Hemsworth ditches Hollywood and returns to his rugged Aussie roots as he goes full croc-wrangler in hit series

Luke Hemsworth has left the glitz and glamor of Hollywood behind and returned to his Australian roots for his latest role in a hit comedy series.

The 44-year-old actor takes on a new role as a charismatic crocodile fighter and wildlife park owner in the second series of the hugely popular Australian Prime Video series.

Liam and Chris Hemsworth’s older brother will play Jason Wade, a Territory legend who will inject new danger into the mystery series.

Photos from the shoot show Luke in the role of the star of Jason Wade’s Adventures Down Under, showing off his toned body in his wildlife park uniform.

The first series of Deadloch followed a small town in Tasmania that was rocked by tragedy when a local man turned up dead ahead of the Winter Festival.

Two detectives and an enthusiastic junior cop are then tasked with investigating the grizzly crime and are faced with some unexpected twists in the hit black comedy series.

Luke, best known for his role as Ashley Stubbs in HBO’s Westworld, joins returning stars Kate Box, Madeleine Sami and Nina Oyama in the second series.

The new season sees Dulcie (Kate) and Eddie (Madeleine) investigate the death of Eddie’s former police partner Bushy in Darwin, when they are thrown into a new investigation when a body is discovered.

The 44-year-old actor takes on a new role as a charismatic crocodile fighter and wildlife park owner in the second series of the hugely popular Australian Prime Video series.

Production has already started in the Northern Territory and has since moved to Brisbane, Queensland, to shoot in less crocodile-infested waters.

‘We are very happy with this, because it is perfect. It’s perfect casting,” creators Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan said of Luke’s casting.

Luke previously worked with his brother Chris after landing a cameo role in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok.

While his younger brother Chris, 41, voices the famous Marvel superhero in the franchise, Luke hilariously played an actor portraying Thor in a stage play.

In a comic moment where Loki (Tom Hiddleston) hires actors to play him, Luke appears as the stage actor portraying an unfavorable version of Thor.

He appeared in the piece alongside Matt Damon, who took on the role of Loki, with Marvel fans going wild for the celebrity cameos.

The storyline of starring in a movie then reappeared in Thor: Love and Thunder, with Luke making another brief appearance in the release.

Chris’ brother Liam was also linked to the Thor franchise, with Chris previously admitting his brother almost snagged the lead role.

Luke previously teamed up with his brother Chris (both pictured in November 2022) after landing a cameo role in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok

While his younger brother Chris, 41, voices the famous Marvel superhero in the franchise, Luke hilariously played an actor portraying Thor in a play during the film.

In 2015, Chris revealed that he originally failed to make it to the final four casting calls, losing to his younger brother Liam.

‘I had an audition with Ken [Branagh, for Thor] that didn’t go so well. I remember walking out and thinking, ‘Oh well, there’s that opportunity,'” he told Vanity Fair.

He said there was no competition between him and Liam and he recalled thinking ‘if one of us gets it, that’s cool’ before discovering his brother had made the cut on him.

‘One day Jos [Whedon] was reading the transactions, and on the front the last four were for Thor, and they pointed to Liam and said, “Hey, is that your brother?” and I said, ‘Yes,'” he explained.

Chris said he remembers the screenwriter and director asking, “Why the hell aren’t you in it?” to which he simply replied, “I didn’t get a call back.”

‘They said, “This is crazy”… “No way, that should be you”.’

Chris’ brother Liam was also linked to the Thor franchise, with Chris previously admitting his brother almost snagged the lead role (he’s pictured with Chris and Luke)

Chris said Liam ultimately lost the role because he was ‘a bit young’ with his manager and then managed to land him another audition.

“I came back, re-auditioned a few times and just had a different attitude. Maybe I had a little more motivation that my little brother was looking at and I wasn’t,” he told Wired.

He said the final choice for the role was a “dream scenario” as he is now involved in a regular series that helps him stay “relevant” in the acting world.

After losing out on the role of Chris in the superhero film, Liam secured his role as Gale Hawthorne in the adventure franchise The Hunger Games a few months later.