Rise to Fame
He arrived in LA in March 2009 with no agent and got cast within three weeks. The role was Will Blakelee in The Last Song opposite Miley Cyrus, which handed him a career break and years of tabloid coverage in one package. The Hunger Games franchise then made him a blockbuster fixture, playing Gale Hawthorne across four films. He reportedly dropped over 15 pounds before filming to get inside his character's hunger. It wasn't the flashiest role in the franchise, but it ran for four years and paid accordingly.
In the Spotlight
Netflix handed him The Witcher after Henry Cavill's exit, and he took it knowing the fanbase wasn't asking for a switch. Season 4 premiered in October 2025; he addressed the backlash directly and pushed through. Season 5 is already in post-production. Off-screen, he got engaged to Gabriella Brooks in September 2025 after nearly six years together. The decade with Miley Cyrus, including the 2019 divorce after less than a year of marriage, is behind him. His current chapter is quieter than his twenties, which, given how those went, was probably the plan.
Side Notes
He grew up partly in Bulman in the Northern Territory outback, where the neighbors were crocodiles and water buffalos, before settling on Phillip Island and surfing competitively until he was 18. His uncle by marriage was reportedly the real bushman who inspired Crocodile Dundee. He also tested for Thor before his brother Chris landed it, and got cast in The Last Song the same week he lost that audition. All three Hemsworth brothers are working actors who passed through Australian soaps on the way up.