Chris Hemsworth is a 34-year-old Australian actor who became famous for his role as Thor, the Norse God of Thunder and the Prince of Asgard, in the series of movies based on the Marvel comics. Thankfully, very soon, the new movie about Thor will be released. And according to the trailer, this film is going to surprise us in many ways. We know that Thor is going to lose his hammer (his main weapon) in the first few minutes of the movie. We also know that he's going to have his beautiful golden hair chopped off. And finally, we know that he's going to reunite with the Hulk, Loki, Valkyrie, and some other heroes to fight against Hela, the Goddess of Death.

So while we're waiting to see what other surprises this movie has in store for us, let's check what we know about the man behind its main character. 

15 His Childhood Nickname Was Kip

When Chris was a kid, he had the nickname of Kip. And it wasn't because he liked to kip down. In fact, when someone asked him what his name was, the kid would proudly reply "Kiptader." I'm guessing he couldn't say Christopher. Awww... It must have been so cute. Just look at his childhood photo and imagine this sweet boy saying, "My name is Kiptader!" #CutenessOverload.

I wonder how long his friends and family members called him Kip. Was it until little Chris learned how to pronounce his name correctly or do his parents and brothers still call him Kip once in a while? Because, you know, we remain little kids in our parents' eyes forever. Even when we grow up to the height of almost two meters and become world-famous actors...

14 His Australian Childhood

As you most likely know, Chris Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, Australia. Several years after his birth, The Hemsworths relocated to the Australian Outback in Bulman, Northern Territory. And here is what Chris had to say about his childhood; "My earliest memories were on the cattle stations up in the Outback, and then we moved back to Melbourne and then back out there and then back again. Certainly most of my childhood was in Melbourne, but probably my most vivid memories were up there in Bulman with crocodiles and buffalo. Very different walks of life."

I'm sure that little Chris was having a lot of fun with his two brothers (Luke, who is older, and Liam, who is younger). I can only imagine how much his parents had to work knowing they had three active boys roaming among buffalo and crocodiles.

13 Just A Guy From A Normal Family

Chris was born to Leonie and Craig Hemsworth. And even though all three sons became actors, they don't have any relation to the business at all. Leonie, their mother, is an English teacher, and Craig, their father, is a social services counselor.

Nowadays, the Hemsworth's spouses run the Australian Children Foundation and, as Luke Hemsworth said to Herald Sun, "They wrote a model for basically every Australian organisation so they would be able to recognize abuse and steps to follow in safeguarding children." All Hemsworth brothers are working on promoting the foundation, using their popularity to raise awareness. And when their parents turned out to have a large debt, Chris paid it off by himself. He didn't even tell his parents about his intention to do this. He just paid off the debt, called his father, and asked him to look at his bank account. Best. Son. Ever.

12 His Passion Is Surfing

Chris likes sports. He plays football and even claimed that he'd pursue the career of a football player if he didn't have an injured shoulder. However, since football is out of the question, his other passion is surfing. Considering he grew up in Australia, it's obviously why he's so fond of it.

As of today in 2017, Chris still surfs whenever he has free time. And since he is a father of three, he has spoken about wanting to teach his kids how to surf.  As soon as they're of age, of course. I'm sure that they will have a lot of fun when Chris teaches all of his children how to surf, and they can all bond through it. Talk about an unstoppable family!

11 His First Role Was King Arthur

In 2002, Chris began his acting career. His first role was in the fantasy TV series Guinevere Jones, where he played King Arthur in two episodes. It was a series about a girl who used magic to fight evil and deal with problems in school. She turned out to be the reincarnation of Guinevere, the Queen of Camelot from King Arthur's time. Even though it might seem that King Arthur should have been one of the main characters of the series, he appeared only in a couple of flashbacks.

I don't know if working for this series was the moment where Chris realized he was going to become a world-known actor, or if he had been thinking about it before that. But clearly, it was a good experience. And it was probably the first time he had to have long hair for a role.

10 His Breakthrough Was In A Soap Opera

The role of King Arthur (however strong the character could be) wasn't Chris' big break. The breakthrough followed in the year of 2004, when he got the role of Kim Hyde in a soap opera Home and Away. This is when Chris became famous in his home country.

He played in 171 episodes of the series and left the cast only in 2007.  However, it should be worth mentioning that he came back to the show in 2014, but not to play Kim Hyde — he only joined the cast as one of the extras. I wonder if anyone noticed that he was one of the characters in the background! Or did they just think something like, "Heck, what's Thor doing in Home and Away?"

Interestingly enough, this series is still on air. It has 30 seasons and over 6,o00 episodes. 

9 He Relocated To America

Apparently, the fame in his home country wasn't enough for Chris, so he moved to the United States to look for bigger roles.

In 2009, he landed his first role in Hollywood. It was J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, where Chris played George Kirk, the father of James Kirk, in the opening scenes of the film. It was right there, he proved his dramatic talent. If you haven't seen the movie or don't remember the scene, you should watch it. (I promise  it's going to have you in tears.)

After Star Trek, Chris got roles in Cabin in the Woods, Ca$h, and A Perfect Getaway. These movies didn't become extremely popular, but they allowed him to show off his acting talent. After his steady flow of movies, though, he was unemployed for eight months as he couldn't get a role in any of the movies he auditioned for. But a much greater role was waiting...

8 He Competed With His Brother A Little Bit

Before he got the role of Thor, he had to compete with his brother Liam for a little bit. Both of them auditioned for the role of the Norse God. For some time, Chris even thought that he blew his audition, but when he learned that his little brother was auditioning for the same role, he understood that he had to get it. Chris told W Magazine; "I came in kind of with a little, I guess, motivation and maybe frustration that my little brother had gotten further than me. It's a little family, sibling rivalry sort of kicked up in me." The motivation worked!

A fun fact about Chris and Thor is that Chris was born on Thursday, the same day of the week that was named after Thor! I'm telling you, this guy was destined to play this role from his birth!

7 Preparation To The Role Of Thor

...And the preparation for the role of Thor began. To have the proper physique and muscle of the Norse God, Chris had to put on 20 pounds of muscle. And even though he keeps himself in shape all the time, regardless of the movies he works for, Chris had to gain weight for every other Thor movie, too. And, of course, that includes Thor: Ragnarok. To look like the mighty God of Thunder, Chris had to follow a strict diet, consume 6,000 calories per day, and exercise six-seven times per week!

If that sounds a little crazy to you, it clearly paid off. Because now we can't imagine anyone else as Thor except for Chris Hemsworth. He killed his performance and continues to do so.

6 After Gaining Weight, He Then Had To Lose It...

It would be great to just get in shape for Thor and maintain it, instead of letting it all go to waste, only to bulk up again. But the fate doesn't work like that. Most actors have to prepare for each and every role they take. So after playing the Norse God, Chris had to get ready for his role in the movie In the Heart of the Sea (it was based on real events, by the way).

While they were filming the movie, Chris and other actors lived off only 750 calories per day to reach the state the shipwrecked seamen suffered. And since the movie was filmed in chronological order, the weight loss process looked natural. How did the actors endure all these things? As Chris replied to The Telegraph; "We kept reminding ourselves that it was nothing compared to what they suffered." What dedication!

5 He's A Family Guy

While building his career and becoming a world-known actor, Chris worked on establishing his personal life, as well. He met Elsa Pataky (you can see her in Fast and the Furious) and began dating her in 2010. Over the Christmas holidays of the same year, they got married. They show up at all the events together and demonstrate what a loving relationship is. Gosh, these two never seem to be apart, TBH. And when you look at their photos on vacation, like the one above, they just look like a normal, happy family. They don't look like a famous celebrity couple.

Chris and Elsa have three kids together: one daughter India Rose and twin sons Sasha and Tristan. It's hard not to fall in love with this man when you see what a hands on dad and husband he is. 

4 The Sexiest Man Alive

In 2014, People magazine named Chris the "Sexiest Man Alive." As if we needed further proof from them! Everyone who has eyes can see that this man is gorgeous. Thick, thin, long or short hair, Chris is hot, hot, hot!

Since Chris also has a good sense of humor, he replied to this news in an interesting way. He said; "Thank you, I'm most excited about the alive portion of that statement, and the sexy part is a bonus." And to make things even more hilarious, when he asked about his wife's reaction to the news, Chris replied; "I think you've bought me a couple of weeks of bragging rights around the house. I can just say to her, 'Now remember, this is what the people think, so I don't need to do the dishes anymore, I don't need to change nappies. I'm above that. I've made it now." #LOL

3 He Now Lives In Australia With His Family

At some point, our family guy got tired of living in Los Angeles and being followed by paparazzi everywhere he goes. So in 2014 he decided to move back to his native country and took his beloved family with him. After all, he moved to the USA to pursue the acting career and he has done enough. Now he doesn't have to live in Los Angeles to get new roles. Filmmakers who want him will find him anywhere!

So now Chris, Elsa, and their three kids live in Byron Bay, New South Wales, Australia. And you know what people say about Australia! They say that there are more animals and insects that want to kill you than anywhere else in the world. And Chris keeps on convincing us more and more on this fact by posting scary pictures of huge spiders on his Instagram. My God, this man is fearless.

2 He Likes Playing Thor

Playing the role of Thor put Chris Hemsworth into the Hollywood "A-list" and brought him world fame. So it's no surprise that he's glad that he got the role. But it's not the only reason. Chris replied to The Guardian when asked if he enjoyed the role of Thor; "Yeah, definitely. Ah look, not only because of the opportunities it's given me, but to spend that much time in a character's head and not have affection for him or empathize with him is a lot harder of a task. Yeah, there are times when you get frustrated with things, limitations about it, but you'd drive yourself crazy. I couldn't imagine a worse scenario than not enjoying this character, because it's gonna consume a good 10 years of my life."

How great is it when you love what you're doing!

1 And He Likes The Character Development Even More

Chris enjoyed the fact that his character got a new life in Thor: Ragnarok. He explained in one of his interviews; "That was our plan. To destroy him, destroy his world and everything he knows and everyone he loves, and just reinvent it" claims Chris. "He happens to be on a planet where everyone else is pretty damn powerful too. So he's kind of a regular guy in that sense. No one gives a damn if he's the prince of Asgard or whatever. It doesn't mean anything on this planet. We wanted to strip all that back and make him more relatable. I had also gotten kind of bored with how I was playing it. I wanted to do something different."

So when Chris and Taika Waititi (the film director) were working on the character, the two wanted a new start for Thor. They wanted to make Thor completely different and unique.

Are you ready to see how Thor developed and changed in the new movie? I am!