Chris Hemsworth owes his entire career to being cast as the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Thor, and while it’s impossible to imagine anyone else playing the role he’s made his own after a decade wielding Mjolnir, a disastrous first audition almost took him out of the running entirely.
New book The Story of Marvel Studios: The Making of the Marvel Cinematic Universe via CBR reveals that he blew his first chance at the part so badly he wasn’t even in the conversation anymore, with the studio viewing Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam and his Hemsworth’s own brother Luke as the three primary candidates.
However, writer Craig Kyle explains that not only was an illness behind the actor’s subpar first shot at the God of Thunder, but working on his Asgardian accent also put him in the path of Elsa Pataky, and the couple have now been married for eleven years, welcoming three children.
“Chris was sick at the time, and we didn’t know that. It was meant to be. Chris had a vocal coach that helped him with his accent. She was working with another [Pataky] and said, ‘Oh, I think you guys would hit it off splendidly. So Thor brought Chris lots of good things.”
Hemsworth’s second audition was recorded by his mom on her cellphone, before he blew everyone at Marvel Studios away when it proved good enough to land him a screen test. From both a personal and professional standpoint, Thor is the gift that just keeps on giving for the Australian star, with next year’s Love and Thunder marking his thirteenth different MCU project.
