Month: November 2020

The star of A Teacher, Kate Mara, shares her thoughts on the horny TV renaissance and how to have a family political disagreement when you’re part of two NFL dynasties.

In your new show A Teacher, even though the relationship between your character and her student is deeply screwed up, it’s also very hot. Between that and Normal People, Hulu is really leading a horny TV resurgence.

I’m glad that was your comparison, because I’m with you. And obviously, the show is exploring the reaction that you had to it. [But] just because somebody seems mature, or even if a kid is 18 or whatever the legal ages are, it’s still abuse of power and it’s not an affair. There’s a lot of people who hear it and think, “Well, if it’s a young guy and it’s a hot young teacher, then what’s the big deal?” But it’s important to think deeper [about] the actual trauma that occurs.

You’re very outspoken about Black Lives Matter and football players’ right to protest, especially given that one side of your family co-owns the Steelers and the other the Giants. Did you talk to them before you spoke out?

My dad has always known my feelings and knew when my sister [Rooney] and I were going to say something, and we always got his blessing. I’m a massive football fan; it’s literally in my family and has been forever. I have so much passion for it, and for the sport itself, and for the sacrifice that the players make, to do what they do. With the NFL and Black Lives Matter, I just was like, “I can’t not say anything. It’s wrong to be silent.” Especially when you see your own players on your own teams saying, “We need you to speak up for us and do more for us.” [But] my dad’s one of 11 kids, which is a lot of people and a lot of different opinions. I think that it’s complicated for them.

A lot of people are going through this with family now, though I guess most don’t own football teams. How do you kindly disagree with someone in a way they can be receptive to?

While a lot of arguments and conversations are great to have on social media, when you’re talking about family, I think that’s probably the wrong route. For whatever reason, it is a lot easier to have conversations over the phone. There’s something less intimidating about it than sitting across the table at Thanksgiving. I’m not saying all my family members have different opinions than I do. But when you have a massive family, the chances are, not everyone’s going to agree. Like, [I’m] a very passionate vegan, and I did not grow up in that kind of household at all.

I wouldn’t consider myself a duck; it’s ‘what you see is what you get.’

They didn’t get you a tofu turkey?

Absolutely not. And there still isn’t [one].

“You can eat sides, Kate.”

I basically live on sides anyway.

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You seem like a person who is very contained and has a lot of control over what you put out and what you hold in. Are you that placid inside, or are you a duck? Meaning, you appear calm but below the surface you’re frantically paddling.

I do relate to that. But I wouldn’t consider myself a duck; I think that usually [with me], it’s “what you see is what you get.”

Besides a vaccine and systemic social change, what are your dreams for the coming year?

I hope that we can create more things sooner than later, because it’s such an emotional outlet in so many ways. And I do think that movies and television and everything helps a lot of us get through the hard times.

I figured it out: You and your husband Jamie Bell and your sister Rooney and her partner Joaquin Phoenix can do an at-home version of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Shoot it on an iPhone, Steven Soderbergh-style.

That’s pretty dark! I want more uplifting stories.

The Basics

Age
37

Hometown
Bedford, NY

Top 3 Instagram Accounts to Follow
1. @theconsciouskid
2. @kaepernick7
3. @afrovegansociety

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Chris Hemsworth is one of those guys who has managed to stay authentic through a meteoric rise to stardom. That probably has a lot to do with the fact that when the Australian actor isn’t portraying a Norse god for Marvel or doing hit action flicks like Extraction for Netflix, he is back home surrounded by family in Byron Bay.

“It’s all about staying true to yourself“ Hemsworth told Men’s Journal. “Trying to live a life of integrity and honesty. And pursuing your dreams with a real commitment and passion.”

That down-to-earth attitude plays into everything Hemsworth is involved in, from showbiz to his new BOSS Bottled campaign with Hugo Boss. Being the face of a fragrance is not for everyone, but he wears it well, because we know he doesn’t just sit pretty. Odds are that once the photo shoot is wrapped, he’s ditching the suit for gym gear or his surfing wetsuit.

We spoke to Hemsworth about Australia, his latest training methods, and what to expect from the next Thor.

Since you are someone that is constantly evolving with your training, what new methods and exercises are you excited about?

I’ve been training with Ross Edgley, who was the first person to swim around Great Britain, and the list goes on of incredible feats. He’s an absolute beast. But just a ball of positivity and knowledge. There’s not a subject in the field of health, wellness, training, repair, recovery, strength, speed, endurance, whatever, that he isn’t versed in. So, I’ve just been savagely stealing all of his knowledge as much as I can.

I’m shooting a documentary for National Geographic and Utopia, who also did One Strange Rock with Will Smith. And Darren Aronofsky’s overseeing the whole thing and directing a lot of it, and it’s all about longevity and health. And Ross has been quite central to a lot of those episodes, so he’s out here currently in Australia. And with Thor next year, we’re already doing a lot of strength work and power work and building muscle, but really concentrating on having it be functional too. So, incorporating swimming with it, incorporating functional movements.

I found that in the past, when I just lifted heavy weights, I put the mass on, but my joints were stiff, there was no functionality to it. And I’ve never seen anyone at his size or that size also have such athleticism, and that’s what’s impressive. He does not look like a swimmer, but if he didn’t have that muscle mass on the swim around Great Britain, his tendons would probably have torn off. So, he’s a very unique individual and it’s been fantastic to work so closely with him lately.

How have the workouts evolved since those interactions?

Just being really smart with the training. But to be honest, we’re training in less time, but with a greater intensity. So, big power movements, building up to them, and then mechanical drop sets, hitting it from different angles, one after another. Doing big, heavy chest and then holding an isolated half push-up position, so isolated holds after a big set.  But just explosive eccentric movement and then slow on the concentric.

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The wheels are in motion for the next Thor, when did you start training for it?

I ruptured a couple of ligaments in my ankle, so we really had to alter the training. This was last month, so I’ve had to work around that and have it in a moonboot for a bit. But that’s actually starting to feel good now, so working with a great physio on directional change stuff and stressing the ankle in similar positions under a safe space, so that it can build up scar tissue in that movement. Not completely staying away from it, which I hadn’t worked with before.

Normally, in injury and tendon damage, you just stay right away and don’t touch it, which we did for a period of time, but he said it was just as important to get back and stress it in the same way just to build strength there again. We’ve been doing that, but again, I couldn’t swim properly, so I’d be swimming with a pool buoy, flotation device in between my knees. So, I could still do upper body and still get some sort of core movement workout.

Do you make it a point to recreate the physicality that you have in previous Thor movies? Or do you find yourself trying to adapt his look depending on the script?

Depending on what version of Thor we see, and we saw the different condition he was in in End Game. If I’m playing a healthy version of Thor, I want to step it up a notch and I’m definitely looking at evolving again. With all the muscle memory, you only look a certain way after years and years of doing it. There’s a different sort of density to your muscle mass.

This is something I say all the time, but I want to be able to have function to it. You can see people who just do strict body building, they move a certain way. There’s an impressive visual image there, but for me, it’s got to be agile and mobile and have flexibility to it. So, I like to think we’re all pretty excited that we’re ramping it up again and Ross is going to give me a hand with that. I’m in good hands.

I heard that you and director Taika Waititi have been having script meetings on the new one, Thor: Love and Thunder. Can we expect some big action?

For sure. Always! That is something that I said to Taika early on, because he’s so incredible with story, and character, and humor. And what was so amazing about Ragnarök was that it had all those elements, but I also heard from people that they loved the big action scenes. The opening with the Fire Giant, and the battle on the bridge. Those big cinematic, launch-off-the-screen experiences. So I really think it is about that fusion. The attention to all of the spaces. It is one of the funniest scripts I have read in years, and I have read a few. I haven’t been this excited for a long time.

I remember speaking to you when you first got the role of Thor, you were prepared to work, but did you ever see coming up on a decade of playing the character?

I couldn’t have seen this coming. I didn’t realize the health journey it was going to send me on. I wish I knew what I know now back then. I have learned how important those early years are for setting a foundation, and getting the mechanics right. Not stressing the parts of the body that people are usually stressing, the knees and the back. These days I feel healthier than I ever have and that has a lot to do with the abundance of people that I have interacted with. It is about staying open to new ideas, and not thinking you have all of the answers.

During that time, you became the face of BOSS Bottled, as their Man of Today, what did you like about the campaign?

They are timeless, and I believe that message of staying true to what you are really connected with me. That’s been the ethos for the brand since I first joined and, I think, for a long time. So, it’s great to be part of that kind of a positive message.

Being the face of a fragrance, what smells do you find yourself enjoying the most?

I have to say the smell of Australia. When I step off a plane having landed back home after traveling. The first thing that hits me is that Australian bush life, the eucalyptus and crackling plant life. There is also a frangipani tree that grows at our home, that just brings me peace. They grow in the places of course, like Hawaii and Indonesia. If I come across one of those out in the world, it just brings me back home. And then the beach and everything that comes with that. The ocean, and the smell of surfboard wax. Those scents are very grounding for me.

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