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Chris Hemsworth Almost Lost The Role Of Thor To His Younger Brother

Published Thu, 14 Sep 2017 10:15:30 -0500

The Marvel casting department is so good at their jobs that we're often left wondering how anyone else could have played these roles. When it comes to casting someone who is supposed to be an actual god you would think they'd take one look at Chris Hemsworth and call it a day. That isn't even close to what happened. In fact, according to an interview with W Magazine Hemsworth reveals that he nearly lose the role to his younger brother, Liam.

I came into the audition with Kenneth Branagh and thought I nailed it and then never heard anything back. Months went by and then my brother, my little brother, Liam, was in Australia and sent a tape across and he got a call back, then another call back and then was down to the last kind of four or five people for it. I remember sitting in Vancouver, shooting Cabin in the Woods with Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon. Both of them were looking at the trades at this sort of top five guys for Thor and saying, 'Why aren't you in the mix here? What happened?' I said, 'I don't know. I blew my audition I guess.'

That list of top five guys didn't end up panning out though which was the opportunity Hemsworth needed to try again.

None of those guys got it. My manager then called up and said, 'You know, he's got an older brother. Can we bring him back in?' So I did an audition in Vancouver in this hotel room with my mum reading Anthony Hopkins' part. She must have nailed it because it got me back in the room and that second audition was a lot different than my first one. I came in kind of with a little, I guess, motivation and maybe frustration that my little brother had gotten further than me. It's a little family, sibling rivalry sort of kicked up in me. Then it moved pretty quick from there. It was cool.

Things are fine between the Hemsworth brothers now and Liam went on to find success in his own franchise but sibling rivalry is a powerful motivator. It's also adorable that Chris Hemsworth credits the performance his mother gave as reading Odin's lines that got him through the door again.

Summary: Imprisoned, the mighty Thor finds himself in a lethal gladiatorial contest against the Hulk, his former ally. Thor must fight for survival and race against time to prevent the all-powerful Hela from destroying his home and the Asgardian civilization.

Thor: Ragnarok, directed by Taika Waititi, stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Idris Elba, and Mark Ruffalo. It will be released on October 24th in the UK and November 3rd in the US.

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