That Time Chris Hemsworth Almost Quit Acting

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Tourism Australia Campaign Preview
Chris Hemsworth attends a preview of Tourism Australia's latest campaign at Sydney Opera House on October 30, 2019 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images)

Chris Hemsworth revealed that he almost quit acting but carried on so he could pay off his parentsโ€™ house.

The Thor star, 35, considered giving up during a dry spell after 2009 film Star Trek.

Chris Hemsworth for Men's Health
Steven Chee for Menโ€™s Health

He told Menโ€™s Health magazine: โ€œI was about to quit. I got more and more anxious, to the point where I couldnโ€™t harness that energy.โ€

โ€œI always wanted to act, and one of the first things I wanted to do when I got any money was pay my parentsโ€™ house off. Iโ€™d asked dad once when he thought heโ€™d pay it off and he said, โ€œHonestly, probably never. Most people are in that boat and I wanted to change that.โ€

โ€œSo I was super active with auditions,โ€ Hemsworth revealed. Then, in that eight-month period, I got more and more anxious, to the point where I couldnโ€™t harness that energy.โ€

โ€œI was trying to convince myself I wasnโ€™t nervous before auditions rather than grabbing hold of it and going, โ€˜Use it, raise up your awareness here, sharpen your focus.'โ€

โ€œAnd then my mentality changed, which came from being at a point where I was like, โ€˜Iโ€™m going to go back to Australia.'โ€

Hemsworth said he had one more audition where he said to himself: โ€œDo this for his house. Think about reasons other than yourself. That was for The Cabin In The Woods, and I got that job, and from there I got Red Dawn. And then I got Thor.โ€

Chris Hemsworth for Men's Health
Steven Chee for Menโ€™s Health

And the rest, as they say, is history.