Actor Chris Hemsworth is prepared to slow down after a 10-plus year career “sprint.” Following the revelation that he had a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s while filming his Disney+ original series Limitless, the actor has declared that he will be taking “some time off” in a new interview with Vanity Fair.
The actor was forced to confront “the truth” of his mortality in several production-related events, but this one was the most impactful of them all.
“I felt like it made me want to take some time off. And ever since we wrapped up the show, I’ve been finishing up the projects I had already committed to,” Hemsworth said.
“Now that I’ve completed my press tour for this week, I’m going to go home and take some time off to simplify. Be with my wife and the kids.
The fifth episode of Limitless, which was released in its complete on Disney+ on Wednesday, includes a medical revelation about Hemsworth. According to Vanity Fair, the specifics of the diagnosis are as follows:
“He carries two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from his mother and the other from his father, which has been associated in studies to an elevated risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
A 2021 study by the National Institutes of Health found that while one copy of the gene is carried by one in four people, just 2 to 3% of the population have both copies.
Hemsworth emphasized in the interview that, despite the fact that the presence of two copies of APOE4 is “reason for concern,” he has not received “a hard diagnosis” of Alzheimer’s.
He said that “it’s not like I’ve been handed my resignation” from acting. However, the actor is now 8–10 times more likely to have the sickness whose grandfather suffers from it and which gradually affects memory.
He said in the Vanity Fair interview that Disney had spoken with him about the possibility of leaving his diagnosis out of Limitless, but he ultimately insisted on seeing it in the final piece.
Look, if this inspires people to take better care of themselves and realize that there are actions you can take—then great, he said. “I simply didn’t want to twist it and overdramatize it, and turn it into some sort of hokey grab at empathy or something for entertainment” was my main concern.
The other benefit of Hemsworth’s Alzheimer’s discovery is that he can now take specific “preventative steps,” being even more aware of his sleep, exercise, nutrition, and stress levels to reduce the likelihood that he may eventually get the condition.
The actor stated, “For me, it was like, ‘Right if I didn’t have this [Alzheimer’s] information, I wouldn’t have made the changes I made.
“I simply wasn’t aware of any of it, so now I feel grateful that I have the kind of tools in my arsenal to best prepare myself and prevent things from happening in that way.”
The Hesmworth series, produced by Darren Aronofsky for Disney+, explores the cutting-edge science that is upending preconceived notions about the human body and provides surprising insights into how we may all unleash the superpowers of our bodies to fight disease, perform better, and even slow down the aging process.
Hemsworth, despite being in superhero shape, is testing this research because he has a personal goal to discover how to maintain our mental and physical capabilities into old age.
The actor most recently returned to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Thor for Thor: Love and Thunder. He will next be seen in the Mad Max prequel Furiosa and the Netflix original Extraction 2, on which he has already completed filming. It’s unclear how long his professional absence will last.
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