Chris Hemsworth has no regrets about leaving Los Angeles to return to his Australian hometown with his family.
During Monday’s episode of the Smartless podcast, the Avengers star said that making the move across the globe was the “greatest decision” he’s made, reflecting on the downsides that came from living in the city of angels.
“It was right around the time my boys were born, and it was just, we kind of were set up in L.A. and not enjoying it, you know?” he said, referring to his twin boys, Sasha and Tristan, 11, whom he shares with his wife, Elsa Pataky. The couple also shares a daughter named India Rose, 13. “Like nothing was shooting there. We were filming kind of everywhere else.”
He added: “And then… you’d come home and paparazzi and all the sort of the trappings of, you know, living in that space.”
Hemsworth and Spanish model Pataky moved their family onto a “big farm” in Australia. The Thor actor explained how different his current situation feels, especially with his children having more opportunities to be outside and in nature.
“You know, when you come back from work, you wanna go on a holiday? Like coming home for me is — it feels like a holiday. We have a big farm and horses and motorbikes and surf,” he said.
In 2014, the family moved to Byron Bay on the northern New South Wales coast. They originally purchased a $7 million estate, which was reconstructed into a mansion consisting of six bedrooms, a media room, gym, spa and game room.
Hemsworth’s two brothers, Liam and Luke Hemsworth, have also both purchased homes in Australia, which has only brought more attention to the region.
The Crime 101 actor went on to note the similarities with his own upbringing alongside his brothers, explaining that the games they played outdoors first ignited his passion for acting.
“We lived about 20 minutes from, like, the main sort of suburban areas in Melbourne up in the hills,” Hemsworth said. “And the nearest neighbor was a kilometer or two away.”
“It was just all bushland and rainforest sort of set up around us,” he added. “And so we would just [have] … adventures outdoors and playing different characters. And I think that’s, to be honest, where the sort of intrigue or interest in that transportation into another.”
Hemsworth is one of the many actors who have opened up about leaving Los Angeles. Last month, Joe Manganiello and his fiancée, Caitlin O’Connor, spoke to Fox News Digital about why they made the move from the Golden State to Pennsylvania.
“The crime in Los Angeles is at an all-time high,” O’Connor said. “We were thinking about it for a long time, and the right house happened to come up. We went to look at it in Pittsburgh, and it was perfect for us.”
“Also, L.A. is no longer the entertainment capital of the world,” she continued, noting to the publication that auditions no longer take place in Hollywood.
“For the most part, everything is on Zoom. A lot of premieres happen in New York. There are studios being built in New Jersey, and things are moving overseas. Many projects are being filmed overseas, even by professionals who have worked in L.A. on set their whole lives. The industry has moved. It’s no longer there.”
