| SUNDAY, MAY 1, 2011

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Chris Hemsworth wasalmost a Thor loser.Thats because thetitular star of thenew Marvel Comics

movie Thor went through asix-month auditioning processthat included going upagainst his actor brotherLiam Hemsworth (The LastSong).Obviously it all worked out

for the former Australiansoap-opera star, who movedto the United States andmade his mark as GeorgeKirk, father of young JamesT. Kirk, in Star Trek(2009). Two small releasesfollowed, as well as co-writerJoss Whedons The Cabin inthe Woods and the remakeof 1984s Red Dawn bothcompleted and awaitingrelease, almost certainly tocapitalize on the 27-year-oldactors newfound stardom.Hemsworth spoke with

Newsday contributor FrankLovece by phone fromAustralia, whereThor, opening inthe United StatesFriday, premieredApril 21 togood reviewsthat augur wellfor the upcom-ing Marvel filmThe Avengers,in which Hem-sworth reprises hisrole as the Norse-godsuperhero.

You and your youngerbrother, Liam, were both upfor the part of Thor, and Igather it took forever to getyou cast.Yeah. I auditioned very earlyon, and then I was out of themix and he was in the mix,and then I got a secondchance to come back in. Iguess I sort of messed it upfor whatever reason. Then, Iwas asked to send in anothertape toward the end of thecasting process, and my mumwas visiting me at the time inVancouver, so she read Antho-ny Hopkins lines and held thecamera and helped me withthe audition. So she kind ofgot me back in there, I guess,as well.

A boy needs his mom.Thats right. And Liam and Iwould run [through thescript] together and try towork out what we thoughtKen [director KennethBranagh] wanted or what wethought of the character.

Were pretty competitive ineverything else we do, asbrothers are, but this tendedto be a bit of a team effort.

Were you and Liam livingtogether at the time?No, we werent. Hed justmoved to the States, and Idbeen there for a cou-ple of years, soit was greathaving himaround.

You comefrom asoap-operabackground,and in thismovie youreworking withRADA-trainedAnthony Hopkinsand Tom Hiddleston,Oscar winner NataliePortman, Ray

Stevenson from the BristolOld Vic. . . . How do youpsych yourself up to play thecentral role around thosekind of people?People like that just elevateyour game, and if you leaveyourself open to learn fromthem and walk in with humili-ty, I guess then it becomesback-and-forth. . . . Itsabout feeling comfort-able in navigating yourway around a set. Andwhether its a soapor whether itsclassic theater, itsall about yourattitude: Just sortof work hard andbe open to explor-ing differentideas and

taking risks and going withthe spontaneity of it all.

So youre at Comic-Con lastsummer on the Thor panel,and all of a sudden RobertDowney Jr. and ScarlettJohansson, your co-stars inThe Avengers, pop uponstage with you. Youre ayoung actor, now theyreyour peers what goesthrough your mind?I was just waiting for securityto pull me off the stage at thatpoint, you know? Theres a bigpart of me going, What am Idoing up here? I dont belonghere in amongst these guys.It was so exciting. I didntactually know that we weregoing to do that they sortof kept it a big secret from usas well.

Did you get to chat with thembackstage?I did a little bit. I dontknow how much I said thatwas of any great interest.It was all filtered by mybrain going, Oh myGod, oh my God, oh myGod, what is this?

Mr. Downey, Ive al-ways liked your work.Yeah, it was a bit likethat.

So how does one playa god?It became about hu-manizing it, in a sense.The sets and the storyand the costumes tellus the larger-than-lifeelements, and for us[actors] Ken just keptsaying: Just make this

personal. Its a scene be-tween a father and son ortwo brothers. Find the truthin it.Someone said to me a

long time ago: If youreever playing a king, its moreabout how the other actorsrelate to that character asopposed to what that charac-ter does.

Although just-departedIdol contestantsusually are reticent todeclarewho theywant orthinkwill win the competi-tion, StefanoLangone brokewith traditionwhen he toldUSAToday, James is goingto do great. Askedwhetherhe thought JamesDurbinwasgoing towin, Langone re-

sponded,I hope,but I haveno ideawhosgoing totake it. . . .

I hope the best for him.Durbin, Langones Idolroommate sinceHollywoodWeek,was visibly distraughtwhen Langonewas eliminat-ed, but his former roomiesaid: I was telling him to stayfocused and not toworryaboutme. . . . I told him tokeep on succeeding. . . .Were brothers for life, and Ilove the guy dearly. Langonesaid hewill be the rockersbestman at his Junewedding.Twoother former Idols

tweeted their support forperpetual Bottom 3 finisherHaleyReinhart. Season 8runner-upAdamLambertwrote, Just caught up on Idolvia YouTube. . . . HALEY!Head and shoulders abovethe rest. Gaveme chills.Reinhart respondedwith,@adamlambertWhy thankyou kindly old chap;) You arethe stuffff!Means a lot, towhichAdam replied, welldiva-listening anwatchingyoumakesme smile. Cantwait to hear your album!Also looking forward to

Reinharts album is season 1winnerKellyClarkson, who,afterwatching ReinhartperformAdeles Rolling intheDeep, tweeted, Way togo,HaleyReinhart! You didreallywell on Idol tonight. . . great song choice! Cantwait to hear a record fromyou! RONNIE GILL

James is a fave of Stefanos,but Haley has bigger fans.

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Bythunder, you cansee a trailer for Thor

Whos in itto win it?

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