by Chris Hemsworth recently revealed a terrifying near-death experience while filming a stunt for his upcoming Marvel movie “Thor: Love and Thunder.” The Australian actor, best known for playing the Norse god Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, opened up about the harrowing incident in a new interview.
“I was hanging off the side of this helicopter and I was supposed to swing way out over the water and then swing back in over the helicopter and cut back on,” Hemsworth explained. “I let go and suddenly I’m holding on with one hand again and I don’t know what went wrong, but I got slapped back into the side of the helicopter.”
The 39-year-old said he was immediately aware of how dangerous the situation was. “I hit the side and sort of landed awkwardly on these skids and just was holding on thinking, ‘Oh god, this could be it, goodbye!'”
Hemsworth was understandably terrified in the moment, thinking he might plummet to his death. “There was a brief moment where I thought, ‘Is this how I go? This stupidity? I’ve cheated death once again and maybe my ninth life was up?'” he recalled.
Looking back now, the harrowing brush with death has given the action star a new appreciation for life. “At that moment, thinking, ‘Yes, this could be it.’ It was pretty terrifying,” Hemsworth confessed.
The stunt gone awry happened while Hemsworth was filming a key action sequence for the upcoming fourth Thor solo film. Directed by Taika Waititi, who helmed the Thor threequel “Ragnarok,” the new movie sees the Odinson face off against Christian Bale’s villain Gorr the God Butcher.
Marvel has touted “Love and Thunder” as its biggest and most bombastic Thor movie yet, with wild, larger-than-life sequences. The death-defying helicopter stunt was clearly meant to be a major set piece, although it nearly turned tragic.
Hemsworth has a reputation as one of the most committed and fearless actors when it comes to performing stunts and action sequences. Over the years, he’s endured grueling workouts and regimented diets to achieve the muscled physique of Thor, along with undertaking all manner of dangerous filming to create exhilarating fight and battle scenes.
However, this helicopter accident seems to have truly shaken the daredevil actor and made him reconsider his mortality. While Hemsworth emerged physically unscathed, the psychological effects of such a close call appear significant.
“There was a high level of fear. It definitely got the heart racing,” he said, looking back on the near-fatal slip. “That’s for sure. Oh yeah, I had flashes of my kids and wife.”
Thinking he might never see his family again was perhaps the scariest part for Hemsworth. Married to Elsa Pataky since 2010, the couple has three children together – daughter India Rose, 10, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, 8.
The horrifying accident has forced Hemsworth to re-evaluate his career and lifestyle choices. “I guess when you’re younger you have this chip on your shoulder, this sort of ego or invincibility that dominates your mentality,” he reflected. “But the older you get, the more you appreciate what you have… and how lucky you are.”
While he still plans to continue performing as the hammer-wielding Avenger for the foreseeable future, Hemsworth’s perspective has evolved. “Each time Marvel calls me and asks me to come back, I’m like… ‘Do people really want this again?’ And then when I start training and get back into it, I get this little addictive personality towards it,” he admitted. “So I don’t know, we’ll see.”
After so many close calls and injuries over the years of playing Thor, it’s understandable that Hemsworth is wary of tempting fate again. At a certain point, even the most daring actor has to consider whether the next dangerous stunt could be one risk too many.
The Australian hunk has achieved global fame through his decade-plus tenure in the MCU, launching his career well beyond what anyone could have imagined from his homeland soap opera roots. He’s now one of the most popular and recognizable movie stars worldwide, with lucrative franchise roles as Thor and also Kevin the secret agent in Michael Bay’s Extraction movies for Netflix.
With so much success already under his belt, along with a beautiful family to enjoy it with, Hemsworth can certainly afford to be more selective about projects and stunts that put his safety in jeopardy. While fans will surely want to see him continuing to push his limits and deliver jaw-dropping action as Thor, Hemsworth’s own mortality is perhaps giving him second thoughts.
“You sort of have this arrogant kind of attitude like, ‘Yep, I’ll be fine. I’ve done this before. I’ll do it again,'” Hemsworth said of his past mindset. “But something changes a little bit when you have kids and you get a little bit older and suddenly it’s not about just you.”
Now nearing 40, the long-time leading man realizes his sheer luck at emerging mostly unscathed from such a long run as an action hero. “I’ve been extremely lucky to not have some big injuries, especially doing some of the stuff I’ve done,” he acknowledged. “Looking back on it, it’s crazy.”
Considering how close he came to tragedy on the set of “Love and Thunder,” the scary incident could mark a major turning point in how Hemsworth approaches dangerous filming and the risks he’s willing to take as an actor. Having his mortality stared in the face will likely lead the star to be much more cautious in the future.
“It has certainly shaken me up and given me a greater appreciation for just how quickly it can go wrong,” Hemsworth reflected soberly. “We’re always told ‘safety first’ but perhaps that needs to be looked at again.”
While he’ll recover psychologically from the near-fatal mishap, the trauma of helplessly dangling from a helicopter convinced Hemsworth that some risks just aren’t worth it anymore. Having grown wiser with age and the responsibilities of fatherhood, he now better understands how to weigh the hazards.
“Rather than it be the lesson of, ‘Oh yeah, you gotta get back on the horse,’ it was like ‘Maybe I shouldn’t be on this horse,'” the sobered actor joked. “Maybe I need to rethink how I’m doing this.”
Hopefully the extremely close call will make the filmmakers re-evaluate their safety measures as well when it comes to staging such elaborate, dangerous scenes. “We’re entertainers at the end of the day, but you still want it to feel real and exciting,” Hemsworth noted. “But it’s got to be safe.”
After so many successful years playing Thor and earning his place among elite A-list movie stars, Hemsworth has plenty of good reasons to avoid senselessly risky filming just to achieve pure spectacle. While audiences love his daring stunts and all-out action, preserving his health and safety should clearly take priority.
Having tasted the absolute terror of almost plunging to his death, Hemsworth now seems ready to make smarter choices about the projects he takes on and the risks required. “It’s made me appreciate being able to do this [job], but with a different perspective,” he said.
With years of blockbusters already under his belt and a beautiful family to go home to, Hemsworth no longer needs to court danger in order to prove himself. “I know I’m in a very lucky, privileged position to be able to do this,” he expressed. “But I think having an awareness of that is really important.”
After so many close calls and flirtations with disaster, he won’t take that privilege for granted anymore. Hemsworth now understands that even superheroic good fortune eventually runs out if continually pushed to the limits.
“I’ve had a few times where I’ve really come close to being hurt or badly injured,” the chastened star admitted. “And it does make you think differently about things… more so now than ever before, that’s for sure.”
Hopefully Hemsworth can apply these lessons moving forward, maintaining the thrilling physicality of Thor while exercising greater caution. With a decade playing the MCU icon under his belt, he deserves to make it through the remainder of his tenure unscathed.
After surviving to tell the tale of his terrifying near-death experience on the set of “Love and Thunder,” perhaps Chris Hemsworth will think twice about tempting fate so boldly again. But knowing the star’s legendary work ethic and commitment to delivering for Marvel’s fans, he’ll likely be battling Norse gods and monsters mightily for many years and movies to come.
