Chris Hemsworth has opened up about how his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis fundamentally changed the way he views life, success and time, admitting it made him much more aware of how fragile everything is.
Talk to The Guardian in a profile published on February 3, the Australian actor says that the illness from which his father, Craig, suffers, forced him to slow down and reevaluate his priorities.
“My appetite for running forward has really been reined in,” Hemsworth said, adding that the diagnosis has made him “more aware of how fragile things are.”
“You start to think, ‘My dad won’t be here forever.’ »
The 42-year-old explained that the change is not limited to his relationship with his parents. Watching your children grow up has been another emotional marker of the passage of time.
“My kids are now 11 and 13. Those nights when they were fighting over sleeping in our bed, all of a sudden it doesn’t happen anymore,” he told the newspaper, reflecting on how quickly these small, everyday moments disappear.
Hemsworth said he is now rethinking what success really means to him.
“I thought maybe if I was nominated for something, I would feel good about myself. Or maybe if I had the biggest movie of all time, or if I launched another franchise, then I would feel fulfilled,” he said.
“This is absurd. My worth is no longer based on all these external things, although I still have to remind myself of that.”
His wife, Elsa Pataky, has played an important role in keeping him grounded, with Hemsworth saying he is learning to relax more and make more deliberate, meaningful choices about his work and life.
This more thoughtful side of the actor was on full display in his National Geographic documentary. Chris Hemsworth: an unforgettable roadtripreleased in November 2025, focusing on his father’s early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and the reminiscence therapy they used together.
Hemsworth admitted that he initially wondered if he was exposing himself too much.
“I wondered if I was leaving people too far away,” he said. “Are they going to stop believing in the action star or the Marvel character? And do I want people to know my fears and my insecurities on that level?”
Ultimately, he said the project became something deeply personal.
“It was a love letter to my father,” Hemsworth explained, emphasizing how uncomfortable conversations around Alzheimer’s disease can be.
“People like to pretend [Alzheimer’s is] it doesn’t happen, because it’s so uncomfortable for them, so you suffer in silence.
He added that people often avoid asking the more difficult questions, such as if someone is afraid or struggling.
Bart Layton, who directed Hemsworth in Crime 101said the actor’s open-mindedness challenged his own assumptions.
“I was expecting a very different type of human, who was more classically alpha,” Layton said.
“And what you find is someone who is really caring and sensitive and insecure like we all are.”
Hemsworth currently stars in heist thriller Crime 101co-written by Peter Straughan, alongside Halle Berry, Mark Ruffalo, Barry Keoghan, Monica Barbaro, Corey Hawkins, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Nick Nolte.
The film is expected to arrive in theaters on February 13.
