Liam Hemsworth may have landed a starring role opposite Miley Cyrus in The Last Song at age 19, but that doesn't mean that his young career hasn't had its fair share of false starts. The Australian native thought he got his big break when he was cast in Sylvester Stallone's upcoming The Expendables, but being cut from the film made him nearly throw in the towel. Next, Kenneth Branagh flirted with the idea of handing him the title role in the big-budget Marvel adaptation Thor, but instead chose his older brother Chris. Still, The Last Song soon came along -- as did a high-profile romance with Cyrus -- and now Hemsworth is the hot property Hollywood's always intended him to be.
Just as he was being cast in a new 3D adaptation of Arabian Nights, Hemsworth sat down with Movieline to discuss what exactly went down with The Expendables, why he think his brother beat him out for Thor, and the racy, naked role he had before he made his way to America.
I wanted to start by asking about The Expendables. You were cast in that when you were still in Australia, right?
Yeah.
How did you get into that film, and how did you get cut out of it?
How did you know about that?
I did my research.
I didn't realize people knew about that! Yeah, I started sending tapes over from Australia for a couple of things, and I sent one over for The Expendables and one over for Thor. The Expendables one...I've never really talked about The Expendables in an interview!
Good!
I sent a tape over, and a week later, my Australian agent called me and said that Stallone was gonna call me in a few days. I was like, "Wow. OK."
Between that call from your agent and the call from Stallone, how were you feeling?
I was just telling all my friends, "Yeah, I'm just getting a call from Stallone in a couple of days. No big deal." [Laughs] It was weird, man. It was really weird. Stallone was gonna call! And then I chatted with him on the phone...
Did he sound like the Stallone you knew from the movies?
He sounded like Rocky, pretty much. "Hey, how you doin," that kind of thing. Then we chatted and he asked me if I wanted to do the film and I said absolutely. I was supposed to be coming over in two weeks from that phone call, and then a week later I got another phone call from my Australian agent and the script had been rewritten and they'd cut, like, six characters from it.
How'd that feel?
Yeah, it was a big kick in the face. I'd celebrated and told all my friends and then that happened. I was so down about it because I was about to come to America and I'd landed this big film and I was going to be working with Stallone and then suddenly it all went out the door. I was questioning whether I even wanted to go over to America at all -- you think really bad stuff after something like that. But it was good, because that same afternoon that all went down, I got a phone call -- I'd sent a tape in for Thor -- and they wanted to fly me over and do a screen test for that.
So suddenly you're like, "Yay!"
Exactly, Thor happened and it was like, "How cool! I'll at least get over there now." So I went over for that and it was really cool, I spent a day with Kenneth Branagh and screen-tested.
What was that like?
The screen test? It was pretty amazing! I'd been in America for like a day, and the next day I had this screen test with Kenneth Branagh directing me down at the Marvel studios. He's a real actor's director and makes you feel comfortable. My brother got the part and he's been working on it for the last few months, and he says the same thing. He's so good to work for because he's an actor himself, so he knows what it's like.
Did you audition around the same time as your brother?
No, originally he didn't have a screen test for it. He got called back afterwards.
What did he have that you didn't have?
I guess age. [Laughs] That's what I'm gonna say. I think it would have been a little awkward if I got it over him, because he's six years older than me. I was really happy for him to get it, and the intention was for me to stay here for three months and try to find work, and I got The Last Song within five weeks of being here. Yeah, and here I am.
Congrats! I'm sure a lot of actors will be like, "Whoa, it happened that fast?"
Yeah, that's what my manager Will said to me: "Just so you know, this doesn't happen. Ever." I'm extremely grateful to be here.
Are you worried that it came so fast, that you've peaked too soon?
Yeah, you can think that. Look, from day one since I got here, I wanted to enjoy the whole process, whether I got work or not. I didn't want to hate L.A., I didn't want to go home feeling shitty. And I think it's paid off -- I've embraced everything, and I've gotten work. I'm negotiating a deal for [Arabian Nights] at the moment.
How can you sell The Last Song to guys, beyond the fact that their girlfriends are going to drag them to it?
You know, I'm the same -- I'm a guy and I love action films, big fun stuff, actors like Will Smith, that kind of thing. I watched The Notebook a few years ago, and originally, I wouldn't want to watch something like that either, but the thing about Nicholas Sparks stories is that he has the power to affect people in some way. You feel something from him, whether it be sadness or happiness. He tells really good stories with strong emotions, and I think anyone in life can relate to that kind of thing.
I wanted to ask about Arabian Nights, your next film. Beyond the fact that it's 3D and it's a retelling of the classic Arabian Nights story, what can you tell us about it?
Basically, I'm a commander of an army, and my king gets killed. I go off and I join forces with Sinbad and ask him to save my kingdom, and then we come back and we mess some stuff up. [Laughs]
Will there be a lot of green-screen stuff?
I'm not sure. It's so early at the moment that they're still talking about who's going to play Sinbad. I'm the first person who's been cast. It's not going to go until August or September, it's way off -- they're not even sure where they're gonna shoot yet.
Good luck with that.
No, it's exciting, man. I wanted to do something like this before [I came here], and I'm excited to do it.
I know you did soaps in Australia before you came here, and I saw a clip of one where you're naked and seducing a cougar...
Satisfaction? [Laughs]
I have to ask you what that scene was about, what were you doing with a banana...
Yeah, that show's about upper-class prostitutes, and I was playing a 16-year-old who was pretending to be 19. Basically, he's a really rich kid whose dad has gone away for the weekend, and I hire this prostitute. The banana was...[Laughs]...I mean, I come up and place it on her back and she thinks it's something else. I was just talking about eating the banana, and she was thinking about another thing. I was 18 at least when I shot it, and it was interesting, because I was butt-naked in front of a lot of people.
And it lives on to this day.
It's just one of those things.
[Lead Photo Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images]