Chris Hemsworth almost quit acting before landing his iconic role as Thor.
Chris Hemsworth
The 35-year-old actor was cast as the God of thunder in the Marvel Cinematic Universe for the 2011 movie 'Thor', and has appeared in several MCU movies since, but says he very nearly missed out on the chance to take on the iconic character because a change of "mentality" meant he almost walked away from Hollywood completely.
He said: "I was about to quit. I always wanted to act, and one of the first things I wanted to do when I got any money was pay my parents' house off. I'd asked Dad once when he thought he'd pay it off and he said, 'Honestly, probably never.' I wanted to change that. So I was super active with auditions. And then my mentality changed, which came from being at a point where I was like, 'I'm going to go back to Australia.' I had one more audition where I was like, 'Do this for his house. Think about reasons other than yourself.' That was for The Cabin in the Woods, and I got that job, and from there I got Red Dawn. And then I got Thor."
But now, the 'Star Trek' star - who has daughter India, six, and twin sons Tristan and Sasha, four, with his wife Elsa Pataky - says he's "happier" in his career these days, and has learned how to "truly" be himself in order to get the most out of his life.
Speaking to the March issue of Men's Health - which hits newsstands on February 12 - he said: "I've stopped trying to go, 'Who do I have to be? What personality do I have to shape in order to succeed?' And just going, 'Truly be yourself.' And that's when things started to change; that's when I felt happier. The real work is, who am I?"
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