Liam Hemsworth - Harder Better Stronger

As he enters his 30s, Liam Hemsworth is on a roll that’s rapidly gathering pace and keen to put the trials of the past decade behind him. I ask him straight up if his focus is on rebuilding. “Rebuilding?” Hemsworth leans back and laughs his booming Hemsworth laugh, contemplating the idea. “Yeah, that’s a good way to put it”

- Scott Henderson

“I’m really tough,” says a barefoot Liam Hemsworth as we near the end of the unpaved trail at the top of Corral Canyon, California. He’s rebuffing another offer to borrow my shoes. He’s been barefoot for the past 45 minutes of our hike, so he’s definitely earned some rubber cushioned relief. But as I look back down the trail behind me, I’m 80 per cent sure he’s not just talking about his feet. My gaze is met by that trademark Hemsworth grin and my suspicions are all but confirmed. “I can take anything.” Make that 90 per cent sure.

While delivered tongue firmly in cheek, the statement rings truer than you might imagine. This is a man who, despite a string of movie hits and swift rise to global superstardom, has more recently seen the core pillars of his life crumble around him.

In the past two years alone he’s seen his Malibu home destroyed in 2018’s wildfires, suffered a serious health scare and subsequent hospitalisation and, just a week before our hike, signed papers in one of the most highly-publicised divorces in Hollywood history – a decade-long relationship reduced to emotionally wrought, if largely forgettable, pop lyrics.

Yet here he is, high up in the Malibu Hills, a picture of health, filled with a boundless energy. He’s emerged from his 20s more than fine. He can take anything.

INDEPENDENCE DAY