In Limitless With Chris Hemsworth, the show’s star, along with his producer the renowned director Darren Aronofsky, offers viewers tips on different ways humans can learn to live longer by taking up some pretty harrowing challenges. In National Geographic’s six-episode series airing on Disney+, Hemsworth actually does a few things you probably shouldn’t try at home, including fasting for four days, diving into sub-freezing arctic waters and climbing skyscrapers to name just a few.
However there are practical lessons here as well thanks to the experts who also participate, and that is the whole idea: to give us insight into what we can also do to stay alive and healthy.
The idea for the series came to Aronofsky, who has always been interested in this kind of subject matter, and he and Hemsworth joined Deadline’s Contenders Television: Documentary + Unscripted event to talk about it.
“You know I did a film called The Fountain back in the early 2000s. I always thought that the search for the fountain of youth was like, an interesting subject that was very commercial — people have been thinking about that for a long time,” Aronofsky said. “When we did The Fountain it was definitely in the realm of science fiction. But it’s been interesting over the last 15 to 20 years watching a lot of that science fiction become actual science. So many different people, as the boomers have gotten older, have leaned into longevity science, and it’s become a real field with a lot of really smart people thinking about it. … So my producing partner and I thought it’s time to try to bring that science to light and to share with people.”
Hemsworth was an interesting choice as he seems to be the perfect specimen of health, but the idea it that’s a good thing: you shouldn’t wait until things start falling apart to actually get into shape and lead a healthy lifestyle. Hemsworth was all in.
“I was incredibly excited to work with Darren and the team. And, you know, I can’t say I had done any sort of deep dive into the space of longevity or had any real education within the science of it,” the Thor star said. “I’m always trying to take pretty good care of myself, but kind of take my health for granted. I’m 39 this year, and when Darren approached me about the series — as Darren said, it’s now is when we need to start thinking about it. And so, I’ve also started to notice certain injuries or certain things or ways I used to train. I started to catch up now on certain health habits that I thought in my mind were taken care of, and to really dissect all of that, and there’s a universe at our fingertips available with the continual emerging science around how to live a longer, healthier, happier life. I was the sort of a guinea pig in amongst a lot of these experiences.”
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As for the most challenging of the tasks Hemsworth had to perform? He definitely points to swimming in the Arctic because he says it was the most painful thing he had ever experienced — swimming in 2-degree Celsius water with the snow, the wind and other factors. But it was also the final episode in which he had to basically experience the acceptance of dying that really stands out, not just for him but also Aronofsky, who said he would not have done this series if they weren’t allowed the final part, in which Hemsworth was put into an aging suit and checked into a nursing home.
“That was both the most profoundly life-changing, confronting, emotional, incredible experience and one that I was given the least amount of information about, and it was something that Darren had hinted at very early on and said, ‘You’ve just got to trust me here. This is a leap of faith. This is gonna be unlike anything you’ve ever done. I think it’s gonna be unlike anything anyone’s ever seen before,’ ” Hemsworth said. “And it was all that and more. It was incredible.”
“They all thought we were crazy to come up with this idea to have Chris try out coffins and to confront his own death,” Aronofsky said. “And I tell people when they talk about seeing the show, that you have to watch Episode 6 because it’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of everything I’ve done in my career just because it’s so different and far-reaching than any hour of TV you’ll ever see.”
Check back Monday for the panel video.
