Chris Hemsworth regrets sharing his Alzheimer’s predisposition due to public misinterpretation of his vulnerability.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, the 40-year-old Australian actor expressed regret at being so personal with the public, only to have it blow up in his face.
He said the reaction to him taking a step away from acting to focus on his health wasn’t what he expected.
Hemsworth, who appears as the cover star for the publication’s May issue, told the outlet, “It really kind of pissed me off because it felt like I had been vulnerable with something personal and shared this.”
“No matter how much I said, ‘This is not a death sentence,’ the story became that I have dementia and I’m reconsidering life and retiring and so on,” he continued, explaining that he hasn’t quit Hollywood.
A small part of him still kept his sense of humour about it all, though, noting that he did read a really funny comment at the bottom of one article: “I hope Chris forgets he’s retiring and comes back”.
In a November 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, while working on his National Geographic docuseries, Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, the actor revealed he underwent genetic testing and learned he has a greater chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease
The star found out he has two copies of the gene APOE4, which is linked to an increased risk of the disease. As a result, he is eight to 10 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s in the future.
It was reported a year later that Hemsworth was focusing more on “mindfulness work” and “making time for stillness” as he took a brief hiatus from acting. This then led news outlets and gossip mongers to go down the rabbit hole with headlines claiming he was retiring from Hollywood altogether.
However, the Thor actor swatted those rumours aside in June 2023, explaining that he went on a break because he was “exhausted, and I wanted to be home with my family.”
“It was interesting, because those two headlines got coupled together, that I was taking time off because of the genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s,” he told Entertainment Weekly at the time. “That experience and that show [Limitless] made me go, ‘Oh wow, none of us are invincible.’ It kind of slams you into the moment.”
“You start asking bigger questions, and you think, ‘I need to slow down and just experience this moment now and not have the years race by,’ ” continued Hemsworth, who currently lives with his wife, Elsa Pataky, and their three children in Byron Bay in New South Wales, Australia.
He added, “It was a positive in that sense, but it got a little over-dramatized, like I was potentially retiring because of this thing. Which just isn’t the case.”
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder characterised by a decline in cognitive function, memory loss, and behavioral changes. It is the most common cause of dementia among older adults, affecting millions worldwide.
Symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease typically start gradually and worsen over time. Early signs may include difficulty remembering recent events or conversations, challenges in problem-solving and decision-making, confusion about time or place, and changes in mood or personality. As the disease progresses, individuals may experience severe memory loss, disorientation, difficulty speaking and swallowing, and ultimately a loss of independence.
While genetic factors play a role in Alzheimer’s risk, lifestyle factors such as diet, exercise, and social engagement also influence the likelihood of developing the disease.
“There was an intensity to navigating it,” Hemsworth said to Vanity Fair in 2022.
“Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death in the hope that we’ll somehow avoid it. 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.”
In his recent interview, Hemsworth didn’t clarify his plans for retirement, but it sounds like he’s still got some x-factor left in him.
