Chris Hemsworth has shared an update on his health following the discovery that he is genetically predisposed to Alzheimer’s disease.
The National Geographic documentary, Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember, follows the Avengers star as he goes on a motorbike journey across Australia with his father, Craig Hemsworth, who has been diagnosed with early-stage Alzheimer's.
The cross-country trip isn’t just about sightseeing; it's also an effort to spark the 42-year-old's dad’s memory by returning to places from their past.
“We know that revisiting past experiences by talking to someone about it,” Dr. Suraj Samtani explains in the film, per USA Today, "even using objects from the past or places from the past is a great way to boost our cognition.”
And for Hemsworth, the mission hit close to home in more ways than one.
'This has become a very prominent conversation in my world'
Three years ago, the Thor actor discovered he carries two copies of the APOE4 gene, which puts him at a higher risk of developing Alzheimer's himself.
That revelation came during a genetic test for his National Geographic series Limitless, and while it’s not a diagnosis, the knowledge changed the way he looks at life.
“This has become a very prominent conversation in my world, because I also have two copies of the gene that puts me in a higher-risk category for Alzheimer's,” he said in A Road Trip to Remember. “But it's not a problem at this point, and it may never be. So I'm far more focused on my dad right now.”
Speaking to his mother Leonie during the film, Hemsworth shared a desire to stay grounded in the present. “I feel like it’s too far off, hopefully,” he said. “I'd rather just continue on with life.”
It’s not the first time the actor has addressed the news publicly. Back in April, Hemsworth spoke to Vanity Fair about how headlines had twisted his health journey into something it wasn’t.
“It really kind of pissed me off because it felt like I had been vulnerable with something personal and shared this,” he told the outlet. “No matter how much I said: ‘This is not a death sentence,’ the story became that I have dementia and I’m reconsidering life and retiring and so on.”
'It was pretty shocking because he called me up and he told me'
In a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, Hemsworth opened up about the moment he learned the news during filming.
“They took all my bloodwork and did a bunch of tests, and the plan was to on-camera tell me all the results and then talk about how you can improve this and that,” he explained.
But longevity expert Dr. Peter Attia, who was overseeing the episode, didn’t feel right dropping that kind of bombshell on film.
“Peter Attia... called [show creator] Darren [Aronofsky] and said: ‘I don’t want to tell him this on camera. We need to have an off-side conversation and see if he even wants this to be in the show,’” Hemsworth recalled. “It was pretty shocking because he called me up and he told me.”
He hadn’t expected such “intense” news, after all, the series was supposed to be a fun deep dive into health and longevity.
“It was a really good catalyst to dive into everything I needed to be doing in either the prevention front or the management front,” Hemsworth added.
A blast from the past for the Hemsworths
One of the most striking scenes in the documentary takes place inside a recreation of the Hemsworth family's old Melbourne home.
The art department transformed it to match its original '90s vibe, complete with VHS tapes, a vintage computer, and even an answering machine.
The Extraction 2 actor, appearing on the tapes as a crocodile hunter in khaki shorts, couldn’t believe the accuracy.
But the nostalgia hit Craig differently as while the familiarity sparked moments of joy, his confusion and repeated questions about when Leonie would arrive deeply concerned his son.
“I think I'm struggling with wondering, 'Is this going to get better?'” Chris admitted.
Leonie echoed those worries: “As a partner, it’s difficult because I want him to still be the person he was, and I want the relationship - I want that relationship,” she said. “Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night, and it can be quite terrifying to think where it's all going.”
Despite the emotional weight, Craig found some peace in the experience. “It’s very satisfying recognizing stuff that I hadn’t thought about for a long while,” he said, even as he acknowledged it felt “strange” to be back in a staged version of his old home.
Dr. Samtani reminds viewers that anyone can try this type of memory therapy.
“It can be as simple as listening to old songs together, looking at old photos together or playing home movies and enjoying them together,” he said.