Chris Hemsworth comes across as a super cool guy. He’s very good at what he does (both in comedic and dramatic roles), he’s one of the most successful movie stars in the world, and he has that winning smile and cool blue eyes. Unfortunately, there’s no level of cool in the world that can disable the proper anxiety that comes when one gets to meet a Hollywood legend, and Hemsworth got a hard lesson in that field when he once had the opportunity to meet the one and only Brad Pitt.
The Crime 101 actor is a big fan of Pitt’s – so much so that he and his wife Elsa Pataky named their son Tristan after the Oscar-winner’s character in the 1994 western Legends of the Fall. This was a bit of trivia that Hemsworth recently discussed during an appearance on the Smartless podcast, and it led to the actor being asked if he had ever met the Once Upon A Time In Hollywood star. He then shared this cringe-inducing tale:
I met Brad once. And I’m a big fan, obviously, and [I] kind of had this awkward interaction where I went for the handshake — or he went for the handshake [and] I went for the hug. That kind of in-between thing. And then it almost turned into a kiss [laugh]…
In response, co-host Jason Bateman remarked that the moment would “slow down” for him, and I totally get what he means: this whole interaction would play in my mind in agonizing slow-motion. We’ve all had a similar experience where our own personal greeting didn’t match someone else’s, but it’s typically not Brad Pitt who is on the other side of the introduction.
Adding insult to injury – and kudos to Hemsworth’s confidence in sharing the anecdote – is that he really really made an effort to be chill. He got word that Pitt wanted to meet him with advance notice, and he tried to be blase about it, but the effort was for nought. He added,
I was standing across the room, and my agent was like, ‘He wants to meet you!’ I’m like, ‘What, who? He doesn’t want to meet me.’ And then, eventually, an hour later, I was like, ‘Oh, Brad, you’re here.’
He might play a god on the big screen, but he’s human just like all of us.
Perhaps Chris Hemsworth and Brad Pitt will work together one day and put this moment in the past, but for now, Hemsworth is working with plenty of other big stars, including the ensemble in Crime 101 (which is in theaters now and features Mark Ruffalo, Halle Berry, Barry Keoghan, and Nick Nolte) and the ridiculous lineup featured in the upcoming Marvel movie Avengers: Doomsday (arriving on the big screen December 18).