Insight with Chris Van Vliet - Chris Hemsworth On The Role That Changed His Life, Playing Hulk Hogan, Spiderhead on Netflix

Episode Date: June 14, 2022

Chris Hemsworth (@chrishemsworth) is an actor and producer. He joins Chris Van Vliet to talk about his new movie SPIDERHEAD which begins streaming on Netflix on Friday, June 17th. He talks about what Father's Day looks like in the Hemsworth household, the role that changed his life, what being Thor has meant for him, whether he is still working on a Hulk Hogan biopic with director Todd Phillips and much more! Find out more about SPIDERHEAD on Netflix: http://netflix.com/spiderhead If you enjoyed this episode, could I ask you to please consider leaving a short review on Apple Podcast/iTunes? It takes less than a minute and makes a huge difference in helping to spread the word about the show and also to convince some hard-to-get guests. For more information about Chris and INSIGHT go to: https://podcast.chrisvanvliet.com Follow CVV on social media:  Instagram: instagram.com/ChrisVanVliet Twitter: twitter.com/ChrisVanVliet Facebook: facebook.com/ChrisVanVliet YouTube: youtube.com/ChrisVanVliet TikTok: tiktok.com/@Chris.VanVliet Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All systems are gathered. Ladies and gentlemen, Chris Van Bleed! Oh, baby, welcome back to another audio adventure here on Insight with Chris Van Fleet. Hey, that's me. I am Chris Van Fleet, and I always get so excited when we talk to a fellow Chris, especially when that fellow Chris is the God of Thunder himself, the God of Thunder from Down Under. Kind of mixed two things together, then. Chris Hemsworth, ladies and gentlemen, and he is as kind.

as he is handsome. And that is saying a lot. This Friday on Netflix, you'll want to check out his new movie called Spiderhead that he stars him with Miles Teller. And it's directed by Joe Kaczynski and he directed the new Top Gun Maverick movies.

So just saying that right there, I think you know what you're in for here. It's so good. I've already seen it. You're going to love it. Chris is very easy to find on social media. It's just his name at Chris Hemsworth. Mine also very easy to find.

Just my name. at Chris Van Fleet. And if you aren't subscribed to this show yet, please take a minute right now to click follow or subscribe on whatever app it is that you're listening on right now. We've had so many amazing conversations over the last month and we've got some huge ones on the way. I don't want to reveal too much, but Kevin Hart and Woody Harrelson are coming up real soon. Speaking of subscribing, I just want to take a second to say thank you because on Friday, the CVV clips YouTube channel hit 100,000 subscribers. That's the channel where we put the most memorable clips and moments from interviews just like this one. Actually, there's a few clips from this interview on there already. But we started the year with 25,000 subscribers and had this crazy pie-in-the-sky idea of trying to double that by the end of the year, trying to be at 50,000 subscribers by December 31st.

And, well, you guys, you guys obviously had other people. plans because we went from 25,000 to 100,000 in like five months. So I just want to say I appreciate you. I'm assuming that you're already subscribed on the Chris Van Vlead channel, the main channel, and also the Clips channel. But I just want to say, thank you. Without you, none of this is possible. So just thank you for being on this journey with me. Speaking of that, let's journey into this interview. It's such a good one. Please welcome the one, the only. Chris Hemsworth. I have not met a Chris yet that I don't like.

Right? Get ready. Get ready. Uh-oh. I'd like to wish you a happy early Father's Day. Thank you. When is it? It's this Sunday.

Is it? Yeah, what does Father's Day look like in the Hemsworth household? It varies. You know, my kids are, my boys eight, my daughter's nine. I guess now that they're at the age where it should look like something, it should look like breakfast in bed, you know, let me go for a surf, have some space. But I'm sure they'll make it all about them. How nice was it?

I was making them for a surf, making them breakfast. How nice was it being in Australia to film this? I was fantastic. We're right in amongst the sort of COVID, you know, heavily restricted lockdowns and so on. People were shooting. I spoke to a lot of people in the film industry wanted to go to work, or every sort of sitting around.

But if we were going to do something, it had to be contained and set on three or four sound stages. And this film came up and hour from my house. And it was fantastic. We shot, what would have taken, I think, normally two or three months, we shot it in about four or five weeks. And it was so much fun.

We shot it like you would, you know, if you were shooting a piece of theatre, Everything was sort of staged and set up weeks in advance. We knew every little piece of the set and where we were going to move and what the camera angles were. Once we got on set, we just powered through it. It was cool. But here's the thing. You're in Australia.

You're home in Australia doing this and you're doing an American accent. How easy is it to slip into that American accent? It's a lot of work. You know, when I lived in America, lived in L.A. for 10 years, I was around the accent a lot. I was immersed in a much easier sort of time sort of switching. And since I've lived in Australia and been playing Thor mostly and doing, you know, sort of mid-Atlantic accent, if you will, I haven't done American for a while. And so I worked really hard on this with the voice dialects coach called Jim Monick.

And just became kind of obsessed about it. And we listened to endless tape of people we thought resonated with us and had the same sort of vocal quality that we wanted the character to have. And it's just a repetition, immersion over and over and over. And then you get to a point where you don't think about it anymore, and then you can concentrate on the actual performance. I'm a huge pro wrestling fan. I was so excited when I heard you were going to be Hulk Hogan,

the 24-inch pythons, brother. Is this still happening? Maybe. You know, Todd Phillips is busy doing, I think, Joker, too, I believe. And I've been off doing, you know, other films. and yeah, it's all in conversations and in development and like a lot of things. There's, you know, a lot, a lot of different things need to come together for it to happen. But I don't have 24-inch pythons.

Yet. Yet. Yet. So many of people, so many of the characters in this film are in Spider-Head because of one moment that happened in their life, one defining moment. I'm so curious for you, Chris. What's that one role for you that's taken things? to that next level in your career? Star Trek, I think, really kicked it off.

Thor is the obvious sort of next step and advancement, but I was in LA, had done a couple of smaller things, and then Star Trek came along, and I remember being called into JJ Abrams' office and read opposite him the scene and had no idea really what the film was going to be. Shot it, forgot about it, and then it came out and got all this attention,

And that's what got me back in the room on the four auditions and sort of, you know, started off that journey. So both Ken Branner and JJ Abrams, I owe a lot to. And look at you now. And like I stand by what I said at the start. I have not met a Chris that I don't like. So Mr. Hemsworth, I appreciate your time. Thank you so much. Thanks, mate.

Great to talk to you. Yeah, thank you for always being so kind. You too. You too. Thank you, mate. you go, my friends. Isn't he awesome? And like I said, I have yet to meet a Chris that I don't like. So big thank you to Chris Hemsworth for joining us for this mini interview, this mini view, as I've been calling them, and make sure to check out his new movie Spiderhead on Netflix beginning this

Friday, June 17th. I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that you have a Chris Hemsworth fan or two in your life, so please share this episode with them and take a screenshot, tag us both on social media at Chris Hemsworth, at Chris Van Fleet. And I'll leave you with this great quote from Amelia Earhart, who said, A single act of kindness throws out roots in all directions. And the roots spring up and make new trees. So go out there and make some new trees this week. Be great.

Be grateful. We will see you on the next one for some more insight. Jim Rome takes on sports. Why? Because I have a job to do. With rapid-fire takes. So I don't want to hear from you lava pigs on this notion today. No idea what you're talking about.

You're complaining more than you like to breathe air. It's like you get up in the morning only to complain and cry and moan on social media about things that you don't even understand. He's the spitfire of sports smack. Take advantage of it. Get up in here. The Jim Rome Show podcast. What's your beef? Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

You've been warned.