Robert Downey Jr ‘roasts’ Chris Hemsworth with descriptions from Avengers cast

By Ellie Iorizzo, PA Los Angeles Correspondent

Chris Hemsworth was honoured during a Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony which saw his Avengers co-star Robert Downey Jr mark the occasion with a “roast” of the Thor actor.

Australian actor Hemsworth received a star in the category of motion pictures alongside Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga director George Miller and co-star Anya Taylor Joy, as well as his parents, wife Elsa Pataky and their three children.

During the Hollywood ceremony, Iron Man star Downey Jr said he had spoken to their Marvel friends Jeremy Renner, who plays Hawkeye, Hulk star Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, who plays Black Widow, and Captain America’s Chris Evans.

“Here comes the roast,” Downey Jr said.

“I reached out to his fellow Avengers to distil three simple describing words ‘what is Chris Hemsworth’,” Downey Jr said.

“First off, Renner says ‘absurdly, annoyingly, amazing’. Ruffalo came in strong with ‘friend from work’.

“Scarlett got to the heart of it with ‘sensitive leading lady’. Captain America calls him ‘second best Chris’.

“…There is no-one who deserves this more. He is ‘Hollywood star recipient’.”

Downey Jr, who won an Oscar this year for his role in Oppenheimer, also lauded the actor for his talents.

“Beyond the cape and the hammer is a contagious Aussie charm,” the 59-year-old said.

“You are a remarkable human being, it’s no fun following you, you’re a legend.

“Chris is a bit daunting to describe, he’s very elusive because of the pretty packaging.

“However, upon further inspection down under, he has a true blue wit and he has a depth of soul and it has been my sincere pleasure to know you over these many years, but you keep us Hollywood folks on our toes because you’re just a real dude.”

Hemsworth will next be seen as warlord leader Dementus in Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga – which is set for release on Friday.

During the ceremony, director Miller said he was happy to report that Hemsworth is a “great human being”, as well as describing him as a “great actor”.

“Forty-five years ago, when we started off making the first Mad Max, there were a group of motorcycle riders who were going to appear in the film, and one of them happened to be a guy called Craig Hemsworth.

“He was 19 at the time, he couldn’t do the film because he was going to university and that’s where he met Leonie, his wife.

“…45 years later, I got to work with one of their sons, Chris, in Furiosa. Filming only finished about a month ago with Anya and Chris and a whole bunch of wonderful actors.

“I got to know him as a professional (while) working, and I was incredibly impressed by the way that he worked – well beyond my expectations – and in the way that he brought people together.”

Taking to the stage, Hemsworth thanked Downey Jr and Miller who he described as “two icons of the industry” and “two of my heroes”.

Hemsworth said his oldest friend was also in the crowd of the ceremony.

“When we were six years old, right up until we were at the end of high school, 18, we would be reciting movies and lines from movies and doing it for the pure passion and joy of it and not knowing or thinking I was going to be an actor one day, but because we loved story telling,” he said.

“To have this dream be a reality, to be a much larger kid than I was then but still be doing the same thing, which is living out my passion and my dream is, again hard to put into words. It has a very surreal quality to it.

“…I think a lot of the reason that I believed in myself doing this was the belief that my friends and family had for me, and specifically, my parents, who raised me with the belief that if you choose something you’re passionate about, if you lean into that thing that you love with your heart and soul, then the purpose and the meaning is laid out in front of you and you give things value by committing to it.”

Hemsworth also said he is forever in debt to his wife who has been by his side “endlessly encouraging and supportive” during his career.

“It doesn’t get lost upon me that she put aside her own dreams in order to support mine.

“The fact that nothing that I do, any of these moments and special occasions or these events, none of it is special without you by my side,” the 40-year-old added.