‘Thor: Love and Thunder’: Meet Gorr’s Daughter — Chris Hemsworth’s Real-Life Daughter India

There’s an unexpected scene-stealer in Marvel Studios’ Thor: Love and Thunder – Chris Hemsworth’s daughter, India.

The latest outing with the God of Thunder includes a plethora of small children — who have been kidnapped by Gorr in an effort to lure Stormbreaker to the Gates of Eternity — but if there’s one kid that stands out in the film, it’s India. She actually plays Gorr’s daughter in the movie, but she sadly passes away shortly after the movie begins starting Gorr on his quest to kill all the gods. It’s only when Gorr reaches the Gates of Eternity that he realizes that what he wants more than anything else is his daughter back, and uses that as his one wish.

But who will look after his daughter once he’s gone, after succumbing to the power of the Necrosword? Why, none other than Thor himself, and also India’s real-life father.

India playing Gorr’s daughter wasn’t always included in the overall grand plan for the movie, but as the story evolved over time the role was expanded. When an opportunity for India to play Gorr’s daughter presented itself, Hemsworth actually did a self-tape with her for an audition and as director Taika Waititi explains to Marvel.com, “She was really good. She's really an active kid and she's very smart and very confident, you know, as you can imagine only Chris's kids can be.”

Hemsworth at one point suggested that it might be fun to do a scene opposite her, never knowing what the character would evolve into. “It just felt like a really nice way of finishing the film with Chris and his daughter and that being Love and Thunder,” Waititi says.

As for what it was like to share the screen with his daughter in real life, Hemsworth laughs. “It was just like when I'm at home, trying to tell her to do anything, she's like, pfft, no, I'll do it my way. And power to her, good on her, because she did an incredible job.” 

However, Hemsworth admits that he was “nervous” for her through the process, but kept those feelings at bay because he could tell India was having fun with it — at the end of the day, isn’t that what any parent wants?

As for her on-screen dad, Christian Bale calls India’s performance a “wonderful job,” adding that he was impressed with the young star — especially considering some of the things she had to do to interact with Gorr.

“We have a fair few scenes where, you know, it can get quite sad,” He recalls. “I remember poor little thing at one point, I was doing a scene, and then I had to hold her, and tears dropped. I think one hit her on the face, and she was like ooh noo. I look, and like she's going to chuck up, and I don't blame her, poor little thing. But she was absolutely magnificent.”

Hemsworth remembers another moment when India had to kiss Gorr, and she wasn’t too thrilled about it. “She had to kiss Gorr on the top of the head [and she didn’t want to]. She goes, ‘No, his head's all sticky,’ because he had the prosthetic makeup and stuff. So she did a kiss and did it, like, a couple of inches away from his head. I was like, you can't use that! Christian was laughing, we were laughing, it was great.”

As Bale notes, Hemsworth was actually around while she was filming, making sure India was always okay. “Chris was a wonderfully attentive dad, just off-camera all the time, just checking she was all right, giving me thumbs up, me giving him thumbs up, checking. It was really endearing seeing the two of them. He sort of let her be, and she did it herself.”

Hemsworth believes this foray into acting might have been a one-off for India, but the future is wide open. Regardless, he loves that his family got to come along for this latest adventure, and India played a small part in it.

“I love the ownership the kids have in moments like that,” he explains. “It's a good reminder, all of it, for all of us just to stay true to who you are and not get caught up in the self-importance of it all. [Kids] really bring you back to Earth and ground the whole experience.”

Adventure awaits, Thor: Love and Thunder is now playing exclusively in theaters.

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