How Chris and Liam Hemsworth changed Hollywood for Byron Bay

It’s hard not to be a little jealous of Chris Hemsworth and his younger brother Liam.

They both made that hard leap from Australian soap operas to Hollywood blockbusters, then jumped back, returned to Australia and established idyllic new lives in Byron Bay.

But they have not retreated or faded into darkness. Instead, the brothers maintain their careers in Hollywood, all while surfing, exercising and, in Chris’s case, raising a family in a coastal town about 7,500 miles from Los Angeles.

Why did they leave

Chris Hemsworth and his wife, Spanish actress Elsa Pataky had been living in Los Angeles for years, but in 2014, when Hemsworth began filming the second Avengers movie, Age of Ultron, they bought their sprawling hilltop property. south of Byron Bay for $ 7 million.

Soon, they demolished the existing property and spent several years building their dream home – a massive $ 20 million mansion filled with individual details like this mural by indigenous artist Otis Hope Carey: “You’re too in the eye of the storm when you live in Hollywood, “Chris told GQ about the move to Byron earlier this year.

“Living in Australia, it’s also easier to get out of work, and you have a little more scope to pass up some emails and phone calls.”

In another interview with The Daily Telegraph, Hemsworth admitted feeling “suffocated” by his career while living in Los Angeles.

“When you’re smothered by work, every conversation you have and every billboard you see has to do with a movie or whatever in the industry. You lose perspective,” he told the publication.

The father of three added: “There is not a single person there (Byron Bay) that I interact with, or close friends, who are really in the industry and that is tremendously refreshing.”

Talking to OK! Magazine earlier this year, Hemsworth said that living in Hollywood meant “losing touch with reality.”

“You go from press tours and work, and then you go straight back to reality and they give you a baby in a diaper,” he said.

“I love what I do as an actor … but it’s good to be part of a community that doesn’t live and breathe that world.”

For his younger brother Liam, the move was an opportunity to lick his wounds after a series of private disasters in 2019.

Liam and his wife Miley lost their Malibu home in devastating Los Angeles wildfires, and soon after suffered a very public breakup, after a decade together but less than a year of marriage.

As his divorce dominated the headlines, thanks to his ex-wife’s series of new lovers and breakup hymns, Liam retired to Byron Bay and his family.

Shortly after his arrival, the Hemsworth family business expanded its holdings in the area, purchasing a 35ha $ 4.25 million property a stone’s throw from Chris’s home.

An idyllic life

Their quiet lives in Byron Bay couldn’t be more different from the red carpets and scrums of the Hollywood paparazzi. Occasionally a local snapper will photograph Chris or Elsa, barefoot and doing the school run, but most fans only see them via Instagram, working out in their massive mansion or enjoying a humble caravan vacation with their local children and friends.

And despite being on the other side of the world, their careers have not suffered.

Six years after leaving Hollywood, Extraction, Chris’ latest action blockbuster, became the most-watched original movie in Netflix history, with a sequel to follow.

He and super-fit Elsa have also branched out into the lucrative health and wellness industries: Chris launched the Centr fitness app, offering its fans the opportunity to learn its fitness secrets (for a small monthly subscription fee, Of course).

The Hemsworths were perhaps ahead of the curve here, proving before Covid that it is possible to maintain a career in Hollywood while living on the other side of the world.

Now other stars follow.

Zac Efron’s arrival in Byron Bay earlier this year, choosing to watch the pandemic there rather than in virus-ridden America, solidified the coastal city’s A-list credentials.

Months later, Efron shows no signs of returning to his home country, having settled down with a new Australian girlfriend in Byron Bay.

And one of the biggest movie stars of the last 25 years, Matt Damon, is also doing the same.

Damon and his family are close friends of the Hemsworths, and they have often been seen vacationing with them in and around Byrons.

A chance encounter suggests where his priorities lie: During the Oscars 2019, the most prestigious night on the Hollywood calendar, Damon was spotted shopping at a Kmart in Ballina, south of Byron Bay.

In November, it was reported that Damon had finally taken the plunge and taken over a massive $ 22 million beachfront mansion.