Off The Record
Chris Hemsworth Is Taking Time Off From Acting Due To Alzheimer’s Predisposition
Chris Hemsworth, or better known as Thor to the general audience, is taking a break from acting due to genes that could lead to Alzheimer’s disease.
After undergoing detailed tests while filming his new Disney+ reality show Limitless, he discovered two copies of the gene APOE4, one from each of his parents, which a study from the National Institute of Aging found them to be the “strongest risk factor gene for Alzheimer’s disease.” His grandfather was diagnosed with the disease, further approving the risk.
“Since we finished the show, I’ve been completing the things I was already contracted to do,” he said. “Now when I finish this tour this week, I’m going home and I’m going to have a good chunk of time off and just simplify. Be with the kids, be with my wife.” Chris now wants to spends as much time as possible with his wife and kids. He realized how much time he’s wasting on his work as opposed to spending time with his family, and wants to change his routine.
“Doing an episode on death and facing your own mortality made me go, ‘Oh God, I’m not ready to go yet,’” he said. “Then you start talking about kids and family and going, ‘Oh my God, they’re getting older, they’re growing up and I keep slapping another movie on top of another movie.’ Before you know it, they’re 18 and they’ve moved out of house, and I missed the window.”
In the episode, Hemsworth’s doctor reveals to him that the gene he carries makes him 8-10x more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. However, the actor didn’t want to put an accent on that or make it seem that he had been diagnosed. “I was offered a version of the episode where we didn’t talk about it,” he revealed. “I thought, ‘No, look, if this is a motivator for people to take better care of themselves and also understand that there are steps you can take — then fantastic.’ My concern was I just didn’t want to manipulate it and overdramatize it, and make it into some sort of hokey grab at empathy or whatever for entertainment.”
While he’s taking a break from acting, it’s not set in stone that he’s not returning back to the big screens. We have incredible movies in production like Extraction sequel and the Mad Max: Fury Road prequel Furiosa.
As Hemsworth himself said, “It’s not like I’ve been handed my resignation.” He’s using this time to reflect on the things that matters to him most. “You don’t know when your time’s up, you don’t know what tomorrow holds,” he said. “Whether or not any of this information helps you live longer, it’s about living better right now. Whatever you do right now to benefit your future self is having a huge benefit in your current self.”
We wish this incredible actor long lasting, Alzhemeir’s-free life!
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