Now the question would seem to be: “Who’s this guy playing THOR?”
According to Nikki Finke, the answer is 25-year-old Aussie actor Chris Hemsworth. Not exactly a household name (yet), but he should seem somewhat familiar to anyone who saw STAR TREK, since he (as Jim Tiberius Kirk’s pop George) took command of the USS Kelvin in the opening moments of that film.
Finke says that Hemsworth (and his kid bro Liam) blew into Hollywood recently and got snubbed by the major talent firms before ROAR Management scooped him up, and then got him a test for the mighty Asgardian son of Odin. Marvel and director Kenneth Branagh were clearly impressed enough to have him wield Mjolnir. Seems a good physical match for the role, and no doubt someone of Branagh’s caliber would’ve passed unless the kid could act.
The planets obviously aligned for the Hemsworths — Chris also just landed the lead role in the superfluous RED DAWN remake (he’ll also appear in David Twohy’s thriller A PERFECT GETAWAY and Joss Whedon’s horror flick A CABIN IN THE WOODS), and his brother Liam (who also read for THOR) now has parts in Miley Cyrus’ LAST SONG and Sly’s THE EXPENDABLES.
Branagh’s THOR movie should begin filming late this year or early next, with a release slotted for May 20, 2011.