In an ideal world, every successful actor would have the luxury of choosing the movies and shows they star in based solely on their passion for the project. In reality, however, there are a lot of other things that go into most actor’s decision-making process. For example, a lot of actors have appeared in big-budget movies that didn’t excite them simply because they thought it would advance their careers.

In addition to career considerations, one of the main things actors tend to think about when deciding whether or not to take on a role is how much they will be paid to be a part of it. Unfortunately, some of the time when actors take on roles mainly for financial reasons, their performance in the project suffers as they lack passion. Despite that, it is really hard to blame actors for their focus on their financial concerns. After all, everyone needs money to get by and some actors are forced into roles after finding themselves in dire straits.

In addition to some older stars who seem to appear in any movie that will pay them due to their poor financial decisions, a lot of young performers are desperate for their next paycheque. For example, there are reports that Chris Hemsworth had a lot of money concerns before he began playing Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, the reasons for Hemsworth’s money worries are more altruistic than you may assume.

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A Major Movie Star

When most people think about the biggest movie stars in the world today, there is a very good chance that several Marvel Cinematic Universe actors will quickly come to mind. After all, the MCU is the highest-grossing film franchise in history and many of the actors that have starred in the series have become beloved.

Easily among the most popular MCU actors, Chris Hemsworth’s huge physique has helped audiences buy into his portrayal of Thor and his likable energy makes moviegoers root for him. With that in mind, is it any wonder that Hemsworth has starred in seven MCU movies to date? In addition to Hemsworth’s Marvel movies, he has starred in several other notable films, including Bad Times at the El Royale and Extraction.

Related: Chris Hemsworth's Best Movies According To IMDb

Early Money Concerns

During a 2019 Variety interview, Chris Hemsworth talked about why he decided to pursue a career in acting, to begin with. While most movie stars may want to make it seem like the sole reason for their career is a love for acting, Hemsworth was willing to admit that he also had an eye on his money. “A big reason I started acting was because I loved film and TV, but it was like we had no money.” Instead of talking about his desire to lead a glamorous life, Hemsworth revealed that the reason he wanted riches was to help his parents. “I wanted to pay off their house, initially. That was my sort of thing.”

Even though it is awesome that Chris Hemsworth wanted to give his parents a good life, it ultimately hurt his career early on. “I almost put too much pressure on myself. If I hadn’t taken it upon myself to take care of my family, I might have been more relaxed.” Fortunately, early in Hemsworth’s career, he landed a starring role in the Australian soap opera Home and Away which lasted from 2004 to 2007. Since Hemsworth was making good money at that time, it helped put his financial anxiety to rest for a while.

Related: 20 Facts That Have Recently Come To Light About Chris Hemsworth

Starting All Over Again

After Chris Hemsworth left his first starring role in the Australian soap opera Home and Away, he struggled to catch his next big break. During the aforementioned Variety interview, Hemsworth talked about that time in his life and the financial anxiety that became a big part of his life as a result.

“Things were not going good. I’d stopped getting callbacks, and I was getting worse feedback. I thought, ‘God, why did I do this?’” “I got very close to ‘GI Joe’. I got very close to Gambit in the Wolverine ‘X-Men’ movies. At the time I was upset. I was running out of money.” Of course, nobody wants to be worried about how they are going to pay their bills, especially if they have taken it upon themselves to provide for others. Ultimately, however, in retrospect, Chris Hewmsowth realizes that missing out on those toles was a great thing for him. “If I played either of those characters, I wouldn’t have been able to play Thor.”

These days, Chris Hemsworth has nothing to worry about financially as celebritynetworth.com estimates that he is worth $130 million as of the time of this writing. Unsurprisingly, that makes Hemsworth one of the wealthiest Marvel Cinematic Universe stars.

Next: 'MCU': Which Avenger Actor Was Paid The Highest Salary?