The Story of the Hemsworth Brothers Who Grew Up in the Countryside and Then Became Hollywood Stars

There are a lot of families of actors in the history of cinema. But the Hemsworth brothers are probably different from everyone else. Luke, Liam, and Chris achieved success in Hollywood, and they had to go a long way starting from soap operas and commercials. Even though the Hemsworths competed for the same roles, money and fame couldn’t separate the brothers.

We at CHEERY decided to find out how simple boys from the Australian countryside were able to climb to the top of the movie industry.

The 3 brothers grew alongside cows and crocodiles.

Craig Hemsworth with sons Chris and Luke

Luke, Chris, and Liam were born in Melbourne but when the youngest boy was 5 years old, the family moved to the Northern Territory. The parents worked at the farm to save enough money.

It was a wild place with bushes all around, and the nearest town was 4,5 hours away driving off-road.

Chris Hemsworth with his mother Leonie

The eldest brother Luke remembers that they grew up in a house of horrors. In the morning, they waved to their parents and disappeared into the nearest bushes for the entire day. The brothers went to a school that was made up of 60 aboriginal kids between the ages of five and 17 all crammed into two classrooms. There were crocodiles, buffaloes, and other creatures around the farm.

The Hemsworth family didn’t have much money.

Liam and Chris in childhood

The father of the family, Craig, was a counselor on social matters, and his wife Leonie was a school teacher. Besides that, the couple also worked in child protection services for 20 years.

It was a noble job, but it didn’t pay well. The parents had to save money all the time to pay the bills, and the boys always knew the value of money and weren’t spoiled with expensive things or gifts. Chris remembers how he spent a year saving on a surfboard and was even scared of using it because he knew how much work it took to get it.

Liam and Chris with their father, Craig

There was a time when Chris seriously considered becoming a designer. The family couldn’t afford to go to expensive clothing stores, and then Chris started ordering patterns and tried to make things for him. He did cross-stitching really well.

Luke introduced the entire team to acting.

Liam, Chris, and Luke in 2013

Chris and Luke got interested in acting in high school. At the time, the family moved to Phillip Island. At first, the eldest brother got interested in it. He even had to go to Melbourne to take classes. The drive there took 2 hours. And then he convinced Chris to try acting too.

Chris and Luke in 2005

According to their mentor Louise Talmadge, “They were all a little bit afraid of me because I’d really give them hell if they didn’t know their lines.” But hard work paid off and Chris thanked her in his Logie Award acceptance speech in 2005 for Most Popular New Talent.

Becoming famous worldwide wasn’t easy for the brothers.

Liam, Chris, and Luke in 2015

All 3 brothers started their acting careers in Australian soap operas. Even though Luke had dreamed about this job, he wasn’t sure he could do it and didn’t even plan of going to Hollywood.

More than that, he didn’t think that doing different projects would give him a steady income, so he opened his own flooring company where he sometimes invited his younger brothers to do odd jobs.

Chris Hemsworth in Star Trek

Chris had to wait 7 long years for his first breakthrough in Hollywood. When he was invited to Star Trek, he was ecstatic, and he thought that from then on, it would be easy to get good offers. But on all following auditions, he heard more refusals than “yes”. He even thought of ending his movie career.

They sometimes had to fight for the same roles.

Liam Hemsworth in The Hunger Games

The youngest brother became successful faster than Luke and Chris. Liam went to his first audition at the age of 16 and started acting at 17. Four years later, he got one of the lead roles in The Hunger Games. Another big project, a series of Marvel’s Thor movies, went to his brother Chris.

Chris Hemsworth in Thor

However, it was Liam that the producers had originally wanted for the role. Both brothers took part in the audition, and Liam got a callback, and Chris didn’t. The older brother was not only upset but also pissed.

So Chris made a second demo recording in his hotel room, and his mother read the lines of Anthony Hopkins. Apparently, competition sparked Chris’ talent because he got the part after that.

Chris Hemsworth didn’t get into the movies for the fame.

Chris Hemsworth with his mom

All 3 brothers became actors. Chris came to the movie industry for the money because he dreamed of buying his parents a house. And he did it after Thor. When he got his first big paycheck, he called his older brother and asked him to arrange a surprise for their parents. Chris transferred the money to his parent’s account, and Luke was supposed to contact their mother and ask her to check the balance.

The older brother still has tears in his eyes when he remembers his mother’s face when she saw the amount of money in her account. So Chris was able to provide for their parents.

Chris helped Luke and his family move to Los Angeles.

Luke Hemsworth with his family

The older brother’s career was not as successful as Chris’ or Liam’s. He was even going to quit acting. But the brothers have always supported each other. So Chris invited Luke as his personal coach for Thor: The Dark World.

The money he earned allowed Luke to move his entire family (he has 4 kids) to Los Angeles where his younger brothers bought him a house. In 2016, the eldest Hemsworth brother finally got a part in the successful series, Westworld.

For the Hemsworths, family comes first.

Luke Hemsworth with his wife and kids

Luke was the first of the brothers to get married. Together with his wife Samantha, they are raising son Alexandre and daughters Holly, Ella, and Harper Rose. The actor says that his children are a never-ending source of inspiration for him. There’s not a single day when he doesn’t laugh at what they do or doesn’t have fun with them.

Chris Hemsworth with his family

Chris Hemsworth met his future wife Elsa Pataky at the beginning of 2010. They liked each other so much, that they got married in December of the same year.

Now, Elsa and Chris are raising 3 children: daughter India Rose and sons Tristan and Sasha. Chris says that when they had their children, he started loving his wife even more because she’s not only a talented actress and a wonderful woman but also a great mom.

Chris Hemsworth with his wife and Liam Hemsworth with his girlfriend

After divorcing Miley Cyrus, Liam had a hard time. His family and his new girlfriend Gabriella Brooks helped him deal with the pain. Gabriella is a model, and she was also born in Australia.

Liam’s family also liked her, and they approve of his choice. Brooks has been seen in family meetings several times. The couple tries to keep the press away, but they seem to like spending time together. So Liam might be happily married soon.

The entire Hemsworth clan prefers to live far from the Hollywood fuss.

The Hemsworth family on vacation

For some time, all 3 brothers lived in Malibu. But a few years ago, they decided to move back to Australia. Chris says he wants to raise his children far from public attention and cameras. And he doesn’t want his kids to feel special only because their parents make good money.

Chris Hemsworth with his family on a camping trip

And the actor himself needed a break. He wants to spend more time at home until his sons and daughter are grown-ups. Now the Hemsworth brothers all live not far from each other and enjoy being together.

Which of these brothers do you like the most?