Five actors ALMOST cast as Thor before Chris Hemsworth

Chris Hemsworth is now one of the most recognised movie stars in the world thanks to his role as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The Australian actor has been featured as the God of Thunder in eight movies in the MCU, plus various appearances in other media. He most recently reprised the role in Thor: Love and Thunder and his pay day for that established him as one of the highest-paid names in Hollywood.

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Interestingly, when the part was being cast by producers around 2010/2011, Hemsworth was initially denied the chance to read, only to be given the opportunity further down the line eventually.

He credits his small part in Star Trek as George Kirk with helping to land the role of Thor.

READ MORE: Five actors almost cast as Captain America before Chris Evans

“I’d shot Star Trek and then I had about eight or nine months where I couldn’t get a job," Hemsworth told Vanity Fair.

"Then the film came out and it gave me some momentum. I had auditioned for Thor a few times but didn’t get a callback. I then had the opportunity to have another callback. Star Trek had come out, Kenneth Branagh had seen it. I do think it helped in many, many ways. I think J.J. Abrams and Kenneth had a conversation.

“The initial audition I sent was with my mum and I, and my mum was reading as Anthony Hopkins, so I don’t know, maybe it was her read that somehow swayed the vote there.”

Now, nobody can picture anyone else as Thor, but there were some well-known names linked with the role before him.

Alexander Skarsgård 

Alexander Skarsgård even got the opportunity to try on the famous Thor costume in a casting test with Kevin Fiege and the movie's director Kenneth Branagh. 

 “Yeah, I met with Kevin a few times and the director ,” he told MTV.

“There was definitely some truth in that, yeah.”

Alexander's father, Stellan Skarsgård, was subsequently cast in the role of Erik Selvig, an ally of Thor's.

Triple H

Wrestlers turning into actors doesn't always work out for the best. For every Dwayne Johnson, John Cena and Dave Bautista there is a Mike Mizanin, CM Punk or Hulk Hogan.

Prior to being linked with the role of Thor, Triple H (real name Paul Levesque) appeared in Blade: Trinity. It is true that Triple H's links to Thor were mostly based upon the fact that the fit the profile physically as he was a long-haired, bearded, blond and muscle-bound beast back in the day.

Several outlets reported back in 2011 that Branagh was high on the idea of casting the WWE legend, but when the process of finding the right actor actually got under way, the rumours seemed to disappear.

Liam Hemsworth

Liam Hemsworth has carved out a decent movie career for himself, starring in features like The Hunger Games series, Independence Day: Resurgence and The Expendables 2.

But, he missed out on superstardom thanks to the emergence of his brother as the favourite to play Thor.

Chris has previously revealed a desire to see Liam play a version of Thor within the MCU's multiverse, telling MensXP:

“My little brother almost got cast as Thor. He was one of the first people who got right down to the wire on getting the part so I don’t know I could cross paths with him. That will be fun. (laughs)”

Daniel Craig

The most famous name, at the time, linked with playing Thor was James Bond himself, Daniel Craig.

By the time Thor was being cast, Craig was established as 007 and so had already committed himself to a multiple-picture deal to continue playing the role, which ruled him out of any real contention to play the God of Thunder.

Still, reports at the time suggested that Marvel actually offered him the role.

Tom Hiddleston

If accounts in 2011 are to be believed, the Thor casting came down to two names - Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston.

Of course, we all know Hiddleston as Loki now but he initially auditioned for the role of Thor and his tape was even leaked online several years later.

Hiddleston had worked with Branagh previously and it seems unthinkable now that he would be cast as Thor as he as Loki and Hemsworth as Thor seems so perfect.