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| Luke Hemsworth swapped a hammer for Hollywood. Photo by Randy Holmes/WireImages. |
By Jordi Lippe-Mcgraw, Architectural Digest
Luke Hemsworth—the oldest and, until recently, the least famous of the three Hemsworth brothers—took his time getting to where he is now. At 36 he has a starring role on the hit HBO series Westworld; has just finished filming the sci-fi drama Encounter; and is already generating buzz for his starring role as Wild Bill Hickok, alongside Bruce Dern and Trace Adkins, in the film Hickok, which will be screened at the Cannes Film Festival on May 20.
[post_ads]But despite trying his hand multiple times at acting in his youth, while his brothers headed to Hollywood, Luke stayed put in Australia. "I don't think I ever saw acting as an actual career until late," he said. "That's why I went down the road of getting a trade and [laying] floor and supporting myself that way, because I never really saw coming to Los Angeles as an option."
Now, not even five years after he finally made the decision to relocate to California from Australia, the eldest Hemsworth has put down roots with his wife of a decade and their four children. We spoke with Hemsworth while he was in New York City about everything from his use of Old Spice's new Swagger Gel to how he still puts those carpentry skills to good use to why, for him, going to a theater just doesn't cut it anymore.
AD: Your house, it's in California?
Luke Hemsworth: Yeah, in Malibu. Our kitchen kind of flows into the living room and then we have got these beautiful 40-foot doors that disappear on the wall and the balcony out there with the barbecue. So the barbecue and the kitchen are definitely the most important and probably where I spend most of the time.
AD: Did you take that into consideration when you were designing the house? Or is that something you particularly wanted?
LH: We didn’t design it. We just walked in and as soon I saw those doors, I said, Aha! This is it! And it’s kind of…I feel like Australia is a bit like that now in terms of embracing this indoor-outdoor living that flows, and I feel like I am all about gatherings in the kitchen and that outdoor area, so it works beautifully. Can’t really ask for anything else.
AD: Is there a special design element in the house?
LH: We have a theater room as well, which is something I always wanted as a kid because we were so into film and movies. So I find it hard to go to the theaters and see a film because we have this amazing room where it’s pitch black and you’ve got a big screen and it’s all soundproof. You can’t hear anything through the rest of the house. You kind of disappear in there.
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AD: Is there stadium seating and everything?
LH: It’s just one big, beautiful couch called “The Cloud,” and it is just like lying in a…
AD: Did you name it The Cloud?
LH: Yeah! It kind of became that. It’s just like sitting on a cloud and it’s hard to get out of.
AD: What would you say is the biggest difference in style, architecture or design-wise, between Australia and the United States?
LH: I feel like in Australia nowadays, they use natural light really well. Amazingly, I still feel California is not good at doing that. I am like, This is a beautiful house, but it’s dark! That is maybe a difference. I think [finishing] stains in Australia are really good. I am disappointed a lot in finishes [here]. I come from a trade background as well, so maybe I pick up on things a little bit more critically.
AD: Since you used to run a flooring company, did you build anything in your house?
LH: What have I built? I have built a couple of things. I am always kind of tinkering and doing stuff with wood—I always have. So there are a few chairs.
AD: That you have created?
LH: Yeah. I kind of restored a wood dining table on the balcony.
AD: Can you describe it a little bit?
LH: It’s teak, but it was completely moldy and rotten when we got it. So I pulled out the wire brush with an angle grinder and I spent probably a day or so just getting mold off and then oiling it and sanding it and oiling it. It’s beautiful.
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AD: Did you let your kids design their own rooms?
LH: Yeah, this is a constant ongoing battle, I think. It is ever changing, so they are still bringing out things they want in their rooms. Holly and Ella, the older ones, have bunk beds. Now the youngest one, Harper, she wants to be grown-up, so that is the next part. She made a little loft in their room that she can go up onto, and then they can have a cubby underneath. But yeah, in some ways. New pieces of art have gone up. They are pretty lucky. They have got a beautiful big room that they all share together.
AD: They are all in one room?
LH: Yeah. We actually took down a wall between the two smaller bedrooms when we bought a house and they have a beautiful big room for them.
AD: Is there anything that you bring on set that you bring from home to kind of make your trailer feel homey?
LH: I am lucky with Westworld because I get to go home at the end of the day because it’s shot in and around L.A. In Georgia, filming the sci-fi movie Encounter, I actually took my blender. I took the Vitamix, so that was the daily routine and a great way to kind of normalize that experience. But I like to travel pretty light, so that was a big deal for me to take the blender. It was heavy.
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| Luke Hemsworth has grown a cult following with a role in Westworld. |
Luke Hemsworth: Yeah, in Malibu. Our kitchen kind of flows into the living room and then we have got these beautiful 40-foot doors that disappear on the wall and the balcony out there with the barbecue. So the barbecue and the kitchen are definitely the most important and probably where I spend most of the time.
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| A coastal shot of Malibu, California. |
LH: We didn’t design it. We just walked in and as soon I saw those doors, I said, Aha! This is it! And it’s kind of…I feel like Australia is a bit like that now in terms of embracing this indoor-outdoor living that flows, and I feel like I am all about gatherings in the kitchen and that outdoor area, so it works beautifully. Can’t really ask for anything else.
AD: Is there a special design element in the house?
LH: We have a theater room as well, which is something I always wanted as a kid because we were so into film and movies. So I find it hard to go to the theaters and see a film because we have this amazing room where it’s pitch black and you’ve got a big screen and it’s all soundproof. You can’t hear anything through the rest of the house. You kind of disappear in there.
[post_ads_2]
AD: Is there stadium seating and everything?
LH: It’s just one big, beautiful couch called “The Cloud,” and it is just like lying in a…
AD: Did you name it The Cloud?
LH: Yeah! It kind of became that. It’s just like sitting on a cloud and it’s hard to get out of.
AD: What would you say is the biggest difference in style, architecture or design-wise, between Australia and the United States?
LH: I feel like in Australia nowadays, they use natural light really well. Amazingly, I still feel California is not good at doing that. I am like, This is a beautiful house, but it’s dark! That is maybe a difference. I think [finishing] stains in Australia are really good. I am disappointed a lot in finishes [here]. I come from a trade background as well, so maybe I pick up on things a little bit more critically.
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| Hemsworth packs a Vitamix (upper left) with him during filming; his Malibu home boasts 40-foot doors similar to this one (upper right); the actor has recently restored a teak table (lower right); a home theater has always been a dream of his. |
LH: What have I built? I have built a couple of things. I am always kind of tinkering and doing stuff with wood—I always have. So there are a few chairs.
AD: That you have created?
LH: Yeah. I kind of restored a wood dining table on the balcony.
AD: Can you describe it a little bit?
LH: It’s teak, but it was completely moldy and rotten when we got it. So I pulled out the wire brush with an angle grinder and I spent probably a day or so just getting mold off and then oiling it and sanding it and oiling it. It’s beautiful.
[post_ads_2]
AD: Did you let your kids design their own rooms?
LH: Yeah, this is a constant ongoing battle, I think. It is ever changing, so they are still bringing out things they want in their rooms. Holly and Ella, the older ones, have bunk beds. Now the youngest one, Harper, she wants to be grown-up, so that is the next part. She made a little loft in their room that she can go up onto, and then they can have a cubby underneath. But yeah, in some ways. New pieces of art have gone up. They are pretty lucky. They have got a beautiful big room that they all share together.
AD: They are all in one room?
LH: Yeah. We actually took down a wall between the two smaller bedrooms when we bought a house and they have a beautiful big room for them.
AD: Is there anything that you bring on set that you bring from home to kind of make your trailer feel homey?
LH: I am lucky with Westworld because I get to go home at the end of the day because it’s shot in and around L.A. In Georgia, filming the sci-fi movie Encounter, I actually took my blender. I took the Vitamix, so that was the daily routine and a great way to kind of normalize that experience. But I like to travel pretty light, so that was a big deal for me to take the blender. It was heavy.
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