‘12 Strong’ — the Latest Movie Proving There’s More to Chris Hemsworth Than Thor

Star Trek (2009)

The big screen reboot of the Star Trek franchise kicked off with this film, and in the opening scene Chris played George Kirk, first officer of the doomed starship Kelvin and also the father of James T. Kirk. "I'd never seen a production of that size and that kind of equipment on a set," he remembers of the film that was directed by J.J. Abrams. "It was really kind of daunting and being well aware that I was not in Kansas anymore [laughs]. The difference being that I'm still as wowed by it now, but it's a little more familiar to me. To be honest, I knew Star Trek, but not in any great detail. It wasn't until after I shot it and the film came out that I started to understand the following and the hysteria and the dedicated fans that surrounded it."

A Perfect Getaway (2009)

Two pairs of lovers on a Hawaiian vacation discover that psychopaths are stalking and murdering tourists on the islands. Let's just say that this one was early in Chris' career.

Ca$h (2010)

The film's distributor, Lionsgate, offers the following description: "A stroke of good luck turns lethal for Sam Phelan (Chris) and his wife Leslie (Victoria Profeta) when they are faced with a life-changing decision that brings strange and sinister Pyke Kubic (Sean Bean) to their doorstep. As Pyke leads Sam and Leslie on a tumultuous adventure through the streets of Chicago, each are pulled deeper and deeper into a desperate spiral of deception and violence … all in the name of CA$H."

Thor (2011)

Marvel's God of Thunder comes to the big screen with Chris Hemsworth as Thor, traveling from his home in Asgard to Earth to battle a threat launched by his brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston). Interestingly, Chris got the role largely because he came to the attention of The Cabin in the Woods' writer/producer Joss Whedon. "It was funny," says Chris, "because when I was on set during Cabin In The Woods, he said to me, 'Why the hell aren’t you playing Thor? Have you auditioned for that?' And I said, 'I did a long time ago, but nothing really happened.' And he goes, 'You should be Thor; this is crazy.' He ended up calling director Kenneth Branagh and said, 'You really should see this guy again; I’ve been working with him,' and he said some great things that kind of got me back in the room. Now, a couple of years later, he directed me as that character in The Avengers. The first time I saw him, he came and visited the set of Thor and we both just started laughing. He had just signed on to direct and we both were, like, “Who would have thought?” Wow, what a small world.

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, where they get more than they bargained for, discovering the truth behind the title cabin. Of the film, Chris comments, "It’s such a ride, that film. The first time I read the script, I said, 'This is different; this is not your standard horror film or thriller,' and that’s what was attractive about it. It’s [producer/cowriter] Joss Whedon and it has his sort of wit and humor. He takes that genre and puts a whole other intelligence into it, which not many people can do; he has that sort of brain. I saw it recently and you just have a great time – it’s shocking and funny and horrific at times, but then there’s a whole lot of conflicting emotions that you walk out with."

The Avengers (2012)

In nutshell, this superhero extravaganza brings together Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, Hawkeye and Thor to save the world. Of the experience, Chris reflects, "It was a combination of you’re hanging out with Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr. and Mark Ruffalo and this whole team of Academy Award winners and nominees and experienced people that I watch and admire, yet at the same time they’re dressed as Captain America, Iron Man, and the Hulk. I don’t know which I’m more intimidated by — them as the actor or these characters. You felt like a little kid. Someone said the other day, 'Do you feel weird or at a Halloween party dressing up in that outfit?' I said, 'When you’re on set and everyone else is wearing those outfits, for the first time you feel like you finally fit in.' For the first time it’s, like, 'I don’t feel out of place with this cape and this big hammer, because that guy’s wearing an iron suit, that guy’s wrapped up in an American flag, and that guy turns green.' That was a trip."

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

It's the classic fairy tale, but with, you know, more blood and action. Kristen Stewart is Snow and Chris is the Huntsman, which he describes as follows: "He’s a bit of a lost soul when we first meet him. He’s a drunkard, he’s been through some horrific sort of wars as a soldier and has lost his wife. He’s kind of given up on life and basically will do anything for a quick buck. If this next job, even if it’s as a mercenary, is going to allow him to get back in the pub and bury his sorrows, then he’s on board. He does that and then his conscience starts to rear its head and he’s forced to kind of sober up and get involved in life again. The thing is, I didn’t want to just swing axes and be an action hero; I wanted something I could sink my teeth in to. I didn’t expect to get it from a film like this. This is a real journey and it’s not quite the obvious way it all ends up; it’s quite surprising in the end."

Red Dawn (2012)

A group of teenagers look to save their town from an invasion of North Korean soldiers. This is a remake of the 1980s original in which it was Russians rather than North Koreans invading America. Says producer Beau Flynn of Chris, "He had been training with John Barton and his Marines for three months before hand — aside from the physical training just in terms of getting a handle on the lingo and understanding the philosophy of the Marines. He truly committed to the role. And then a brilliant decision was made: Chris was going to run boot camp as a Marine, which mirrors the story in the film. He leads the Wolverines, so he trained these kids and turned them into marines."

Rush (2013)

The merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals James Hunt (Chris) and Niki Lauda (Daniel Bruhl). “It was interesting to try to pin down exactly who James was,” Chris says. “In reading different biographies, watching different interviews — depending on what mood he was in — and then speaking to people who knew him, there are varied opinions. I think that’s why it was so fascinating to be around him: He was incredibly passionate, outspoken and a great amount of fun. But he also had a side to him that was bottled up, a sort of dark side. There were contradictions, which make for an interesting character.”

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

The galaxy is at threat from the Dark Elf who plans on plunging everything into darkness. Thor to the rescue! Of how the character changed between Thor films, Chris offers, "At the end of the first Thor, he’s matured somewhat. He’s been humbled and he’s earned his powers now, but then what do you do? Now put it into action. It’s one thing to say you’ve learned a lesson, but now it’s, like, 'Show us that you’re not still a cocky petulant kid!' He’s tested with that; his ego is put to the test.

Blackhat (2015)

A furloughed convict (Chris) and his American and Chinese partners — including his girlfriend Chen Lien — hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta. "One of the other actors in the film said, 'It's a love story, this movie,' and I hadn't thought of it like that. But at the center of this, the reason for everything —what Lien brings out in him and kicks into high gear-is that she allows him to be his absolute best and vice versa with her. It's what brings the whole team into sync. It's a love story about two people who couldn't be further apart. Everything about each of them is foreign to the other, and it shouldn't work for many reasons. But it does, and that is quite special."

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

The Avengers are back, battling the robot Ultron, created by Tony Stark (Iron Man) that decides humanity has outlived its usefulness. Also back are writer/director Joss Whedon and Chris as Thor. Says the actor, "What I love about Joss is the incredible amount of detail in amongst that action. The action is the bonus, I think what you get in this is a very detailed look at what those guys are going through in this particular current state of the world and relevance to now."

Vacation (2015)

Rusty Griswold takes his own family on a road trip to "Walley World" in order to spice things up with his wife and reconnect with his sons. Chris, in a more comedic take than fans are used to, plays Stone Candall, which he describes as "a cheesy weatherman, a bit of a douche bag who has some old-fashioned views of the world. He gets away with a lot of the outrageous things he's saying and doing because he's charming and you kind of forgive him for it."

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

A recounting of a New England whaling ship's sinking by a giant whale in 1820, an experience that later inspired the novel Moby Dick. Describes Chris, "It's about heroism and people being tested beyond their limits in absolutely every way. I was also captivated by the psychological thriller aspect of the whale turning the tables on them. There is something incredibly mysterious about how this animal is portrayed — why the whale goes on the attack, which was unlike anything the Essex crew had ever encountered. The hunter becomes the hunted."

The Huntsman: Winter's War (2015)

In this prequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, Erc (Chris) and fellow warrior Sara (Jessica Chastain), raised as members of ice Queen Freya's (Emily Blunt) army, try to conceal their forbidden love as they fight to survive the wicked intentions of both Freya and her sister Ravenna (Charlize Theron). Explains Chris, "We don't survive without love in any form. This movie asks the question about what love means to Eric, and what he'll do for it." As to the tone of the film he adds, "With this one, while staying in the same world, we have had the chance to lighten the tone in many ways. The aesthetic palette has been lifted."

Ghostbusters (2016)

Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann, and subway worker Patty Tolan band together to stop the otherworldly threat. Chris plays their dim-witted, but good-natured, receptionist Kevin. "He's a big, dumb puppy dog," says Chris. "He's full of enthusiasm and ambition, but he's completely naïve and looks at the world from a very, very different angle than everybody else. It's fun to play someone who is completely unaware."

Doctor Strange (2016)

The focus is squarely on Marvel Comics' sorcerer supreme, Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), but Chris does make a brief appearance as Thor in the film's tag sequence (which actually has a connection to the next Thor film, Ragnarok).

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

When Chris returned as Thor in the latest film, it was a very different kind of adventure filled with as much humor as there is action. The God of Thunder teams up with Mark Ruffalo's the Hulk in a mission to save Asgard from total destruction. Points out Chris, "This film in particular is the biggest character shift and a gear shift tonally in the storytelling, so that affects my approach. That was all birthed through director Taika Waititi’s vision and his sense of humor, his attitude, and his need for exploration. Doing something different really paralleled what I wanted to achieve in this and what the studio wanted to do.”

12 Strong (2018)

In the wake of Sept. 11, Capt. Mitch Nelson leads a U.S. Special Forces team into Afghanistan for an extremely dangerous mission. Once there, the soldiers develop an uneasy partnership with the Northern Alliance to take down the Taliban and its al-Qaida allies. Outgunned and outnumbered, Nelson and his forces face overwhelming odds in a fight against a ruthless enemy that takes no prisoners. The film opens January 19, 2018.

Chris plays Nelson, inspired by the real-life Mark Nutsch. "I think for Nelson there was some sort of subconscious sense of duty, I suppose," he says. "Especially when 9/11 happened he thought, 'That could have been any of us in those buildings or on that plane. That could've been my kid, my wife, my family. It's my job to make sure that doesn't happen again.' He very quickly justifies what he's doing and has a strong sense of this is my job and this is what I've got to do. There is a scene in the movie where he does talk to his wife about that and says, 'You were in New York two weeks ago. That could've been you.' I think that slams it home for him."

Avengers: Infinity War (2018)

The big bad is Thanos (James Brolin) and battling him will be The Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and many others. Sounds like it'll be the ultimate superhero film.