Who is Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth was born August 11, 1983 at Melbourne, Australia. When Chris was five years old, he and his family lived for a year in an aboriginal community in Australia's Northern Territory, and returned again five years later.

His family moved south of Melbourne at Phillip Island. An avid surfer, Chris excelled at sports while at Heathmont Secondary College in Melbourne, particularly hurdles, and he also enjoyed water polo and football (soccer to North Americans).

He also picked up the guitar, which he plays in his spare time. Chris's older and younger brothers Luke and Liam Hemsworth, are also actors.

In 2002, Chris Hemsworth landed the role of King Arthur in Guinevere Jones, appearing for two episodes.

Following that, Hemsworth had a guest shot on Marshall Law, a short-lived series about two sisters who were lawyers.

Another one episode appearance in 2004 was for Fergus McPhail, starring Sean Ohlendorf as a teenager who had a clone of himself that no one else saw.

At this point, Hemsworth was ready to try for a regular role and auditioned for long-running soap opera Home and Away.

Home And Away is an Australian soap opera that will soon celebrate it's 22 year on the air. The series initially focused on a couple who ran a trailer park that took in a succession of foster children and adopted one girl (Kate Ritchie).

Several eventual stars had roles on the series, including Heath Ledger (The Patriot, Brokeback Mountain, The Dark Knight), Isla Fisher (The Wedding Crashers), Melissa George (Triangle - with Hemsworth's brother Liam), Julian McMahon (Nip/Tuck, as Doctor Doom in the Fantastic Four movies), Dannii Minogue (famous singer, and sister of the luscious Kylie), and Guy Pearce (L.A. Confidential, Memento).

While in Melbourne, Hemsworth originally auditioned for the role of Robbie Hunter which eventually went to Jason Smith.

The show's producers must have liked the young actor because he was called back to play the part of Kim Hyde. Hemsworth did up until 2007 and appeared on Home and Away for 172 episodes, winning a large following of female fans as Kim Hyde, the son of Summer Bay's new principal.

At that time Hemsworth moved to Sydney he was quoted about living in Sydney that "it is still like a holiday but as time goes by I will settle in more, but Melbourne will always be home," he said of the move. He spent some time exploring Sydney searching out the best places to surf.

Chris said his character Kim wasn't a bad kid, he "has been there and done it all before and moved to so many schools. He knows he won't be in one place for too long so doesn't go out of his way to make new friends or caring about the impression he leaves. Kim basically has the attitude of taking it as it comes."

In 2005 he won a Logie Award as The Most Popular Male Talent for his work on Home and Away during his first year on the show. Chris gave credit to the show for the success he had been receiving, "Home and Away is consistent work for me and a great experience. It is so fast paced and basically it will allow me to learn a lot a lot about the industry," he said at the time.

"I get along with everyone because they are such a good bunch of people and I am learning a lot and having a ball. I am still learning about the character but getting a good grip on it all." The following year, Hemsworth was nominated for another Logie, this time as The Most Popular Actor, but lost out on that one.

Around this time Hemsworth began dating his Home and Away co-star Isabel Lucas who played Tasha Andrews for over 500 episodes. Their relationship ended in 2006. Isabel is currently living in Los Angeles, and had a role in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen as well as other films in 2009.

She will also be in the upcoming re-make of Red Dawn playing Erica (played by Lea Thompson in the original). Chris Hemsworth takes on the Patrick Swayze role of Jed, leader of the rebellious Wolverines. Interesting that the pair's path will cross again in Hollywood.

Here's a good picture of the three Hemsworth brothers: Luke (left), Chris (center) and Liam (right).

Luke Hemsworth, who is the oldest, appeared for several episodes of Neighbours in 2001-2002 as Nathan Tyson before doing appearances in The Saddle Club and Blue Heelers in 2003. He went to do several other shows, returning to Neighbours in 2008 with his younger brother Liam, born 1990, who was on the show for 25 episodes from 2007-2008.Luke recently was in Tangle, described as a "gritty Australian drama following the lives of half a dozen families."

Liam Hemsworth has found some success in the movies with a role in Triangle in 2009, as well as Will Blakelee, Miley Cyrus' love interest in The Last Song. Liam and Cyrus are reportedly dating following filming and spent New Years in Australia where Cyrus met the rest of the Hemsworth clan.

The latest news about Hemsworth's upcoming movie, THOR, is that Stuart Townsend, who was supposed to play Fandral, one of Thor's allies, has quit the film over "creative differences." Townsend, who quit Lord of The Rings (and was replaced as Aragorn by Viggo Mortensen), will therefore miss out on being a cast member of another blockbuster. Joshua Dallas has stepped into Townsend's place.

Actress Rene Russo has been cast to play Frigga, wife of Odin (Sir Anthony Hopkins), and the step-mother of Hemsworth's Thor character. As well as Russo, Hopkins, and of course Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman recently agreed to appear in the movie as Jane Foster.

Also cast are Tom Hiddleston as Loki, as well as Joshua Dallas, Ray Stevenson, and Tadanobu Asano who have all signed on as Thor's Warriors Three. Also, Kat Dennings will appear as a co-worker of Portman's character. Kenneth Branagh has been tapped as the director for the film which is scheduled for release mid-2011.