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Thursday 26.04.2012

MOVIESMUSIC

WHAT’S ON

[ M U S I C ]

Smashing PumpkinsBeware – Billy

Corgan bites [P7]

[ M U S I C ]

Angus Stone

Striking out solo

[P2]

FROM ZERO TO HERO

How Thor brought Chris Hemsworth from the brink of quitting to the Hollywood A-list

[P6-7]

out solo[P2]

[ M O V I E S ]

Teresa Palmer

Not just a pretty face

[P3]

42 Herald Sun, Thursday, April 26, 2012 heraldsun.com.au Herald Sun, Thursday, April 26, 2012 47+ +

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CMYK

EXPECTATIONSChris Hemsworth’s childhood superhero dream finally paid off in a bigway, writesAndrewFenton

Superstar:ChrisHemsworth asThor (left) and(above) withhis Avengersco-stars, TomHiddlestone,ScarlettJohansson andMark Ruffalo.

CAPE

Essentially, it’sjust playingdress-ups —it’s like being akid again

CHRIS Hemsworth,who plays Thor inThe Avengers, hascome a long wayfrom the days when

he used to tie a bath towelaround his neck and pretend hewas a superhero.Or, if you think about it, he

hasn’t. It’s pretty much thesame thing, except now he hasa bunch of famous friends toplay with and there’s $220 mil-lion riding on the outcome.

‘‘Essentially, it’s just playingdress-ups— it’s like being a kidagain,’’ Hemsworth, whostacks on 13kg of muscle to playthe role, admits with a laugh.

‘‘No matter how seriouslyyou try to take it, at times youcatch yourself and go: ‘Wait aminute. I’m wearing a big redcape. How upset or frustratedcan I really be in this mo-ment?’ I have a hell of a timeswinging from wires pretend-ing to fly. Being a superhero isa lot of fun.’’While Hemsworth might be

one of the hottest properties inHollywood, just four years agohe was on the verge of giving up.Like many former Australian

soap stars, he had gone to LosAngeles to try his luck in thebig league after his contractwound up on Home and Away.Things started well enough,

with Hemsworth picking upwork on two small films, Ca$hand A Perfect Getaway, and hegot roped in by J.J. Abrams fora small role on Star Trek as alast-minute replacement justthree days before filming.Though we now know that

role, as George Kirk, proved tobe something of a break-through, it didn’t seem such abig deal at the time.And then, for nine months,

nothing more happened. Thephone didn’t ring. The aud-itions led nowhere. Hemsworthbegan to doubt he would everwork again.

‘‘I literally got to the pointwhere I was like, ‘I’m over this,I’mgoing to go home’,’’ he says.

‘‘It’s a constant battlepsychologically to keep con-vincing yourself that you cando it, and you’ve got to say‘shut up’ to that little voice thatsays, ‘No, you’re useless’. Itcan get pretty loud at times.

‘‘Then, for whatever reasons,I landed The Cabin in theWoods,then Red Dawn and then Thorand it all took off again.’’

Today, Hemsworth, 28, is ontop of the world — and it’s notjust thanks to his 2010 mar-riage to actor Elsa Pataky orthe impending birth of their

first child. Last year, Thor tookalmost $500 million worldwideand received a solid round ofapplause from the critics, too.A fortnight ago, the $12 mil-

lion horror comedy he madein 2009, The Cabin in theWoods (much delayed aftergetting caught up in MGM’sbankruptcy), finally opened torave reviews at No.3 at the USbox office.And, in June, he will headline

the highly anticipated, big-budget, special effects epic SnowWhite and the Huntsman op-positeTwilight’s Kristen Stewart.Despite his successes, Hems-

worth admits to being nervouswalking on to The Avengers setfilled with so many big names—Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Jo-hansson and Samuel L. Jackson.

‘‘The first day on set with thatwhole cast was exciting, but itwas also intimidating,’’ he says.‘‘You kind of realise, ‘OK, now Ihave to try and hold my ownagainst these guys’.’’Watching the huge egos of

superheroes clash in TheAvengers, it’s not hard toimagine there might be just asmany sparks triggered bybringing a group of big-nameactors together. But they allgot along famously.

‘‘I think there was certainlyan element of no one wantingto be the first to step out of linebecause everyone was waitingfor it,’’ he says.If there was any diva-like

behaviour, it’s doubtful it wouldcome from Hemsworth. He’s agenuinely nice guy. Not onlydoes he ring through personallyfor our interview (rather thangetting an assistant or publicistto do it), he also rings back sixtimes until we get a halfwaydecent telephone line.

But as Hemsworth points out,bad behaviour from movie starsisn’t indulged any longer, asopposed to the days when actorscould open a film anywhere.

These days, the real drawcardis the concept. And The Aveng-ers has one hell of a concept,dreamed up by Iron Man pro-ducer Kevin Feige, who noticedthat the Marvel superheroesthat hadn’t been taken by otherstudios coincidentally formedone of the most popular comicbook series.

Just think about how muchaudacity it takes to launchfour huge movie franchises

(Iron Man, Thor, CaptainAmerica and The IncredibleHulk) with the aim of support-ing a fifth, The Avengers, tyingthem all together.The man Marvel chose to

write and direct the film is JossWhedon, creator of Buffy theVampire Slayer and Firefly andthe writer/producer of TheCabin in the Woods.Though he had no involve-

ment with Marvel in 2009when that horror comedy wasshot, Whedon played a big rolein Hemsworth landing the partof Thor, having called directorKenneth Branagh to recom-mend the Aussie.Hemsworth’s little brother

Liam was one of the final fourwho didn’t get the coveted role.Having your older brotherswoop in and take the plum rolein a mega-budget multi-picturedeal is the sort of thing that cancause friction in a family.

‘‘We were never head-to-head,’’ Hemsworth says.‘‘Either he was in the mix and Iwasn’t, or vice versa.’’Liam, of course, went on to

pick up a key role in his ownbig franchise, The HungerGames, which has taken almost$600 million and still rising(more than Thor). The youngerHemsworth has talked abouthow the siblings ‘‘have beencompetitive since birth’’ andsaid that as children theywould often come to blowsover who got the front seat inthe car.Does their competitive rela-

tionship continue to this day?‘‘I think it does, but the

competitiveness is over thingsthat are pretty unimportant,’’he says. ‘‘It’s more about

playing video games, or foot-ball or surfing. It’s not aboutthings that are weighty.

‘‘In this industry, I thinkwe’re both so aware the realityof it is the odds are certainlyagainst us, so it’s a win for bothof us to get a job.’’

Even so, you can imagine thetwo movie stars sitting at theirmum Leonie’s dinner table onPhillip Island, with Liam teas-ing Chris: ‘‘My film made$60 million more than yours.’’

Hemsworth laughs. ‘‘No,neither of us see a cut of that,so it’s irrelevant. I think if itwas going into our pockets, I’msure there’d be a nice healthycompetitive streak come backinto it!’’

Apart from Snow White andthe Huntsman and November’simpending release of Hems-worth’s other 2009 MGM film,Red Dawn (filmed so long agothey’ve had time to change allthe bad guys in post-production from Chinese toNorth Korean), the futurelooks decidedly Marvel heavy.Signing up for one movie asThor meant agreeing to twoThor sequels and three TheAvengers films.

Hemsworth says the chancesof any of those sequels and spin-offs happening seemed prettyremote when he signed up.

‘‘Now I’m starting to go,‘Oh wow’,’’ he says. ‘‘BecauseI’ve been in the thick of it solong, now is the first time I’vebeen able to stand back a bitand get some perspective andrealise I might be playing thischaracter until I’m 50!’’

SEETheAvengers is nowshowing

06 Hit. COVER STORY Hit. 07MUSICONLINE: BILLY CORGAN’S BIGGEST BRAIN SNAPSNEWS.COM.AU

FORGET THESMASHHITSSAMKELTON

My job is not tobe an oldies actor nostalgic act

Defiant: TheSmashingPumpkins

will be backin Australia

in July.

I N the 1990s, Billy Corganwrote some of the mostimportant alternative rock

tunes and arguably two of thegenre’s best albums. Justdon’t ask him to play them.On Smashing Pumpkins’

last visit to Australia in 2010,Corgan taunted crowds,limiting his set to mostlynew(er) material, argued withfans who screamed out re-quests and often ranted onboth subjects.As the band prepares to

return to Australia for theSplendour in the Grass Festi-val, the outspoken frontmanexplains why he’s not a juke-box and, even in his 40s, BillyCorgan refuses to play it safe.

‘‘My job is not to be anoldies act or what they call itover here, a nostalgic act,’’ hesays. ‘‘Sometimes I run mymouth and I shouldn’t. Ishould just smile like every-one would suggest that I do,but there just comes a pointwhen it’s really a disservice tothe legacy of the band.

‘‘It’s not like the band wasa pop band, you know what Imean? I was in an alternativerock band for a reason.’’

It is not that Corgan hateshis older albums. His set listsare often ‘‘sprinkled’’ withsome of his iconic hits such asToday, Bullet With ButterflyWings and the anthemic 1979.

What the outspoken singerdislikes is when fans lose thepassion to immerse them-selves in his new recordings.

‘‘Fans think you’re thereto be a jukebox,’’ he says.

‘‘When we were on theMellon Collie album tour I hadpeople down the front shout-ing for Siamese Dream songs.

‘‘The difference now isthat when you’re older theexpectation is now you’resupposed to stop being rebel-lious and you’re supposed tobecome the museum versionof yourself, I guess.’’

Corgan has always beenthe defiant rock star.

YouTube is littered withcountless videos of thesinger’s on-stage rants, whichhave become a staple of anySmashing Pumpkins show.

Sharon Osborne affection-ately referred to him as ‘‘a sixfoot baldy twat in a dress’’and Corgan called fans who

want to hear the hits ‘‘jer-kos’’. So what does he think ofthe idea of playing the oldalbums in full?

‘‘Absolutely not . . . ult-imately it’s at the death ofeverything new,’’ he says.Despite his unwillingness

to perform most of the ma-terial live, Corgan is certainlyhappy to release it.Last year, fans received

deluxe re-issues of 1991’sGish and the seminal 1993album Siamese Dream.This year they can expect

more re-issues, includingdeluxe versions of 1994’sB-sides compilation Pisces Is-cariot, 1995’s Mellon Collieand the Infinite Sadness,1996’s The Aeroplane FliesHigh box set and, of course,the release of the band’s newalbum, Oceania, on June 19.Corgan says Oceania em-

bodies all facets of his work,but with more immediacy.

When the conversationturns to another rock starwho refuses to be told what todo, Axl Rose, it’s no surprisethat Corgan sympathises withthe lead singer who chose toboycott Guns N’ Roses’ re-cent Hall of Fame induction.If Smashing Pumpkins

were to receive the samehonour, Corgan, too, admits itwould be problematic for himto reunite with his formerband mates.

‘‘You have to understandI’ve been sued by my formerband mates,’’ he says. ‘‘I’vehad them cost me money,crazy amounts of money,over dumb s---.

‘‘They don’t want to par-ticipate in things that involvefans, but they still want tomake their money becausethey were around when stuffhappened.’’

SEE Smashing Pumpkins,Splendour in the Grass,ByronBay, July 29.$135-$350. On saletomorrow,splendourinthegrass.com.Local dates to beannounced soon

IT’S ALL GOFORDJANGOCAMERONADAMS

Making a name: Scottish act Django Django.

S COTTISH band Django Django wasone of the buzz acts at this year’s Southby South West festival.

Word of mouth spread so quickly that aftera few days the band was playing to fullhouses and securing international tours.The irony is not lost on the members.‘‘In November we did what you would call

a toilet tour in the UK, playing tiny rooms toabout 10 bemused people,’’ singer VincentNeff says with a laugh.

‘‘We were interrupting their night ofdancing. They weren’t that happy whenthese four guys came on the stage. Nowwe’re in America and about to make a videowith the guy who does the Arctic Monkeys’clips. It’s quite surreal.’’The rapid-fire success follows the release

of their self-titled album. But that album tookthree years to make.

‘‘We did two songs, then our record labelsaid to us, ‘We’d love to sign you; call uswhen the album is finished; keep going theway you’re going’."The album was made in drummer David

Maclean’s bedroom, with him taking care ofproduction. Keyboardist Tommy Grace says:‘‘Dave had to learn from scratch how towork his computer.’’Adding to the delay were day jobs and

studying. Neff says: ‘‘I was a full-timearchitect when we started this album. It wasquite sporadic. We’d write a song, disappearfor a few weeks, then start again on theweekends or wherever we had time.’’After the success of the single Storm in

2009, Django Django decided to take theirmusic from the bedroom to the stage.They have just been announced to play the

Splendour in the Grass festival in July andwill likely play east coast sideshows as well.

‘‘When Storm came out we were barely aband, we’d only done a handful of shows,’’Neff says. ‘‘But by the last songs we did forthe album, Dave was doing songs thatsounded like they cost a lot of money, butthey were still on our crappy mics in ourcrappy studio.’’Since the release of the album, they have

found themselves in demand in far-off places.‘‘A lot of our influences are American, a

lot of German Krautrock. As well as Turkishand African music. So it’s nice to go to placeslike America and it feels like it helps notbeing that British indie sound,’’ bassistJimmy Dixon says. ‘‘We live in East Londonand there’s a multicultural community there.There’s so much different music, Turkishrestaurants, African markets. It’s secondnature to us to see all those different cultures.It feels natural to us.’’Reviewers throw endless musical refer-

ences at the band — from Beach Boys toKraftwerk to Tame Impala — and some theyhave never heard of.

‘‘One review mentioned some obscureband none of us had ever heard of,’’ Dixonsays, ‘‘and said ‘clearly they were religiouslylistening to them’ when we were recordingthe album. And none of us even knew whothey were.’’

HEARDjangoDjango (Warner) out now

The green screen of deathTHE Avengers is a big-budget

special effects film involving

superhero smackdowns, alien

invaders and the destruction of

entire city blocks. That means

extensive green-screenwork.

‘‘People call it the green hell,’’ says

Hemsworth. ‘‘It gets incredibly

mind-numbing. You’re in there for

days and it just seems to be

endless because there are no

windows — it’s literally a green

house in blinding green.

‘‘You lose perspective; you don’t

knowwhat’s going on anymore.

You do your bit, then they spend

12months creating these visual

worlds around you.’’

Hemsworth says he saw an early

cut of the film before the effects

had been created. ‘‘It was a really

good sign you could enjoy it, even

without the effects, because of

the story,’’ he says. ‘‘I think the

humour ties it all together and

makes the audience buywhatever

concept there is around them.’’

Hemsworth saw the finished film

for the first time a couple of weeks

ago at the Los Angeles premiere.

TheA-Z of TheAvengersEverything you need to know about ‘‘Earth’smightiestheroes’’, from the alien armies they faced to the reclusivebillionairewho inspired IronMan and the fact that CaptainAmerica killed Nixon. Check it out:news.com.au