Chris Hemsworth as Thor, swinging his massive hammer about
By Nur Hussein, staff writer
Today, we celebrate the birthday of Chris Hemsworth, the Australian actor most famous for his role as Thor, the Asgardian avenger in Marvel’s cinematic universe.
Hemsworth was born in Melbourne on August 11, 1983 (and yes, it was a Thursday). Although he was born in Melbourne, he spent much of his childhood in the Northern Territory in the outback. He described it as “like Crocodile Dundee,” with buffalo and crocodiles and such. He is the middle child of three boys, and he had fun growing up with them.
Hemsworth first roles were in genre; his first television role was 2002 children’s fantasy program called Guinevere Jones where he played King Arthur. His first film role was in 2009; he was in J.J.Abrams’ Star Trek where he played George Kirk, the father of James Tiberius Kirk. He had a short but highly memorable scene where he sacrifices his life to save the crew of his ship, including his wife and child.
In 2011 Hemsworth was found worthy of Mjolnir when he was cast as Thor, as part of Marvel’s cinematic universe. Hemsworth would play Thor again in Joss Whedon’s The Avengers in 2012, and again in 2013 with Thor: The Dark World.
Hemsworth collaborated with Whedon again when he got a role in the critically-acclaimed 2012 horror movie The Cabin In The Woods. That film was written and produced by Whedon, and directed by Drew Goddard. Hemsworth plays a college student who stays at the eponymous cabin with his friends (and hijinks ensue).
Hemsworth was cast as Eric the huntsman in the cinematic re-imagining of the Snow White fairy tale in 2012’s Snow White and the Huntsman. Although the movie opened to mixed reviews, critics commended Hemsworth’s performance.
Hemsworth is set to portray Thor again next year, when the Avengers team up once more to stop the evil robot Ultron from taking over the world. Hemsworth has described Ultron as a robot with a grudge against superheroes, and sprouts a lot of philosophy.
We hope Chris Hemsworth has a great birthday, with food and drink and music, just like his character’s in the first Thor. We look forward to seeing him swing his hammer again in May next year.
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Nur is a tinkerer of programmable things, an apprentice in an ancient order of technomages. He enjoys fantasy, sci-fi, comic books, and Lego in his spare time. His favourite authors are Asimov and Tolkien. He also loves Celtic and American folk music. You can follow him on twitter: @nurhussein
