LIAM HEMSWORTH - SPECIAL LANGUAGE
BY MITCHELL PARRISH
 
To the casual observer, Liam Hemsworth could easily pass for a born-and-bred American lad. He has the smile, the build and all the chat.

Born to an English teacher mother and social worker father, he is the youngest of three brothers behind fellow actors Luke, 37, and Chris, 35. Phillip Island, where the trio grew up, is a wild idyllic backwater and not the kind of place film stars are generally made, and yet the Hemsworth clan somehow ended up with three. They all cut their teeth on Australian soap operas, something eldest brother Luke kicked off with a stint on “Neighbors.”

It’s easy to imagine friendly sibling rivalry boiling over into a full-blown family feud, but it appears the brothers are much closer now than they ever were in their youth.

“Chris and I were the two who had the healthy rivalry,” says Liam, “and I guess it sometimes spilled over into aggression. Luke was that much older than me, so he didn’t really figure as a rival. I wouldn’t dare go up against him. Chris and I were too similar, and I played to that as the naughty younger brother on a wind-up. They were fun times, but the rivalry was there throughout. We’ve mellowed a bit over the years, but not entirely.” (Laughs)

Hemsworth’s reputation, Liam’s that is, has undoubtedly been boosted by a number of high-profile relationships. His early flirtation with singer Miley Cyrus was stormy and controversial, but their time together has blossomed into a happy marriage. Their newfound solidity has given the 29-year-old the platform on which to build the next phase of his career, accepting slightly more serene roles rather than constantly backing the all-action, big budget blockbusters. “I think variety is important, and that’s why I took the role on Isn’t It Romantic,” he says, noting the rom-com he co-starred in last year opposite Rebel Wilson.

This year, Liam returns with two more movies. Firstly, there’s Killerman, a Malik Bader written and directed action thriller with a tour de force performance from the star, who appears opposite Diane Guerrero. Then there’s Arkansas, a slick, crime blockbuster that also features Vince Vaughn and John Malkovich.

STRIPLV sat down with Liam, and we got right to the personal stuff.
 
STRIPLV: Let’s start with a busy end to 2018, and marriage in Tennessee.
HEMSWORTH: Yes that’s right. Miley’s family is from there, and the wedding was somewhat a last-minute thing. I mean, it had been coming for a while, but I think that a lot of things that we do are kind of sporadic. It was just family and close friends; we made sure that the ceremony was short and sweet. It was just about hanging out with everyone and celebrating. It was right before Christmas, and it was a really special time.
STRIPLV: What was your wedding song?
HEMSWORTH: When we met there was an album by a band called Switchfoot, I’m not sure if you know them. That was kind of a nostalgic time for us, so playing that song brought that back for us.
STRIPLV: You and your brothers are all married, now, but you have no children yet.
HEMSWORTH: No, we’ve got lots of animals instead. That will keep us good for a little while.
STRIPLV: You and Miley met on the movie The Last Song.
HEMSWORTH: Yeah, it was my first movie in the States, which was about 10 years ago. I loved shooting that film, and we shot that in Savannah. We got engaged and then broke up and then got engaged again. We met so young that I think that we both had some growing to do before we came back together. But we both thought that we would eventually stay together after we did that growing up, we would make the right decision and that this was what was going to happen eventually. There were just things that we needed to go through first.
STRIPLV: Which one of you, say, is the most romantic, having that sensibility?
HEMSWORTH: I would have to say that it is probably me. I buy flowers, jewelry, chocolate. It’s just endless with the number of romantic things that I can bring up. (Laughs) Every day there’s something new. Sometimes I just wake up and give her a full song and dance. I just want her to have a good day. Make her a breakfast. I have this weird thing I do in the morning. The morning times at our house are usually pretty weird. I like to make up my own language, but it comes out in song. I usually make breakfast doing my weird and odd languages. She doesn’t get up for a few hours after I have gotten up. Usually, I will hear her shouting from the bedroom: “Shut up!”
I just keep going because it is the beginning of my day and everyone else in the house needs to wake up.
STRIPLV: Well, Chris has three kids, and Luke also has three children… what kind of uncle are you?
HEMSWORTH: The best, obviously. (Laughs) The bestest uncle possible. Constantly just new surprises and presents. “Look, Uncle Liam is here, the best guy in the world.” They love me; they are always asking where Uncle Liam is. I always hear them saying: “I wish he was my dad.”
STRIPLV: Do you think that you will ever make a film with them?
HEMSWORTH: We do talk about it, but it is something that we might only get one chance to do, and we want to make sure that it’s the right project. So, we need to have the right director, and it’s something that we all care about. It’s a hard thing, and we don’t want to do it for the sake of doing it.
STRIPLV: Both you and your brother Chris tried out for the part of Thor,  which Chris got.
HEMSWORTH: Yeah, we both auditioned for that, and I had sent a tape over from Australia. Initially, Chris wasn’t even called back for a screen test, they had said no to him, and it came down to five other people and me. Honestly, I think it would have been uncomfortable if I had have gotten the part - I am six-and-a-half years younger than Chris, and at the time when I had been called back for the screen test, and he hadn’t even been called back, I joked to him that I guessed that I am just more of a man. But I honestly think that if I was to get that part over him, we might not be friends anymore. (Laughs) Now that I didn’t get the part, we can proceed as good friends.
STRIPLV: In terms of film roles, reinvention seems to be something that comes quickly to you.
HEMSWORTH: I’ve been through a few different modes in my career, and in all of them I’ve always been keen to keep reinventing. People always associate me with The Hunger Games and Independence Day, but I’m not an actor who wants to be pigeon-holed in a certain genre. I think perhaps because of my brothers I’ve had to work hard to be different from the norm, and that’s the advice I would give to young people who want to get into acting. The reality is nobody is going to have too much confidence in you; no one is going to pat you on the back and say that it’s a good idea. But if you truly want to do it, make sure that you really want to do it. If you do, then you have to stick to it and prove them wrong. I’ve spent a few years doing that and, even now, it still feels good.
STRIPLV: You always seem to be busy working on something.
HEMSWORTH: Keeping busy feels good. I’m not obsessed with making movies, but I am obsessed with feeling alive and keeping projects ticking over. If at the end of those I get to entertain people and can help create pieces of art that will stand the test of time, then surely that’s a good thing.