Chris Hemsworth takes dad on a ‘road trip to remember’ amid Alzheimer’s disease
With more than 57 million people living with dementia, Chris Hemsworth shares his family’s experience of overcoming the disease.
In National Geographic’s first look Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Rememberdirected by Tom Barbour-May, sees the Australian actor and his father Craig hit the road on a motorcycle amid the patriarch’s diagnosis of early-stage Alzheimer’s disease.
“My dad and I are going on a road trip, back to our past,” Chris says in the film. Tractor Which was released Thursday. “He suffers from early-stage Alzheimer’s disease. I want to do everything I can to help him. It shows that this trial can help fight the disease.”
The MCU star explained that “different places immediately bring those memories to life” for his father as they travel across Australia for the one-hour documentary, which premieres November 23 on National Geographic and streams November 24 on Disney+ and Hulu.
As well as rekindling their bond and enhancing memories of his father, Chris explores the powerful science of social connection with Craig, under the guidance of Dr Suraj Samtani, a dementia specialist and clinical psychologist at the UNSW Center for Healthy Brain Aging. Dr. Samtani worked with the Hemsworth family over the course of a year.
“My dad and I had always talked about making a trip back to the Northern Territory, where our family had lived for years, but we had never been able to make the time to actually do it,” Chris said. “Recently, the idea of taking this road trip has resurfaced with greater relevance. The result has been a trip that is deeper, more impactful, and more surprising than I ever expected.”
Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember Protozoa, Nutopia and Wild State are produced for National Geographic. Tom Watt-Smith, Peter Lovering, Arif Nurmohamed and Jane Root serve as executive producers for Nutopia. Protozoa creators Darren Aronofsky and Ari Handel are also executive producers, and Chris Hemsworth, Ben Grayson, and Brandon Hale are executive producers of Wild State. He directs the documentary. Bengt Andersson and Simon Raikes are executive producers for National Geographic.