Chris Hemsworth opens up on swapping Los Angeles for an Australian farm: 'Coming home feels like a holiday'

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth says leaving Los Angeles and moving back to Australia was the greatest decision he has made. The 42-year-old star of 'Crime 101' shared that life in Hollywood no longer felt right, especially after he and his wife welcomed their children.

He said the constant attention and lifestyle in LA pushed him to return home, where he now lives with his family on a large farm.

Chris Hemsworth on leaving Los Angeles

As reported by The New York Post, speaking on the ‘SmartLess’ podcast, Hemsworth explained why he walked away from Hollywood life. “It was right around the time my boys were born, and it was just, we kind of were set up in LA and not enjoying it, you know? Like nothing was shooting there. We were filming kind of everywhere else,” he said.Hemsworth added that coming home to Los Angeles did not feel peaceful. “And then … you’d come home and paparazzi and all the sort of the trappings of, you know, living in that space,” Hemsworth said.The actor shares three children with his wife, Elsa Pataky. The couple met in 2010 and married three months after making their relationship official. They later moved their family to a “big farm” in Australia.“You know, when you come back from work, you wanna go on a holiday? Like coming home for me is – it feels like a holiday.

We have big farm and horses and motorbikes and surf,” the actor, known for playing Thor, said.

Growing up in Australia and early career

Hemsworth grew up with his brothers, Liam and Luke, about 20 minutes outside Melbourne. He described a childhood filled with outdoor adventures. “We lived about 20 minutes from, like, the main sort of suburban areas in Melbourne up in the hills,” Hemsworth said. “And the nearest neighbor was a kilometer or two away.”“It was just all bush land and rainforest sort of set up around us,” he continued.

“And so we would just [have] … adventures outdoors and playing different characters. And I think that’s, to be honest, where the sort of intrigue or interest into that transportation into another.”Before acting, Hemsworth repaired breast milk pumps for Fisher and Paykel, an Australian appliance company. “And they would come back to us, and I’d have to repair them when, like the little belt, the motor belt would break. You’d also have to clean all the dried milk that was on them,” he said. “So, I’d have a toothbrush and spray and wipe and – that was my first job.”Hemsworth later landed roles on Australian television, including the long-running soap opera 'Home and Away,' which helped launch his career.