‘Never again’: Hemsworth faces more fears in return of Limitless
The 41-year-old confronts more of his deepest fears as he again explores how to live longer, healthier and better – and reveals the stunt that TV executives ruled out.
Source: Disney+
Australian star Chris Hemsworth has again traded Thor’s hammer for science and more than a few extreme challenges as his Limitless show returns.
In the second season of the National Geographic series, 41-year-old confronts more of his deepest fears as he again explores how to live longer, healthier and better – and reveals the stunt that Disney+ executives ruled out.
“The first season almost killed me,” Hemsworth told the BBC this week.
“I thought, ‘never again’.”
And yet he’s back for more “torture” because of a burning curiosity to “ask bigger and deeper questions” about ageing and the meaning of life.
“It was exhausting but also profoundly rewarding,” he said.
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“But now I do have more questions rather than answers.”
In the first season of Limitless, Hemsworth performed extreme physical and mental challenges – including free diving, fasting, stress training and walking along a crane 275 metres above the ground – designed to push him to the edge.
Famously, he had his “biggest fear” confirmed in the fifth episode, titled “Memory”.
Hemsworth, who did genetic testing for the show, learned he is eight to 10 times more likely than the average person to develop Alzheimer’s disease, a form of dementia.
“The idea that I won’t be able to remember the life I experienced, or my wife, my kids, is probably my biggest fear,” he said in the episode.
Ahead of the release of the second series, he reflected further on the confronting discovery.
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“That warning sign was further motivation to take care of myself,” Hemsworth said.
“It also felt like a great opportunity to offer up education and a better understanding for people navigating it as Alzheimer’s is something a lot of people face.”
In the three episodes of Limitless‘s second season, Hemsworth tests himself again, and not just physically. He joins singer Ed Sheeran to learn to play the drums and climbs a soaring dam in the Swiss Alps – but only because another extreme feat was ruled out.
“I was going to attempt to surf a 40-foot (12-metre) wave and train with big wave specialists, but we couldn’t get it through the ranks. The risk assessment, basically, was too far gone, so I ended up climbing a 200-metre dam wall,” Hemsworth told The Hollywood Reporter.
“They both have a fair amount of risk attached to them, but [the dam climb] got past the risk assessment team. So there definitely was [concern from above]: ‘No, we need him to go off and shoot Thor next. We can’t have him drown while filming a big wave episode’.”
Ultimately, Hemsworth said, no one had yet figured out how to cheat death. And we’re unlikely to, so “we have to embrace death”.
“Suffering comes from denial of our inevitability of death – we all have an expiration date,” he said.
“If you were told you had 200 years guaranteed, you’d become more complacent and reckless. The idea that life can be taken away at any second is a beautiful reminder to appreciate every moment.”
Hemsworth, who lives in Byron Bay with his wife, actress Elsa Pataky, and their three children, is also bringing back Thor. Marvel’s Norse god returns in Avengers: Doomsday, which is due for release in 2026.
“Making this series has been a life-changing journey,” he said of Limitless.
“I’ve discovered so much about my own health, resilience and what it really means to live well. I hope this next chapter inspires audiences to step outside their comfort zones and embrace challenges, because the impact it’s had on my life has been truly profound.”
Limitless: Live Better Now streams from August 15 on Disney+
