Hollywood actor Chris Hemsworth has announced that he will be taking a break from acting to spend some time with his family after learning that he has a high risk of Alzheimer’s disease.
The discovery was made after he finished filming the latest episode of his Disney+ Original docuseries, Limitless.
The 39-year-old Australian actor told a media outlet that he will be taking ‘time off’ from acting and said, “Doing an episode on death and facing your own mortality made me go, ‘Oh God, I’m not ready to go yet'”.
Limitless is a new docuseries starring Chris Hemsworth that explores the different ways humans can live better for longer by taking on physical challenges such as diving in ice or climbing skyscrapers.
In one of the episodes which premiered on National Geographic on 16 November, Chris Hemsworth took some genetic tests to learn about his DNA.
Unfortunately, the Extraction star discovered that he had two copies of the APOE4 gene, which puts him at a high risk of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. According to the doctors, the Hollywood actor has an 8 out of 10 chance of falling ill because of his family’s medical history.
Chris Hemsworth then revealed that his grandfather had dementia.
Talking about death and his biggest fears, he said,
Our memories are supposed to last forever. They shape us, and make us who we are, the idea that I won’t be able to remember a lot of experience or my wife, or my kids is probably my biggest fear.
He added,
It really triggered something in me to want to take some time off. Now when I finish this tour this week, I’m going home and I’m going to have a good chunk of time off and just simplify. Be with the kids, be with my wife.
Alzheimer’s disease is one of the most common types of dementia that affects the parts of the brain that control thoughts, memories, and language. It is a progressive condition that begins with mild memory loss and can lead to the loss of a person’s ability to communicate and respond to their environment.
