Saturday, May 16, 2009

Chris Hemsworth to play Thor



Don't know who he is? You can catch him as George Kirk in the new Star Trek movie. Thor's director Kenneth Branagh has chosen Australian actor, Chris Hemsworth to be Thor. Hemsworth's casting is one of those rare and amazing Hollywood stories:

Ward [partner and co-founder of William Ward's ROAR management who reps Hemsworth] had found Chris during one of the manager's many scouting trips to Australia. Ward brought him to Los Angeles and really put him out there to casting directors and production executives.

Chris had read for the part of Thor but wasn't given a test because a casting director had nixed him early on. I'm told Chris' younger brother Liam (who's also a ROAR client) then tested for the role of Thor, but Marvel's Kevin Feigy passed. That's when Ward called up Feigy and said, "You've got to reconsider Chris. He's your guy." So Feigy let Chris read again. And once Marvel put him on tape, it was "Oh my god". Branagh came to town last week and saw the Chris test and made the final decision today.


What a week for Chris since, on Thursday, he just got cast as the Red Dawn lead. Brother Liam, who's only been in Los Angeles for 3 weeks and doesn't even have an agent yet, just got cast the male lead in Last Song opposite Miley Cyrus in the Disney film based on the Nicholas Sparks novel. Both brothers live in William Ward's guest house. Unreal! [Nikki Finke]

It is unreal, considering all the supposed frontrunners for the role. Everyone from Charlie Hunnam to Alexander Skarsgård had been suggested for Thor. I had initially been rooting for Hunnam, and I still think he would make a great Thor. But after seeing Hemsworth's brief, but memorable, and rather touching performance in Star Trek, I can't help but feel happy for the guy.


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