Chris Hemsworth talks ‘In the Heart of the Sea,’ ‘Thor’ casting, ‘Ghostbusters’ – great photos

Chris Hemsworth is featured on this month’s issue of Vanity Fair December magazine, including great photos by photographer Bruce Weber, in a shoot titled “The Man Who Dreams Only Of Surfing.”

Ahead of his latest film, In the Heart of the Sea, Hemsworth, 32, spoke about becoming such a big name.

“When I got to Hollywood, they said I’d never make it as an actor—they said I was too tall, too blond, my muscles were too big.”

“Being part of a franchise like The Avengers is the dream scenario. I’ve got this thing that’s going to keep me relevant, and I can still explore other things in between, do a few films no one cares about,” the Thor star said.

photo courtesy of Bruce Weber

Inside the story fans can learn more about the Hemsworth family which four actors.

Luke started acting. I followed his path, and then Liam followed mine. We’re lucky. We’re all there to help each other, give each other perspective, give each other the right amount of slapping as well.”

In fact it was the brother who almost landed Thor.

“I had an audition with Ken [Branagh, for Thor] that didn’t go very well. I remember walking out thinking, Oh well, there goes that opportunity. Then one day Joss and Drew were reading the trades, and on the front was the final four for Thor. And they pointed to Liam and said, ‘Hey, is that your brother?’ And I said, ‘Yeah.’ And they said, ‘Why the hell aren’t you in the mix?’ And I said, ‘I didn’t get a callback.’ And they were like, ‘This is crazy.’ And I was like, ‘If one of us gets it, that’s cool.’ And they were like, ‘No way. That should be you.’ And when casting opened back up, Joss called Ken and said, ‘Give Chris another shot.’ ”

In the Heart of the Sea is a new vision of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick by director Ron Howard who recounts the casting process with Hemsworth for Rush.

“He’d made it himself in his hotel room when he was shooting one of the Avengers movies. He was huge. There’s no way he could even fit in the car [the part was real-life racecar driver James Hunt]. But at the end, in his Aussie voice, he said, ‘And don’t worry. I’ll be whatever size Hunt needs to be.’ At that moment, I knew we had our guy.”

“When we were making it, I told everybody, This isn’t Jaws,think more King Kong”—but mostly it’s an old-fashioned adventure picture, Hemsworth’s role as first mate Owen Chase requiring a frank un-ironic heroism, which so few actors can pull off these days, the article states of the new film.

In addition to these big roles, there’s mention of his hunk role in Vacation and the upcoming reboot of Ghostbusters before heading back to Marvel for a third Thor film.

Check out the full interview – here