Star Trek: Chris Hemsworth Says He’d Return as George Kirk if J. J. Abrams Asked

Ever since Star Trek Beyond was released there has seemingly been more non-starter events getting a fourth Star Trek film off the ground than when an initial big-screen reboot was being planned. Among the many ideas that were announced at one point or another, and never came to fruition, was that Marvel star Chris Hemsworth would reprise his role of George Kirk, father of James T. Kirk, which he played in the opening scene of the 2009 Star Trek reboot. It never made sense how this would happen, but time travel and alternate universes are already a thing in the series so they would have figured out a way, and Hemsworth says that if they still figure out how to do it, he’s game.

“There was talk about me doing the film with Chris Pine at one point,” Hemsworth shared in a video interview with Vanity Fair (via Gizmodo). “The script was sort of put together and then it fell apart. If J.J. Abrams called me tomorrow and said ‘Chris Pine and I want to do it,’ I’d probably say ‘Yeah, let’s go for it!’”  The actor opened up about how the part came together in the same interview as well, revealing that he seemingly booked it over a year after auditioning for the part of Captain Kirk….and not getting it.

“I got called into J.J. Abrams’ office,” Hemsworth added. “There was no information about what it was for, I knew it was for Star Trek but I didn’t know what character or anything. And it was basically based on an audition I had for the lead role that Chris Pine had played twelve months prior… So I came in and he handed me the script and I just read through the scene, and I did something right. I remember not really understanding what I was a part of potentially, which was a good thing. If I had known it was going to be the relaunching of Star Trek and become the film it became, I’m sure I would have been a lot more intimidated but I had auditioned on a Friday and then was shooting on the Monday. So there wasn’t a whole lot of time for me to process what it was.”

Hemsworth also teased what it was like for him to book the part and what happened next, revealing he believed it helped him book the part of Thor, but only after a long wait.

“I shot Star Trek and then I had about eight or nine months where I couldn’t get a job,” the Marvel star said. “Then the film came out and it gave me some momentum. And I had auditioned for Thor a few times-didn’t get a call back. Then had another opportunity to have another callback. Star Trek had come out, Kenneth Branagh had seen it. I do think it helped in many, many ways. And I think J.J. Abrams and Kenneth had a conversation. The initial audition I sent, or the tape, was with my mum and I, and my mum was reading as Anthony Hopkins. I don’t know, maybe it was her read that somehow swayed the vote there.”

Chris Hemsworth can next be seen playing Thor the god of thunder in Thor: Love and Thunder, marking his eighth appearance as the character.