Actor Chris Hemsworth has admitted he regretted moving to back to Byron Bay in his native Australia following a spate of deadly shark attacks near his home.
Chris Hemsworth regretted moving back to his native Australia after a spate of deadly shark attacks near his home.
The Thor star, 42, grew up Down Under but lived in the US for many years before moving back to Australia in 2015 with his wife Elsa Pataky and their children, but Chris has now admitted he thought he’d made a huge mistake after two surfers were killed by sharks just minutes away from his home in Byron Bay.
During an appearance on the SmartLess podcast, he explained: “When I first moved to Byron Bay, there was a string of shark attacks – two deaths, then one guy survived – in the space of two weeks. One out the front of my house and one 10 minutes south of me and [one] five minutes north. I was like: ‘Where have I moved to? What have I done? This is crazy.’
“And so for the next … [I was only going out surfing] when there were other people in the water. Your chances are a little better. There was a period when there would just be choppers [helicopters] going up and down the coastline shark spotting and then they have a siren on because for whatever reason there was this feeding frenzy.
[They put the siren on] or they tell the police and the police would come down with a big speaker and tell you to get out of the water. And you’d all sit there and be like: ‘Argh I’m not getting out of the water’ and then each guys starts paddling in like: ‘Fine, fine we’ll go in.’
“Bull sharks and great whites are the most predominant.”
However, Chris refuses to let the risk of shark attacks put him off the sport he loves. He added: “I surf every day … I heard that more people die in America by shaking a vending machine to get chocolate out and it collapsing on them. I don’t know if it’s true. “
The actor went on to reveal there are “heaps of snakes” around his house and his three children aren’t bothered by them, but his Hollywood pal Matt Damon got a nasty surprise during his first visit Down Under.
Chris said: “[There are] heaps of snakes … We see a lot of snakes around our house and a lot of pythons, but the pythons are very territorial so they keep the bad ones away … We don’t mind having the pythons around. My kids will go and grab them by the tail sometimes …
“Matt Damon, he was asking me all these questions before they came to Australia. I was like: ‘Ah you’re fine’. The first day, he drives down the street, gets out of a car and steps straight on a snake. I’ve been there 42 years and never stepped on a snake. Day one. He’s a dummy. “
Chris Hemsworth regretted Australia move after shark attacks
