Chris Hemsworth is taking a break from acting after learning that he has a heightened risk of developing Alzheimer's.
The "Thor" star made the discovery recently while undergoing tests for his new Disney+/National Geographic series "Limitless," which explores ways to enhance his longevity. Hemsworth learned that he has two copies of the APOE4 gene, one from each of his parents, which makes him eight to 10 times more likely to develop the disease.
Speaking with Vanity Fair, Hemsworth said the test results confirmed his "biggest fear." It also forced him to think about his life.
"I want to sit and be in this space with a greater sense of stillness and gratitude," he said. "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,'" he said. "Before you know it, they're 18 and they've moved out of house, and I missed the window."
Hemsworth added that the news "triggered something in me to want to take some time off."
"And since we finished the show, I've been completing the things I was already contracted to do," he said. "Now when I finish this tour this week, I'm going home and I'm going to have a good chunk of time off and just simplify. Be with the kids, be with my wife."
Elsewhere in the interview, Hemsworth confirmed that his grandfather has also been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, which Hemsworth feeling unsettled and questioning his mortality.
"Most of us, we like to avoid speaking about death in the hope that we'll somehow avoid it," he said. "We all have this belief that we'll figure it out. Then to all of a sudden be told some big indicators are actually pointing to this as the route which is going to happen, the reality of it sinks in. Your own mortality."
Zoe Papadakis ✉
Zoe Papadakis is a Newsmax writer based in South Africa with two decades of experience specializing in media and entertainment. She has been in the news industry as a reporter, writer and editor for newspapers, magazine and websites.
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