CNN
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Chris Hemsworth He embarked on a personally and physically demanding journey for his new series, Limitless, which ultimately led to a sobering discovery.
The 39-year-old “Thor” actor explores ways to extend life and combat aging in one episode of the exclusive Disney+/National Geographic series. I learned that he has his two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from each of his parents. , which means he is more prone to developing Alzheimer’s disease.
“They did all my blood work and ran a battery of tests. The plan was to give me all the results on camera and then talk about how to improve this and that,” Hemsworth shared. Did vanity fair In an article published Thursday. “And Peter Attia, who was the long-lived doctor in that episode and had directed much of the show, [“Limitless” creator] Darren [Aronofsky] And I said, ‘I don’t want to talk to him about this on camera. was quite a shock.”
Upon learning of the news, Hemsworth said, “I had a lot of questions,” later saying, “I really didn’t know what to think.” ?
He also said that the show “became even more relevant and important to me, and even more poignant than I thought it would be”, adding that APOE4 “is not the pre-deterministic gene, but it is It’s a strong signal. Ten years ago, I think it was considered more of a determining factor.”
The new information, which said Hemsworth was “eight to ten times more likely” to eventually develop Alzheimer’s disease, led him to naturally think about death and his own.
“There was an intensity to navigating it. Most of us would like to avoid talking about death in the hope that we can somehow avoid it,” he told Vanity Fair. “We all have this belief that we’ll figure it out. And suddenly I was told that some big metrics really point to this.”
“Limitless” shows Marvel stars engaging in various stunts and practices to extend and improve their lifespans, but actually faces death in the final episode.
“I think that’s my favorite episode, where I work with death doulas, people in palliative care and end-of-life care, and then a lot of people who are nearing the end of their lives, or cancer. I spoke to young people who were diagnosed with it, and people who had to deal with them, and they didn’t live long,” he said.
“Doing an episode about death and facing my own mortality, I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m not ready to go yet,'” he later added. I want to sit in that space of leverage, and you start talking about your kids and your family and you’re like, “Oh my god, they’re getting older and growing. I keep hitting another movie on top of another.” At some point they turned 18 and left home, so I missed the window. ”
In preparing for the show’s broadcast, Hemsworth also said: [his discovered genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s],” But the prospect of helping others helped him overcome his hesitation.
“No, if this motivates people to take better care of themselves and realize there are steps they can take, I thought that would be great.” , I didn’t want to over-dramatize it or turn it into some kind of corny grab for sympathy and entertainment.
Hemsworth recently made his fourth solo appearance as the MCU’s God of Thunder in this summer’s Thor: Love and Thunder, but will next appear in another sequel, next year’s Extraction 2. intend to do something. He’s also ending his yet-to-be-revealed role in 2024’s ‘Furiosa’, set in the ‘Mad Max’ universe.