Chris Hemsworth accepting fewer acting roles after discovering Alzheimer’s risk

Chris Hemsworth has been accepting fewer acting roles than before since he discovered he has an increased risk for Alzheimer’s disease.

According to a report by entertainment portal Page Six, insiders disclosed that his schedule “is starting to look awfully clear in the not-too-distant future.” 

Page Six noted that the Aussie star has four upcoming projects including an Avengers sequel as well as a Hulk Hogan biopic. After his contacts for these, however, the source said “he doesn’t plan to take on many roles because of [learning about his high risk for] Alzheimer’s.” 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention refers to Alzheimer’s as “the most common type of dementia.” Affecting certain parts of the brain, it’s “a progressive disease beginning with mild memory loss and possibly leading to loss of the ability to carry on a conversation and respond to the environment.”

In November 2022, Vanity Fair reported that Chris will “take some time off” from work after his life-changing discovery that came while he was working on his new docuseries Limitless. 

In the National Geographic show, he went through a series of genetic tests to scan his DNA and learn “what, if anything, the future might have waiting for him.” The results, unfortunately, showed his “biggest fear”—that he’s eight to 10 times more likely to develop the disease in the future.

The actor stressed that it’s not a “hard diagnosis” of Alzheimer’s, but it’s “cause for concern.” 

“My concern was I just didn’t want to manipulate it and overdramatize it, and make it into some sort of hokey grab at empathy, or whatever, for entertainment. It’s not like I’ve been handed my resignation,” he said in the VF interview, adding that the findings “really triggered” something in him that made him “want to take some time off.”