Chris Hemsworth to take break from acting, learns he is at increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s

Chris Hemsworth attends the premiere of National Geographic’s original series “Limitless with Chris Hemsworth” at Jazz at Lincoln Center on Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2022, in New York.
| Photo Credit: AP

Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth says he will take “time off” from acting after learning he has a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s disease.

The Australian actor, who is currently promoting his Disney+ docu-series Limitless, told Vanity Fair magazine that after doing an episode on death and mortality, he realised the importance of spending time with his family.

“I want to sit and be in this space with a greater sense of stillness and gratitude. And 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 the house, and I missed the window. It really triggered something in me to want to take some time off. And since we finished the show, I’ve been completing the things I was already contracted to do,” Hemsworth said.

The actor and his wife, model Elsa Pataky, have a ten-year-old daughter India and eight-year-old twin sons Tristan and Sasha, with .

He said after finishing the press tour of Limitless, he will head straight home. “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,” he added.

While filming the show, Hemsworth found out that he is 8 to 10 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than the average individual.

In the show’s fifth episode, the actor is seen undergoing a few genetic tests that later revealed that he has two copies of APOE4, the gene that has the strongest correlation to the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

“There was an intensity to navigating it. Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death in the hope that we’ll somehow avoid it. We all have this belief that we’ll figure it out.

“Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in. Your own mortality,” the Thor: Love and Thunder actor said.