Chris Hemsworth Nearly Lost the 'Thor' Role to His Brother Liam

In an interview with W Magazine, Chris Hemsworth reveals just how close he came to having the role of Thor snatched away from him by his own brother. After reading the breakdown for the character and noticing that the actor needed to be "over 6'3" and 200 pounds," Hemsworth's initial reaction was that this role was "the one thing that sort of fits me." After auditioning with Kenneth Branagh, Hemsworth felt like he "nailed it," but he never heard anything back.

"Months went by and then my brother, my little brother, Liam, was in Australia and sent a tape across and he got a call back, then another call back and then was down to the last kind of four or five people for it," Chris recalls. "I remember sitting in Vancouver, shooting Cabin in the Woods with Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon. Both of them were looking at the trades at this sort of top five guys for Thor and saying, ‘Why aren’t you in the mix here? What happened?’ I said, ‘I don’t know. I blew my audition I guess.’"

Chris's manager reached out once again to people casting for Thor and reminded them about Liam's older brother. Chris got a second chance at landing the role in a hotel room in Vancouver with his mom reading the part played by Anthony Hopkins. Hemsworth also came into the room with a renewed focus.

"I came in kind of with a little, I guess, motivation and maybe frustration that my little brother had gotten further than me," he admits. "It’s a little family, sibling rivalry sort of kicked up in me. Then it moved pretty quick from there."