Yahoo Autos A Gearhead Chat With Chris Hemsworth at the Indianapolis 500
The Indy 500 was a big, beautiful mess this year. Restarts, cautions, crashes, a white-knuckled finish-The Greatest Spectacle in Racing lived up to its billing. Our visit to the 500 even came with a cherry on top: A quick interview with the man you know for his movie portrayal of James Hunt, or perhaps Thor.
Thanks to TAG Heuer (our interviewee is a brand ambassador), we got to sit down with Chris Hemsworth, who was in town to wave the green flag at the 500. Hemsworth, for those few who haven’t seen the billion-dollar Avengers or Thor franchises, is an Australian actor of considerable fame. Gearheads will recognize Hemsworth from his role as James Hunt in Ron Howard’s Rush, which captured the rivalry-and friendship – between Hunt and Nicki Lauda, set against the danger and glamor of ‘70s Formula 1 racing.
Hemsworth was hot off the release of The Avengers: Infinity War, another half-billion dollar blockbuster that included a lengthy press junket. But we weren’t here to discuss Thor. There were gearhead matters to attend to.
R&T: So I bet you’re tired of talking about Thor?
Hemsworth: [Laughs] No, it’s all good.
R&T: You played James Hunt, an especially-notorious playboy from the golden age of notorious playboys. Could you relate to Hunt, given your outward image is that of the consummate family man?
Hemsworth: There’s a sort of joyous, make-the-most-of-every-opportunity enthusiasm, that I certainly related to. I got married very young, and that’s what always suited me. Family has been the greatest thing for me. If I hadn’t met my wife, who knows where I would have ended up. I met her early in my career, before everything blew up and got a bit crazy, so it’s great because it’s kept my feet on the ground on what’s real. I was single for a lot of years, but nothing beats having a family.
R&T: Is there some dark corner inside that you channeled to play Hunt? Or is that devil-may-care, bad boy schtick something you have to manufacture?
Hemsworth: His demons that I found interesting are things we all struggle with. The “who am I?” and “what am I trying to prove to the world and to myself?” questions. There’s fear about accomplishment, or fear of failing. James Hunt struggled with that. And his way of confronting that fear was to throw himself right into the thick of it. I’ve always related to that, in the sense that acting and this business always used to scare the shit out of me. I remember a friend of mine who was a professional fighter. I asked him “are you scared of going into the ring?” He said, “absolutely; everything inside me is screaming RUN!" He then said, “but you make the decision to do it anyway, and commit, and 100 percent keep pushing forward.” You never get removed of fear, you just enjoy becoming friends with it, acknowledging that it’s there, and it becomes a drive, which is adrenalized and addictive, and without that I think I’d get bored or stop growing as an artist.
R&T: Did you get to do any driving on the set of Rush?
Hemsworth: We drove the replicas of the Formula 3 cars. They were restricted in power, but still so much fun. I did a lot of go-kart racing growing up, not professionally, but just for fun. We lived at Phillip Island [an Australian island southeast of Melbourne]. There’s a big race track there, and a replica of the track for go-karts. We had some pretty intense competitive clashes-my dad and brothers and I over the years. So I understood [racing] a bit, and was excited to dive in.
R&T: After Rush, did you have any desire to go racing?
Hemsworth: Not really. I ride dirt bikes a lot at home, at the beach a lot and through the forest. And that, for me, ticks that box. The logistics [for racing cars] are a lot more tricky. Whereas, I could just literally walk outside my front door and start riding a bike. And my wife rides a lot, too. She’s probably a better rider, too.
R&T: Who consumes more beer per capita? Americans at Indy, or Aussies at Bathurst?
Hemsworth: Even walking down the street today, I didn’t see many sober people. Pretty close tie.
R&T: Have you been out to see Bathurst?
Hemsworth: No, but my dad’s raced there. He used to race motorbikes professionally. He set a couple lap records at Phillip Island, and won the Australian title at one point. He raced from 125 ccs right up to superbikes, and now does a lot of historic races. This would have been like 30 years ago. But he won a historic race recently.
R&T: You ever go riding with your dad?
Hemsworth: Yeah, some of my earliest memories were sitting on the petrol tank, knees up to my chin, riding with him. Riding through the forest, and he said a couple times I’d just be screaming, so he’d pull over the bike to look at me, and he said “I realized you were laughing, not screaming.” I just loved it. I just had complete faith and trust in him, and was able to fall in love with the adrenaline.
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