Chris Hemsworth, a sad twist to his fantastic career

At the height of his success and with major projects in the pipeline, 39-year-old Chris Hemsworth has announced that he is taking a break from acting.

After finishing the promotion tour for his documentary series 'Limitless' (Disney+), the actor is retreating into his Australian mansion with his wife and children. In fact, it was that same documentary that caused him to make this decision.

Image: 'Limitless,' Disney+

While filming 'Limitless,' a series in which Hemsworth explored the boundaries of his bodily power and investigated his health, he discovered a serious genetic issue that might significantly shorten his potential life span and quality of life.

As The Guardian explained, Hemsworth did some genetic tests for the series 'Limitless' that revealed he had "two copies of the gene ApoE4, inherited from both his parents." It means that he is "among just 2-3% of the population who are as much as 10 times more likely to develop [Alzheimer's] than those without both copies of the gene."

The test results confirmed the actor's "biggest fear," as The Guardian cites him, and "really triggered something in me to want to take some time off," as he said.

To prevent Alzheimer's, it may help to manage one's sleep, stress, nutrition, and movement, the actor explained. Those things are best not to handle when going through back-to-back film shootings.

Hemsworth is a big name in the superhero universe, as well as in other types of movies and series. He starred in one of the films of 2022: 'Thor: Love and Thunder,' the MCU saga with the muscled God of Thunder, combining fantasy, action, and humor.

Photo: Marvel Studios, 'Thor: Love and Thunder.'

Will this mean the end of Chris Hemsworth's career? And where will he retreat? Check out this photo gallery to see how far the Australian actor has come and what is likely to lie ahead.

Born on August 11, 1983, Hemsworth first rose to prominence in Australia in the soap opera 'Home and Away' before beginning a film career in Hollywood.

Before that, at age 14, Hemsworth worked for a pharmacy, cleaning breast pump machines. He revealed this as a 'True Confession' to Jimmy Fallon in 2019. In addition, the young Hemsworth worked as a construction man, a waiter, a barman, and a surf-wear shop assistant.

Chris then decided to jump into acting. His goal was to pay off his parents' house. "I loved film and TV, but it was like we had no money," Hemsworth told Variety in 2019. "I wanted to pay off their house, initially. That was my sort of thing."

Before joining the 'Home and Away' cast, he played King Arthur in the fantasy TV series, 'Guinevere Jones.' He only appeared in a couple of flashbacks in two episodes, but it was a big series. In fact, it is still going to this day, boasting a whopping 30 seasons and over 6,000 episodes.

Eventually, Chris Hemsworth got his breakthrough role in 'Home and Away' as the handsome Kim Hyde. He played the role from 2004 to mid-2007.

Hemsworth's two brothers, Liam and Luke, are also actors. Chris is the middle brother. In fact, the role of Thor was, at one point, going to be given to his brother, Liam (also known from 'The Hunger Games'), but they chose Chris instead.

Hemsworth has played Thor in no less than ten Marvel films. He has had to transform his body on a number of occasions to play the son of Odin. He recently posted one of his workouts on Instagram which features the “Devil’s Workout”: six exercises for six reps and six total rounds. It’s not easy looking like a god.

Hemsworth cemented his legendary status in ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ in which he was pitted to fight against the Hulk and delivered the iconic line, "It’s ok, I know him from work."

Long or short hair. A serious debate issue. In ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ he had his hair cut, and so began the discussion of which Chris the world preferred. It's hard to argue - he looks good with both.

Playing this role in 'Star Trek' (2009) was an interesting choice, but it worked. There was even talk that Chris Hemsworth would be returning to the franchise and reprising his role in another Star Trek sequel.

Rarely is an actor praised for their work in horror films, but one of Hemsworth’s most critically praised films is a horror movie, 'The Cabin in the Woods.' which was loved by many across the globe in 2012. Even the star himself in an interview said the film "was something special."

Although he was seen riding a motorcycle (rather well) in the horror film, he accepted the challenge of driving something much faster a year later. The biographical sports film 'Rush' (2013), in which he played formula one legend James Hunt, is another one of Hemsworth’s most outstanding masterpieces.

Without any warning, the 2015 Chris Hemsworth movie jumped to the number one spot on Netflix streaming in February of 2022. It was a surprise, considering it is in Rotten Tomatoes' bottom 5 Chris Hemsworth films.

As his career in Hollywood films has grown, Hemsworth has become one of the world's highest-paid actors. He appeared on Forbes World's Highest-Paid Actors list in 2014, 2015, and 2018.  Additionally, he ranked 31st in the magazine's list of Highest-Paid Celebrities in 2018 and 24th in 2019.

The first thing he did? Pay off his parents' house.

For many, there can be no criticism that Chris Hemsworth won the coveted title of People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive in 2014. The only disappointment to many is that he only won it once.

Now that he is taking a break from acting, Chris Hemsworth will have a lot more time to spend with his wife and three children in their gigantic mansion in the Australian beach town of Byron Bay.

Hemsworth met the Spanish model and actress Elsa Pataky in 2010 and got married the same year. A daughter was born in May 2012 and twin sons in March 2014.

"We did everything very quickly. We were married and then a year after we had kids. It puts a lot of pressure on a marriage, but we came out good because there is a lot of love between us and we are very strong personalities but love each other so much. We make it work."

In 2015, Hemsworth and his family moved from Los Angles to a mega-mansion in Byron Bay with a rooftop infinity pool, personal gym, spa, and, rumor has it, an underground labyrinth of caves. Designed by the couple, the mansion is simply spectacular. It is a great place to retreat for a while.

Hemsworth is set to appear in 'Mad Max: Furiosa,' coming out in 2023. He is co-starring with Charlize Theron, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Tom Burke.

However, apart from that film and the promotion of 'Limitless,' Hemsworth is not planning on doing anything for a while. "I'm going to have a good chunk of time off and just simplify. Be with the kids, be with my wife," he said according to The Guardian.

'Mad Max: Furiosa' may be one of the last productions we will see from Chris Hemsworth in a while, as the actor is dealing with the new reality of his health situation.

Photo: Marvel Studios, 'Thor: Love and Thunder'