"He's a freak of nature. I've never seen anything like it in my life."
Filming for Thor: Love and Thunder is only in its third week, but Chris Hemsworth is already looking the part according to those closest to him.
In an exclusive interview with JOE, Hemsworth's stunt double Bobby Holland Hanton explained the challenges of training and dieting in the Australian's footsteps.
Hanton has doubled for Hemsworth for almost 10 years, and is currently in Sydney alongside the Hollywood star filming the latest Thor. It is due to be released next year.
The 36-year-old stunt pro has undergone a seriously impressive transformation himself in order to double for Thor in Love and Thunder.
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He said: "On this show, I'm training two sometimes three times a day - and that's just to try and get into Thor's shape. Let alone all of the stunt and fight rehearsals that we do."
Hanton was an elite-level gymnast as a youngster, but had to throw in the towel aged 16 due to a growth spurt leaving him much taller and heavier than his peers.
Doubling for Chris Hemsworth has arguably been Hanton's toughest athletic challenge yet.
"At the moment, I'm 95kg. At my natural weight, I sit around 85kg, but stunt doubling for Hemsworth ... He's 6'4, he's a man-mountain, so it's a job in itself for me to get anywhere near his size.
"For the new Thor he's the biggest he's ever been, so that means I've got to try and be the biggest I've ever been."
Hanton added that trying to physically emulate Hemsworth has proved difficult.
"I'm eating eight or nine meals a day, I'm training two or three times a day and still trying to be agile, mobile and functional in my work.
"Right now, it's tough. I'm training like a bodybuilder and still trying to do my job."
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In terms of his specific training, Hanton begins the day with a bodyweight workout not too dissimilar to gymnastics, comprising of plyometrics and many explosive movements such as ring muscle-ups, pull-ups and dips.
Later on in the evening, he performs a heavy weights session designed to pack on as much lean muscle mass as possible.
Again, the purpose of this is to replicate Thor.
"Chris is not just big, he's also lean," said Hanton.
"He's a freak of nature. I've never seen anything like it in my life."
Hanton, who has also doubled for Daniel Craig, Christian Bale and Ryan Reynolds, also described the work that goes into being a stuntman, its inherent dangers - and why his profession should ultimately be recognised at the Oscars.
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