Chris Hemsworth may be one of the most well-liked actors in Hollywood, but he believes he still has a long way to go.

The Thor star tells The Telegraph that his acting abilities aren’t compared to those of Leonardo DiCaprio or Daniel Day Lewis just because he’s muscular.

Hemsworth, 37, has spent the last decade working on his muscles in the gym in preparation for his role as Thor in the Marvel films. Hemsworth believes that his body-molding work isn’t fully appreciated, despite the fact that he’s put in a lot of time and effort to look like the Norse mythological god.

“There’s an aesthetic that the role requires,” Hemsworth said of his physical appearance being the subject of debates regarding his portrayal of the God of Thunder known as Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, according to The Telegraph.

“Bodybuilding is seen as vanity, whereas if I put on a bunch of unhealthy weight, or got unhealthily skinny for a role, I’d probably be called a serious actor,” the 37-year-old star continued.

He continued by saying that getting ready for a role is a “full-time job.”

“That and then a 12-hour shooting day — it’s [a] real grind. It’s incredibly rewarding, too — you have to look at it like a professional athlete,” he said.

“For years I probably overtrained. People who do muscle-building often don’t realize it’s a sport that shouldn’t be seven days a week, two hours a day. I was doing that in the previous Thors, and was coming up sorer, with less energy.”

“But you want it to be balanced, because there’s probably a shirt-off scene somewhere. You don’t want to look like Popeye with one section of the body blown up,” he added.

Following a postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, Chris and the rest of the cast and crew have begun filming on Thor: Love and Thunder, the fourth episode in the saga. He claims that the nearly five-month wait was beneficial because it provided him more time to prepare for the role.

He admits, “This is probably the fittest and strongest I’ve been before all the Thors. Having this time at home meant I explored different methods, to see how I can manipulate my body with just the right amount of powerlifting and bodybuilding workouts.”

To get to his current stature, he learnt how to work out smarter rather than harder.

“For years I probably overtrained,” he said. “People who do muscle-building often don’t realize it’s a sport that shouldn’t be seven days a week, two hours a day. I was doing that in the previous Thors, and was coming up sorer, with less energy.”

Hemsworth stated he tailors his exercises for the part of Thor depending on what is evident when he wears his outfits.

“But you want it to be balanced, because there’s probably a shirt-off scene somewhere,” he added. “You don’t want to look like Popeye with one section of the body blown up.”

Given that it has been ten years since he first played Thor, and that both Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans have left the Marvel Universe with their respective characters, Hemsworth believes he has earned the right to attempt new projects.

“From an artistic point of view, anytime I feel like I’ve visited that space before, I either need to find a unique angle on it or find something else. When I first started my career I had so much anxiety [about auditioning for new roles]. Some of that was detrimental, but it forced me to work harder.”