Chris Hemsworth goes bad for Bad Times At The El Royale

This is completely different from anything Chris Hemsworth has tackled in the past and certainly a far cry from Marvel superhero Thor.

The 35-year-old plays manipulative cult leader Billy Lee in Bad Times At The El Royale, the new thriller written and directed by Drew Goddard.

The setting is the late 60s and the story is centred on seven strangers who meet at the titular hotel with a dark past on the border of California and Nevada.

Opening here tomorrow, the ensemble cast also includes Jeff Bridges, Jon Hamm and Dakota Johnson.

Here, the Australian - who has a six-year-old daughter and four-year-old twin boys with Spanish actress-wife Elsa Pataky, 42 - talks about his latest role and how he skilfully balances work and home life.

What drew you to this film?

My agent said he had read a script that was one of the best he had ever read - a Drew Goddard film. Ihad worked with Drew before (on the 2012 horror movie The Cabin In The Woods) and I am a huge fan of his work.

I read it and loved it. The script is fresh and unique, full of drama and a sinister sort of humour. It is wildly complex and layered, unlike anything Iread before.

It is a 60s noir thriller, and there are lots of different characters. Everything gets stacked up on top of everything else again and again. It becomes this house of cards; it is all wildly unpredictable and intense.

How challenging was it to play Billy Lee?

I spoke more in this film than I have ever spoken in any film before. I had a scene that was about 14 pages long where I had to drive everything and I spoke for 90 per cent of the time.

The logistics of learning that amount of dialogue was a lot. We shot it across a week and a half, which was a long time to shoot one scene. It was challenging to try and keep that energy and consistency up.

“The script is fresh and unique, full of drama and a sinister sort of humour. It is wildly complex and layered, unlike anything I read before.” Chris Hemsworth on his villainous role in Bad Times At The El Royale

How did you get through it?

I just tried to stay "in it" as much as I could, and I drank a ton of coffee. I wasn't eating a whole lot, so I didn't have that usual post-meal slump.

I was jittery and wired, which was what I wanted the character to be. In that particular scene, he was out of his element. As well as being hard, it was a hell of a lot of fun too. Playing this role was the most free I have ever felt, because there was so much texture and so much to work with. I kind of danced through that sequence.

This character is very different for you.

Absolutely, and this was the attraction for me. I desperately wanted to do something like this and not just for the sake of being a villain.

There are certain rules when you are playing the hero. I have spent a lot of my career playing the hero, which becomes kind of predictable and so to be able to be unpredictable and continually keep yourself guessing is great.

This role meant digging into the psyche of someone a bit further. He is someone who is far from who I am. It is great not to have everything laid out before you get to set, so you can really feel your instincts.

It was interesting being able to change the tonality of my speaking voice. I wanted everything to feel foreign and different from what I had done before. Part of that was having such an incredible script. You know, I think it is really good to roll the dice and take new risks like this. It issatisfying and enjoyable.

How do you choose roles and find balance in your life?

That is the biggest challenge. I told Drew this was the best script I had read in probably 10 years. I also told him my time with my family was important.

Then Drew said, "I have a family", and the producer he was working with said the same thing. They said, "We understand that, so let's make it work." I am so thankful for that.

It wasn't that I was going, "I'm tired" or "I need a break" or "I'm not doing this". It was that my wife was shooting a TV show and I had to be with the kids.

So I am thankful for their support and the way they adjusted the schedule to make it all work.

So what is balance all about for you?

It is about being wherever I am fully, rather than dividing the focus. If I think to myself when I am working, "I will put 50 per cent into work and 50 per cent into family", both will suffer.

It becomes much more about considered decisions in the sort of work I take on and what that shooting schedule looks like so I make sure I can give both work and family 100 per cent.