Chris Hemsworth steps back for a breather

In an interview with Vanity Fair, the Thor star said he had a moment of realization while filming National Geographic's Limitless with Chris Hemsworth.

"Doing an episode on death and facing your own mortality made me go, 'Oh God, I'm not ready to go yet,'" he said.

His realization "really triggered something in me to want to take some time off." This time around, he is putting his family first.

"And then you start talking about kids and family and going, 'Oh my God, they're getting older, they're growing up and I keep slapping another movie on top of another movie.' Before you know it, they're 18 and they've moved out of the house, and I missed the window," he added.

Chris has been married to Spanish model and actress Elsa Pataky since 2010. They have three children: India Rose, 10, and twins Sasha and Tristan, 8.

The 39-year-old has been pursuing acting since 2002, making appearances in several series in Australia. He rose to fame in 2004 for his role in the Australian TV series Home and Away until he exited the show in 2007.

His prominence in Hollywood began with J. J. Abrams' film Star Trek and continued with several other films until he booked the titular role of Thor in 2011.

Apart from being the God of Thunder, he also ventured into other characters like a huntsman in Snow White and the Huntsman (2012), an alpha male jock named Curt Vaughan in The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Formula 1 World Champion James Hunt in Rush (2013), a funny guy in the comedy film Vacation (2015), among others.

Limitless is a docu-series that tackles the limitations of the human body. In one of the episodes. Chris had to go through different genetic tests. He found out that he is at risk for Alzheimer's disease.

"The show, which initially was an exploration of longevity and, of course, should be fun, became even more relevant and important for me, even more poignant than I ever thought it would be. It was a really good catalyst to dive into everything I needed to be doing in either the prevention front or the management front," he said.