Chris Hemsworth is taking a break to concentrate on parenting
Actor Chris Hemsworth has made a decision many dads don’t get to, announcing that he’s taking the rest of the year off to spend time with his children.
“This year I probably won’t shoot anything. I just want to be at home now with my kids,” Chris confirmed to The Daily Telegraph. “They are at a very important age. They are still young and they are aware when I leave more than before.”
Front page news
The news has hit front pages of celebrity websites across the globe, partly because it’s a bit unusual, partly because fans are bereft they won’t see him until next year or beyond … and partly because it’s a decision lots of other (less well-off) parents are unable to make.
Just a week after we heard that most dads are not taking parental leave – and a month or so after it was revealed taking parental leave results in dads wanting fewer children – Chris has shone the spotlight on dads’ important role at home.
And while it’s true that when high-profile women take time away from the spotlight to raise their children it barely rates a mention, you can’t deny that this very visible vote for dedicated dad time models brilliant behaviour for employers.
We know that lots of companies still think of paternity leave as a sort of token gesture. Perhaps Thor taking time off for dad time is the push they need to reexamine their attitudes to fathers and realise how important their presence is to their kids?
Seeking quieter times
Chris Hemsworth and Elsa Pataky are parents to three lovely kids. The couple lives in Byron Bay with seven-year-old daughter India Rose and five-year-old twin boys, Tristan and Sasha.
They’ve spoken many times about their focus on family and their desire to raise their kids amongst the rough and tumble of the Australian bush and beach.
Elsa spoke recently about her concern for her children and the constant battle it is keeping their faces out of the media.
“Chris and I lead public lives,” she noted. “But we become incredibly angry when they take photos of our kids. That’s not cool to make them known. And then people point at them in the street as they recognise them. In LA it’s better now and there are places photographers can’t go, and in Spain, they will block out [children’s] faces. I wish it was better here.”
This ‘no movies for the rest of the year’ decision from Chris may be a line in the sand to those intrusive folk. A signal to stay away and give the family some privacy while they’re off the clock.
Here’s hoping.
