When Chris Hemsworth is discussing success nowadays, it does not sound like a discussion of red carpets or box office. Rather it is about silent mornings, open terrain and the basic delight of coming home. The Australian actor has recently indicated that breaking out of Los Angeles and sending his family back to Australia is one of the most significant decisions he made in his life. That transition tells a lot about the changing of priorities with time to a person that had established a world career in Hollywood.
In the popular podcast SmartLess, Hemsworth said all these things, and it was clear why living in Los Angeles started to become boring. He was always on the move with international projects at the peak of his career and at some point he was asking himself whether he could consider LA his home. It was just about the time my boys were born and it was, you know, just, we were not liking it in LA? Nothing there was shooting like. And we were shooting basically anywhere, he said. His words are an expression of the truth that most actors have had to go through yet hardly have the opportunity to express in front of others. Hollywood is the perceived center of the cinematic industry, yet it is now distributed worldwide, Europe and Australia, and so on. Life in Los Angeles does not ensure closeness to work anymore.
In the case of Hemsworth, the change was not professional but personal. The fatherhood changed his outlook. He has three kids with his wife, actress Elsa Pataky, who he got married to in 2010. Their family increased and so did their need to be stable and have privacy. The life of the celebrities in Los Angeles is usually full of constant attention. Hemsworth also confessed that he could not find going home to be a relaxing experience. And then, you would go home and paparazzi and everything like that kind of the paraphernalia of, you know, we live in that place, Hemsworth said. This continual focus, glistening camera phones and absence of anonymity gave a feeling that was more intimidating than comforting.
The couple then decided to go back to Australia where they lived on a big farm and where they were not bothered by the Hollywood traffic. This was not a physical transformation but an emotional one. This is how Hemsworth articulated the feeling which many working parents can relate to. You see, you want to take a holiday when you are back after work? It is much like going home to me it is like a holiday. Something more than landscape is contained in that sentence. It addresses the feeling of belonging and serenity that could not be created by luxury alone.
Their Australian property is a contrast of life, which seems almost cinematic. According to Hemsworth, there were vast open fields, horses, motorbikes and surf. It is an eco-friendly lifestyle that is based on nature and movement instead of premieres and press tours. It has what one will undoubtedly refer to as something Australian, as it portrays the out-of-doors culture that has been a cornerstone of the Australian identity. In the case of Hemsworth, this move back to his origins appears not to be as much of retreat, but it appears to be more of being in line.
Hemsworth was raised in an environment that was characterized by space and exploration as he grew up out of Melbourne. He lived with Liam and Luke who were his brothers in a place where the neighbors were kilometers apart. Hemsworth said that we were some 20 minutes away like the main sort of the suburbs in Melbourne in the hills. And the closest neighbor was a kilometer or two. That growing up made them accustomed to being alone and being out. To a large extent, the farm that he currently calls home reflects the tempo of his childhood life.
On an industry level, the move by Hemsworth also indicates a larger change in the way international players handle their professions. Through the developments in travelling and online communication, one does not require close distance to Hollywood anymore. Large film studios film in more than one country to exploit tax breaks and varying sceneries. With already-established stars, this flexibility will allow them the chance to create a family-oriented lifestyle without the need to put their career first.
Another discussion is also on celebrity wellness. The psychological burden of being exposed to it all the time is not a secret. Living in a world of observation would weaken even the strongest characters. The decision made by Hemsworth implies that he is making a deliberate move to ensure that the privacy of his children is not compromised but rather his sense of balance. The world of fame, though profitable, can lose the distinction between a commercial face and the personal one. Moving to Australia seems to have reinstated those frontiers.
Surprisingly, Hemsworth does not use bitterness to talk about Los Angeles. Rather, his meditations have a tone of development. His life stage transformed and what had been exciting before started to lose its gratification. That honesty resonates. A lot of practitioners in the entertainment business or any other business tend to reevaluate success as per their definition. To other people it is about downsizing, and in other cases it is redefining the meaning of home.
His narrative also disproves the belief that ambition is to be linked with one city. Hollywood has not weakened, yet the creative careers are becoming more and more decentralized. Hemsworth works in more than one foreign country with his home in Australia. The balance shows that going out of a conventional industry center does not mean a step out of the first opportunity.
Naturally, there are trade offs of such a move. The distance between Los Angeles can imply increased travel time and complicated logistics. Spontaneous meetings and networking are used less often. However, the rewards are emotional, and Hemsworth seems to have more than enough rewards than inconveniences. His children have a nature-filled childhood in the farm, as he did. It gives the room to develop without the glare of the celebrity culture.
His decision has received mostly positive reactions among the general population. In a time when the concept of burnout and overstimulation is the order of the day, the notion of opting to keep things quiet instead of being in a state of full exposure is a refreshing notion. Meanwhile, not all of the actors can afford a financial change to make such a shift. The developed career of Hemsworth allows him to be flexible in his ways which might not be the case with young artists. This fact provides twist to the story.
