Robert Irwin has joked that Chris Hemsworth should play him if his life is ever made into a biopic.
The 22-year-old wildlife presenter named the Australian actor as his first choice during an interview with UK entertainment outlet Capital Buzz.
“Chris Hemsworth, obviously,” Irwin said.
He added that Hemsworth would need to abandon his usual fitness routine for the role. “He’d just have to stop eating protein and stop working out for, like, six months and then he could play me in a biopic,” he joked.
Irwin also suggested Hemsworth would need to alter his voice, saying: “And his voice would have to be about three octaves higher.”
He then attempted an impression of the actor, adopting a deeper voice to say: “G’day. How you going? Let’s go for a surf. Not bad, that’s not bad.” Irwin later apologised for what he described as a “pretty awful” impression.
Robert Irwin and Chris Hemsworth’s connection
The exchange was made in good humour, but Irwin and Hemsworth have worked together before. The pair joined forces for Tourism Australia’s 2019 campaign, sharing an interest in wildlife, the Australian environment and conservation.
Hemsworth has also spoken warmly about Irwin’s late father, Steve Irwin. In his documentary Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip To Remember, he recalled that his first “unofficial acting gig” as a teenager was a home-video parody in which he impersonated the Crocodile Hunter.
A clip shared to mark the documentary’s release showed a teenage Hemsworth wearing Steve Irwin’s trademark khaki clothing and attempting his accent.
“How you going folks?” he says in the footage. “We’ve got a real bloody ripper in store for you today. It’s gonna be bloody unreal!”
Hemsworth then announces that he is tracking down a Siberian tiger Australian fox, before the footage reveals that the animal is the family dog.
Irwin responded warmly to the throwback, saying his late father would have been “stoked” by Hemsworth’s impression.
The documentary follows Hemsworth and his father, Craig, on a journey across Australia as they revisit places that shaped their lives. The trip was prompted by Craig’s diagnosis with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
