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OVER THE PAST DECADE, CHRIS HEMSWORTH HAS BUILT A REPUTATION AS ONE OF HOLLYWOOD’S HARDEST WORKING – AND MOST SUCCESSFUL – SUPERSTARS. AND WITH A NEW TV SERIES LINED UP, A BLOCKBUSTER FILM IN THE WORKS AND PROMO TOUR ON THE WAY, THINGS SHOWED LITTLE SIGN OF SLOWING DOWN ANYTIME SOON. BUT 2020 HAD OTHER PLANS.

- Jake Millar

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Chris Hemsworth, the world-famous movie star, heartthrob, superhero, Sexiest Man Alive (2014), world’s second-highest-paid actor (2019), husband, brother, father, entrepreneur, philanthropist, soccer fan and Norse God of Thunder, suddenly found himself in an unusual position. He was pretty much like everyone else in the world. At home. Growing restless. And worried about what was going to happen next.

This was towards the end of March and the shutdown was so complete, it was as though the Earth itself had stopped spinning.

Shops closed, jobs gone, chaos in virtually every country.

‘It’s probably the first time in about 10 years that I don’t know what I’m doing for the next six months,’ says Hemsworth, his voice that same gruff baritone you hear on-screen. ‘I don’t have it all mapped out. To some degree, it’s nice not to have a schedule, but the unknown and the uncertainty is intimidating.’

Hemsworth, of course, wasn’t really like everyone else. He knows how lucky he is. He might’ve been at home along with the rest of us, but the place he was confined to was the sprawling hilltop property near Byron Bay, Australia, that he, his wife, the Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, their three children and the family’s pet dog Sunny have been living in since the end of last year.

It’s a delicate time to be a celebrity. In April, billionaire David Geffen deleted his Instagram account after posting an image of his AU$200m (around R2.3 billion), 137-metre superyacht Rising Sun, presumably taken by a drone.