Editorial: Movie god casts spell around town

Chris Hemsworth, also Thor, was spotted in Whangarei.

Chris Hemsworth? It took me a moment or two, and then I clicked ... Thor.

I haven't even seen the movie. But Hemsworth's ascending star is such that he has become a household name around the globe.

The Australian was spotted in Whangarei yesterday, which set the social media world alight.

Within minutes of it being mentioned on the Northern Advocate's Facebook page, people were threatening to leave work to go and find him. One NZME. (the Advocate's parent company) staff member did just that, all in the name of hunting down a good story, of course. Although he wasn't a journalist. But this was Chris Hemsworth - all hands on deck!

Hemsworth has done the chat show circuit in the UK and US as part of his involvement in the Thor movie franchise. And that's where I had seen him - on a chat show.

Three female stars working with him remarked that, after they heard he was going to be in their movie, they all wondered what he would be like.

Part of them, they said, expected he would be a jerk.

He wasn't, in fact they said he was one of the nicest actors they had ever worked with.
And not only could he act, he could sing.

Yesterday, Hemsworth bought a second-hand Lord of the Rings book in Whangarei.

Five people in the shop all stared, but didn't say anything until a shop worker plucked up the courage to say "are you Chris?". He winked - it was, the worker says, a "thigh clencher" of a moment.

On our Facebook page, someone asked "why would he be in Whangarei?".

Why not? Whangarei isn't a bad place to visit, and given our proximity to local tourist attractions like the to-be-built Hundertwasser attraction, the Poor Knights, and the Bay of Islands, we can expect to see a few more stars around town.