Chris Hemsworth: I’ll Never Do Extreme Weight Loss Roles Again

Aussie beefcake Chris Hemsworth shocked his fans earlier this year when he posted a photo of himself on Instagram looking like a shadow of his former self.

The ‘Thor’ star had slimmed down considerably to play shipwrecked sailor in Ron Howard’s Boxing Day movie ‘In The Heart of the Sea’ thanks to an extreme diet that saw him consuming just 500 calories a day.

He told Yahoo that the diet was “traumatic” and he’ll actively avoid taking roles that require similar transformations in the future.

Watch our exclusive interview with Chris Hemsworth and Ron Howard above…

“[The transformation] is elevated in the film due to the make up and prosthetic peeling skin, but it felt just as traumatic,” he says.

“Every time I read a script now with any mention of weight loss, I’m like ‘nah’. I’ve ticked that box.”

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As you can see from our video Chris is back to his Norse God-sized former self, but he says it was the mental rather than the physical toll of the weight loss that caused him the most anguish.

“It’s just the insanity which ensues from the not eating and the chemical imbalance and the mood swings. You’re just sensitive to trivial things, it’s ridiculous.”

Director Ron Howard, who adapted the film from the real-life story that inspired Herman Melville to write ‘Moby Dick’, says despite his actors’ diet-induced mood swings they all remained professional on set.

“These people were so self-disciplined,” says Howard, “Or self-regulatory, maybe coming from Chris [Hemsworth] and Cillian [Murphy] and Ben Walker, that leadership was just there by example.”

“I expected fist fights, I expected people to show up late, or to refuse to do something, and then I’d have to come in and do that job as a director, but I didn’t. I could concentrate on making the movie, creating an environment where they could excel, despite the physical and logistical challenges they were dealing with.”

‘In The Heart of the Sea’ is coming to UK cinemas on Boxing Day.

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Image credits: Warner Bros/Instagram