Chris Hemsworth has admitted that the first season of his hit National Geographic series Limitless “almost killed” him as he returned for the premiere of its second instalment in London.
The Australian actor, best known for his role as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, hosted the premiere at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square on Wednesday evening.
He was joined on the red carpet by his wife Elsa Pataky, their sons Tristan and Sasha, his parents Leonie and Craig Hemsworth, and brother Liam Hemsworth with Gabriella Brooks.
In Limitless: Live Better Now, Hemsworth once again pushes his mental and physical limits in a bid to discover the secrets to living longer, healthier and more fulfilled lives.
The new series sees him take on a fresh set of science-backed challenges - from climbing a 600-foot frozen wall in the Swiss Alps, to training with South Korea’s elite special forces, and even drumming during an Ed Sheeran concert.
Following the screening, Hemsworth took part in a panel discussion, which The Standard was in attendance, and reflected on what inspired him to film a second installment following the toll of the first.
The 41-year-old told the audience: “The first season almost killed me, emotionally and physically. I don’t know if that was by design or intention.
“Each time I overcame one of the challenges, there was this sort of kick of elation and endorphins… a sense of achievement.”
Despite the gruelling nature of the show, Hemsworth said the overwhelmingly positive response from viewers, including his own children’s classmates, motivated him to return.
“I was at my kids’ school and their friends are coming up talking about what they had received from the show - and their parents or grandparents, and the sort of spectrum of different sort of age groups and demographics and so on, different areas, different countries, all around the world, who had received some sort of knowledge and new direction to the path where they could pursue a better journey, or excel as the best version of themselves,” he explained.
“And so, we discussed that if we were going to do a second season, what would we tackle? What new science is there? What we could be expanded upon that we had touched upon the first one?”
Hemsworth described season one as a learning curve where he was very much “the guinea pig.” But with Live Better Now, he took on more of a journalistic role, helping to shape the direction of the series and focusing on areas that personally intrigued him.
“I was thrown into the situations with very little knowledge about what I was doing. This was more sort of experiential journalism, I guess?” he said.
“I had a bit more agency in the production, the creation of where we were going to head and things were tied to my curiosity around the science with these different topics. But also, they were personal to me in different ways and I think things that I wanted to investigate.”
Over two years and across six countries, Hemsworth enlisted the help of doctors, MMA fighters, neuroscientists and other specialists to confront challenges related to pain, fear, memory and cognitive decline.
Still, he joked that even with a deeper understanding of the process, the physical demands never got easier. “Throughout the second season I kept us the same question, ‘what the hell am I doing?’” he laughed.
Limitless: Live Better Now season two will be available to stream on Disney+ UK from August 15
