Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth, born 11 August 1983 is an Australian actor. He played the role of Kim Hyde in the Australian soap opera Home and Away and the titular character in the Marvel Studios film, Thor. Hemsworth will portray Thor again in the upcoming film The Avengers.

Early life

Hemsworth was born in Melbourne, Australia to Leonie and Craig Hemsworth. His family relocated to a cattle station in the Northern Territory and lived there for a few years before moving to Phillip Island.Chris enjoyed surfing and playing sports while growing up.

Career

In 2004, he auditioned for Home and Away, for the part of Robbie Hunter (played by Jason Smith), but failed to get the part. He was subsequently recalled for the part of Kim Hyde. He was successful in gaining the role of Kim Hyde and moved to Sydney to join the cast of Home and Away, appearing in 171 episodes of the series. He left the cast of Home and Away on 3 July 2007. He has received two Logie Award nominations and has won one for Most Popular New Talent on Home and Away back in 2005.

Hemsworth portrayed James T. Kirk's father, George Kirk, in the opening scenes of J. J. Abrams' 2009 film Star Trek. He also played the character Kale in the thriller A Perfect Getaway the same year.Hemsworth will star in upcoming horror film The Cabin in the Woods executive produced by Joss Whedon and will portray Jed Eckert in the upcoming Red Dawn remake.

Hemsworth portrayed Thor in the film adaption of the Marvel Comics superhero of the same name. Initially, his brother Liam reached the final four for the role, while Chris failed to make the shortlist, but he won the role after director Kenneth Branagh decided to re-evaluate earlier candidates. Chris Hemsworth received advice from his brother, saying "We're competitive, but in the best way." His mother helped him with his audition tape by playing Odin. Hemsworth is also scheduled to reprise his role as Thor in The Avengers, also based on a Marvel comic about a team of superheroes assembled to protect Earth, which is scheduled for release in 2012.

In the 2010 film CA$h, Hemsworth played Sam Phelan, an economically troubled young man. CA$h marked Hemsworth's Hollywood debut, as it was the first film he shot upon his arrival in the United States. In behind-the-scenes interviews, the film's director Stephen Milburn Anderson stated that Hemsworth had only been in the United States for six weeks when he had auditioned for the role. Anderson said, "Here's a guy who is young, has the right look, is a very good actor and, let's face it, he's beautiful. So I say, we need to get this guy in. I was very impressed".

Personal life

Hemsworth is married to actress Elsa Pataky,whom he met through their mutual representative in early 2010. They made their relationship public at a party held by LACMA in Los Angeles on 25 September 2010, and got married three months later.

His older brother Luke and younger brother Liam are also actors, and have had recurring roles as Nathan Tyson and Josh Taylor on Neighbours, respectively.

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes

2009 Star Trek George Kirk

A Perfect Getaway Kale

2010 Ca$h Sam Phelan

2011 Thor Thor

2012 The Cabin in the Woods Curt Post-production

Red Dawn Jed Eckert Post-production

The Avengers Thor Production

Snow White and the Huntsman Eric Pre-production

Chris Hemsworth to star in action movie Shadow Runner

Chris Hemsworth, who starred in Kenneth Branagh's critically acclaimed $150 million production Thor, has agreed to play the lead in Columbia Pictures' action thriller Shadow Runner, Variety reports.

The flick is based on an original idea by Oscar-nominated writer Hossein Amini, who wrote the screenplay for Ryan Gosling's new film Drive, 2008 film Killshot, The Four Feathers (2002) and 1997's The Wings of a Dove. The plot remains underwraps.

Plot details are being kept secret but the project is based on an original idea from Hossein Amini, who is one of the writers of Snow White and the Huntsman, which also stars Hemsworth.

Australia-born Hemsworth is best known for his star-turning performance as "Thor," a character he will reprise in next summer's "The Avengers."

Sony last month picked up U.S. distribution rights to "Hurt Locker" director Kathryn Bigelow's timely movie on the killing of Osama bin Laden by an elite Navy Seal team.

Nicole Kidman arrives in Australia for family reunion

Oscar winner flew into Sydney on Tuesday, the Seven Network reported.

Kidman was carrying baby Faith Margaret, six months, and holding hands with elder daughter Sunday Rose, two, as she left the airport.

She was due to head to the city's north to spend time with her family, including sister Antonia who now lives in Singapore with her second husband Craig Marran and her five children, including the couple's baby son Nicholas.

Faith Margaret was born on December 28 in Nashville, Tennessee, through a surrogate mother and is the biological child of Kidman and husband Keith Urban.

Faith was carried by her famous mother as the family arrived at Sydney airport and were met by her sister Antonia with son Nicholas.

Mini me: Nicole Kidman's daughter Faith, who was born to a surrogate last December, showed off her red hair as they arrived in Australia

It was something of a family reunion for the Kidmans, as TV presenter Antonia now lives in Singapore while Nicole is based in Nashville with husband Keith Urban.

Nicole kept a firm grip on little Faith who, like Antonia's adorable son Nicholas, was born last December.

And Nicole also clutched eldest daughter Sunday as they arrived Down Under after a long flight from the U.S.

Reunion: Nicole's sister Antonia is also in town from Singapore with her five children including little Nicholas (pictured)

Urban was not on the trip, and Antonia's husband, banker Craig Marran was also absent.

It was clearly a time for these devoted siblings to catch up alone, and to enjoy the miracle of their latest children who were born so close together.

Antonia, home from Singapore, also brought her other four children with her for the family reunion.

Ten faces business-wide cost restructure

Staff in sales and programming, as well as those working for its outdoor advertising arm, Eye Corp, face redundancy as a result of a strategic review ordered by interim chief executive Lachlan Murdoch in February.

Jim Carroll, the news director who hired 60 journalists for the extended news and current affairs schedule, resigned because he disagreed with the direction Ten was taking under Mr Murdoch. The Australian can reveal another Ten executive, Sydney station manager and head of broadcast control Darren Farnham, has also resigned.

Mr Farnham is the latest executive to stand down since Mr Murdoch and James Packer acquired 18 per cent of the free-to-air network in November and began to dismantle some of the news strategy. Carroll's well-attended farewell was held at the Lord Dudley pub in inner Sydney on Friday and the mood was sombre as news spread of the fate of many of the journalists working in newsrooms across the country.

About 90 staff, including programmers David Mott and Beverley McGarvey and state news directors, toasted Carroll's 10-year tenure at the network at what was seen as a last hurrah before the axe fell.

On-air staff who attended included newsreaders Natarsha Belling, Deb Knight, Kath Robinson and Brad McEwan.

Executives who have left the network since November include chairman Nick Falloon, chief executive Grant Blackley, head of sport David White, chief financial officer John Kelly, head of integrated sales Jude Allen, and chief digital officer Nick Spooner.

The network's news department, which received a massive $20 million boost six months ago, is expected to be hit hard by the cost restructure. A significant proportion of the sixty journalists hired by Ten as part of the news expansion are now under threat.

The future of current affairs programme 6.30 with George Negus is also in doubt, the Herald Sun reports. While the move to 6:30pm has improved its standing, the show remains well behind the offerings on Seven and Nine.

However, network insiders believe Ten Late Night News and Sports Tonight will be dropped before anything else. Such a decision could make longtime newsreader Sandra Sully the first high-profile casualty. The Daily Telegraph also claims Ten's local weekend news bulletins could be axed.

Ten already confirmed last week that it would not pursue rights to any AFL games from next year.

Meanwhile, Ten's Sydney station manager and head of broadcast control, Darren Farnham, is reportedly the latest executive to resign. It follows news director Jim Carroll stepping down earlier this month after disagreeing with the direction Murdoch is taking the network.

These represent just two in a long line of executive departures since Murdoch and James Packer purchased 18 per cent of Ten in November. Others include chairman Nick Falloon, chief executive Grant Blackley, general manager for sport David White, chief financial officer John Kelly, head of integrated sales Judy Allen, and chief digital officer Nick Spooner.

Dicko fights political correctness

IAN Dickson does not miss being a judge on Australian Idol. The 48-year-old says he always thought there was more to life and to him. Finally, he has the chance to prove it.

Dickson is sitting in an office inside Channel Ten's compound in South Yarra. He has just completed a media preview of Can of Worms, a panel-based program he is hosting that will make its debut on the network on Monday.

The conceit of the show comes from the man we used to call Dicko's most infamous moment as judge on the now defunct but once powerhouse Idol franchise.

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One of that show's season-one contestants, Paulini Curuenavuli, walked on stage wearing that black and gold dress.

Dickson, as ever, was blunt in appraising her appearance.

''I said she needs to shed pounds or choose more appropriate clothes,'' he recalls. ''That was me with a filter on. But my whole world went into meltdown.''

Australian public have had my opinion for eight years and it's time for me to shut up," he said. "To be honest, I'm sick of what I think, so I'm sure the public is too."

Warnie, The White Room, The Catch Up and Ben Elton: Live From Planet Earth are just some similar chat-style shows that have suffered the chop not long after making their debuts.

But the 48-year-old says in the cut-throat world of commercial television he has the backing of Ten to ensure the axe won't fall on the quirky show too quickly.

"TV ratings are like a national pastime in Australia," he says. "It's bizarre and I've never seen this in any other country.

"Everyone's out there waiting for you to fail. This is a show that may not find its feet until episode five or six. I don't want to focus on the figures because it's an unusual concept and it might take people some time to catch on to what it is."

Dickson says he has high hopes of taking the show global, with his eye on a UK launch should the show hit the mark Down Under.

But what about his own can of worms - the rumours that he didn't want to be called Dicko anymore?

"I really don’t know where that came from, honestly, and it makes me laugh. I’m sure that story was designed to make me look like a bit of a wanker, and I don’t need any journalist’s help for that.

"There’s only one person in the world that calls me Ian and that’s my wife when she’s really p***ed off, so if everyone starts calling me Ian, I’ll be a nervous wreck. It’s Dicko. It’s always been Dicko and always will be Dicko.

Florence Brudenell-Bruce: Prince Harry

Prince Harry, the rough-and-tumble brother of the recently wed Prince William, is dating lingerie model Florence Brudenell-Bruce. Or, rather, meeting Brudenell-Bruce for a series of "secret trysts."

This despite Harry's recent assertion that he's "100 percent single," he's apparently been spotted making time with Brudenell-Bruce and spending time at her Notting Hill home.

And, because stuff like this apparently figures into tabloid gossip in London, comely young Florence is "a descendant of the seventh Earl of Cardigan who led the Charge of the Light Brigade." Which obviously makes her way more attractive than, say, some lingerie model whose ancestors merely churned butter or were pressed into service in the Royal Navy.

in reality, he's reportedly with Florence Brudenell-Bruce, an underwear model who could hold her (hot!) own against Kate's cute sister.

The two have been friends for years, sources tell The Daily Mail, with an insider saying:

"It's very early, but Harry and Florence are an item. "She is a lot of fun, blonde and very good looking. Harry really likes her."

Brudenell-Bruce is a descendant of the seventh Earl of Cardigan. As we all know, he led the Charge of the Light Brigade on October 25, 1854.

Prince Harry's trysts with his new love:Queen approve

Family tree showed that blue-blooded blonde Florence Brudenell-Bruce, 25, is an eighth cousin of the 26-year-old royal.

Brudenell-Bruce's links to Harry, Princess Diana and even Prince Charles' second wife, Camilla, can be traced back to the 18th century.

A family tree revealed that as well as being an eighth cousin of her new beau, she is also a distant cousin of both Diana and Camilla.

The common factor in the aristocratic web is the Honourable Sir Edward Walpole, the son of Britain's first prime minister, Sir Robert Walpole.

Sir Edward, who died in 1784, had a daughter, Maria, who married into the royal family.

Queen’s grandson has been secretly seeing lingerie model Florence Brudenell-Bruce for four weeks, it has emerged.

Harry’s seven-year on-off relationship with Zimbabwean-born Chelsy Davy has finally come to an end. And the Apache helicopter pilot has just ‘started dating’ 25-year-old Miss Brudenell-Bruce, sources confirmed, with private trysts thought to have taken place at her £400,000 Notting Hill flat, in West London.

The pair seem to have plenty in common – including family. They are, in fact, eighth cousins.

One might argue that anyone who has the name Florence Anne-Marie Brudenell-Bruce bestowed upon them has a certain obligation to live up to such a splendid moniker. To her credit, the lady in question has dutifully endeavoured to do just that in her 25 years.

She has dated the Formula 1 racing driver Jenson Button, she has starred in a Bollywood movie, she has posed for risqué modelling shots in her underwear and even lain herself on a mortuary slab in the name of art for a forthcoming episode of TV detective drama Lewis.

She is beautiful – how could a woman with such a title be plain? – aristocratic and impeccably mannered – and to her friends, she is known as ‘Flee’, which suggests a spiritual, otherworldly dimension to her character.

It is doubtful that anyone who knows her is remotely surprised to learn, if reports are correct, that she is stepping out with Prince Harry. The only surprise might be that it has taken her so long to land him.

Last week, at a posh pre-Wimbledon party, Florence confirmed she had split from her latest boyfriend, Henry St George, who like Flee, sounds like a character from a Barbara Cartland novel.

Climate change sceptic Lord Monckton takes umbrage at gassing

Professional orator, who admits he has no academic qualification on climate science, today addressed a Perth mining conference and will tonight deliver a speech at Notre Dame University which has been sponsored by West Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart.

More than 50 Australian academics have signed a letter urging the university to cancel the speech on the basis that Lord Monckton ''stands for the kind of ignorance and superstition that universities have a duty to counter".

Lord Monckton was this week forced to apologise to the Gillard government's chief climate change adviser, Ross Garnaut, for comparing him to a Nazi during a recent speech in the US.

Today he lashed out at the Australian media for failing to accurately represent his views.

After addressing the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies annual conference, he said journalists should be asking climate scientists why they were predicting a rate of warming up to five times greater than experienced over the past 60 years.

The media should also be asking how much money it would cost to mitigate global warning compared to the cost of the climate damage that may arise if no action was taken.

''If you were more curious about those questions you would find just how fascinating this whole scam that has been put together to lead people away from those questions,'' he said.

''You should start asking these questions because great damage will be done to your economy if you go down the road of a carbon tax and the MRRT. Both of these are disasters in the making and will drive Australia straight into the third world.

Lord Monckton said on his side of the climate change debate, when people "screwed up" they didn't pretend they hadn't.

His comments came amid pressure from 50 Australian academics who are calling on the University of Notre Dame to cancel his talk tonight.

Lord Monckton is being sponsored by mining magnate Gina Rinehart to deliver the Lang Hancock Lecture at the university.

But postgraduate student Natalie Latter has written to Notre Dame saying it is inappropriate for him to speak and infringes on its academic credibility.

Lord Monckton said he was not fazed by the push, but said if it only involved 50 academics then Australian academia "is in a better state than many parts of the world".

"I'm glad to see a free country where we are allowed to speak out and the university very gladly resisted the blandishments of those who say 'no you mustn't listen to this man'," he said.

"All credit to Notre Dame for saying 'no, we will hear both sides of this cause'."

Lord Monckton said academics should not be threatened by a layman like him, but by scientists who shared his view.

During his speech at the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, Lord Monckton said the cost of trying to reduce the effects of global warming far outweighed the cost of inaction.

He said the carbon tax would also put Australian companies at a severe disadvantage in competing with China.