, "You don't want to look like Popeye with one section of the body blown up."
Moving forward, the father of three says he intends to seek roles that challenge him. He explains, "From an artistic point of view, anytime I feel like I've visited that space before, I either need to find a unique angle on it or find something else. When I first started my career I had so much anxiety [about auditioning for new roles]. Some of that was detrimental, but it forced me to work harder."
And then there's the matter of remaining close to his wife, Elsa Pataky, and their three kids in Australia. The family man says "location" is going to be a major factor in how he chooses his next project.
"If it's around where I live," he shares, "I'm a lot more interested now from the family practicality stance."
In fact, Thor: Love and Thunder is filming in Australia, where Chris, Natalie Portman, Tessa Thompson, Matt Damon and even Russell Crowe were recently spotted enjoying a rugby game this month.
To learn about the fourth installment of the Thor movies, check out our story here!