Chris Hemsworth Clarifies Why He Is Taking a Break from Movies: 'I Have Three Kids'

Chris Hemsworth’s plans to step back from acting were inspired by a desire to spend more time with his children, and not by a genetic test that showed he has a high chance of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

“It all got a little sort of blown out of proportion,” the Extraction 2 star, 39, told Entertainment Tonight Wednesday.

"I wanted to take off because I've been working for 10 years, and I've got three kids that I want to spend more time with."

Hemsworth previously told Vanity Fair he wanted to step back from making movies after he saw the results of a genetics test he took for the Disney+ series Limitless. While filming an episode about death, he learned his risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease was eight to 10 times higher than most because he inherited copies of APOE4 (the apolipoprotein E gene) from his mother and father.

"Doing that show, each episode resonated in such a way that made me realize how life is just flying by, and I wanted to be still for long periods and more often," Hemsworth told Entertainment Tonight of Limitless.

He added: "The information about the predisposition... allowed me to make all the changes... whether it be nutrition, my training, my mental fitness, which is the point of the series. The whole point for me was to give people access to tools, knowledge, and information on how to live a better, longer, healthier life."

The Thor: Love and Thunder star turns 40 on Aug. 11 and feels “healthier” than ever, but he still plans to be more selective when it comes to picking his next set of films. "I wanna be more curated about the choices I make, things I immerse myself in or I'm involved in. I want to have greater value and work with great people,” he explained.

Hemsworth and his wife Elsa Pataky are parents to twin sons Sasha and Tristan, 9, and daughter India, 11. The kids were on the set of Extraction 2 with their father and wanted to jump into the movie. 

“My kids love it, my kids love it,” the award-winning actor told PEOPLE at the Extraction 2 premiere in New York City Monday. "My kids were there on set a lot to see this stuff. And they wanted to jump in front of the camera and participate."

Hemsworth told Vanity Fair in November 2022 that he was concerned that making several movies would lead to fewer opportunities to spend time with his children. 

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“Doing an episode on death and facing your own mortality made me go, ‘Oh God, I'm not ready to go yet,’ ” he told the magazine. “I want to sit and be in this space with a greater sense of stillness and gratitude. And then you start talking about kids and family and going, ‘Oh my God, they're getting older. They're growing up and I keep slapping another movie on top of another movie.’ Before you know it, they're 18 and they've moved out of the house, and I missed the window.”

Extraction 2 is streaming on Netflix Friday.