Chris Hemsworth says his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis has reshaped how he thinks about family.
On Tuesday’s episode of Jay Shetty’s “On Purpose” podcast, the actor spoke about navigating his dad’s diagnosis and filming “A Road Trip to Remember” with him, a documentary that follows their motorbike trip across Australia to revisit places from Hemsworth’s childhood.
Hemsworth first found out he carries two copies of a gene that has been linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s while filming the National Geographic longevity documentary “Limitless” in 2022.
On the podcast, Hemsworth recalled how his father first reacted when the actor learned he was at high risk for Alzheimer’s — and how things changed once his dad received his own diagnosis.
“I remember vividly that conversation of him sort of telling me not to be concerned about it. And then about two or three years later, my mom saying to me, ‘I think we’ve got to get dad checked because there’s these signs and things I’m concerned about,'” Hemsworth told Shetty.
Tests revealed that both his parents also carried two copies of the same gene, and Hemsworth said he was “immediately hit with the reality of what that meant” for his dad.
He’d pushed aside his own results as a distant concern, but seeing his dad’s diagnosis “right in front of us” was “incredibly confronting,” especially as his condition “began to get worse.”
Hemsworth said filming the documentary with his dad allowed them to have conversations that they hadn’t had before.
“He says it in the documentary, but his biggest concern was being a burden. And that was heartbreaking to hear and consider,” Hemsworth said. “And I had never even, up until we shot the documentary, I didn’t know even how he felt about it, you know, because I hadn’t asked him.”
The actor added that he was thankful for the chance to connect with his dad through the documentary, adding that it “ignited something” in his family to be more proactive, more present, and more connected because “we’re watching memories disappear in front of us.”
Hemsworth said he and his brothers also try to offload the caretaking burden from his mom, adding that his dad’s condition has prompted him to reevaluate his priorities in life.
The experience has forced him to slow down, and while he has films lined up for next year, he has “turned down a lot of things” so he can spend more time with his father, he said.
“I know I’m not going to get 10 years down the track and go, ‘I’m glad I did those extra three or four films.’ I’m going to say, ‘I wish I spent more time with him, and with my mom, and with my brothers, and my wife, my kids, and family, and friends,'” he said.
That has also reshaped his priorities as a father. Hemsworth has one daughter and twin sons with his wife, Elsa Pataky.
“It’s attention, you know, they want your presence. They want your space. They want your focus,” Hemsworth said of his kids. Regardless of the experiences and material things that money can offer, at the end of the day, kids “just want your time,” he added.
“And that for me has been terrifying at times, realizing how quick it’s gone. I think I’ll get to that, and then a year goes by, and I’ve done a couple of films or whatever and gone, ‘Oh, wow, which part of their, you know, brief childhood have I missed?'” Hemsworth said.
He added that he’s become acutely aware of how quickly his children are growing up.
“They’ve taught me a greater awareness around the importance of this moment, because their personalities change every second and every day and every week and every month, and you kind of, you’re mourning a version of that child every month because they’re gone,” he said.
Hemsworth isn’t the only Hollywood star who has spoken about navigating a loved one’s diagnosis.
In September, Emma Heming Willis said she mistook Bruce Willis’ early symptoms for marital problems, and that his dementia diagnosis later gave her clarity.
“There was relief in understanding, ‘Oh, okay, this wasn’t my husband, it was that this disease was taking parts of his brain,'” she told People. “Once you hear that, I just softened.”
In November, Jay Leno said caring for his wife amid her dementia diagnosis “isn’t work,” but simply another chapter in their life together.
“There are going to be a couple of years that are tricky. So, the first 46, really great. But it’s OK. It’s not terrible. I’m not a woe-is-me person. I’m just lucky that I am able to take care of her,” Leno told People.
