Chris Hemsworth is reportedly stepping away from Hollywood film roles after learning that he is genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease.
The 39-year-old Australian actor has no plans to retire anytime soon, but he is slowing down after learning that he is genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease.
Hemsworth is currently working on four projects, including an upcoming Avengers sequel in which he reprises his role as Thor and an untitled biopic about wrestling legend Hulk Hogan.
A source told Page Six his schedule is looking clear beyond these films.
‘He doesn’t plan to take on many roles because of [learning about his high risk for] Alzheimer’s,’ an insider told the publication.
The former Home and Away star told Vanity Fair in November he’s ‘not talking about retiring by any means,’ but taking ‘a more curated approach to things’.
In the same interview, Hemsworth revealed that he is at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease as a result of filming a confronting episode about death for his Disney+ docuseries Limitless.
He learned that he is ‘between eight and ten times’ more likely to develop Alzheimer’s than the general population after having bloodwork done for the program, because he is one of only two to three percent of people who have two copies of the gene APOE4.
‘Yeah, there was an intensity to navigating it,’ he said.
‘Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death in the hope that we’ll somehow avoid it.’
The former Home and Away star added: ‘We all have this belief that we’ll figure it out. Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in. Your own mortality.’