Chris Hemsworth only got topless in Thor because Kenneth Branagh's wife begged him

Hemsworth was all too happy to oblige having spent nine months in the gym training to play the Marvel superhero

Chris Hemsworth fans have Kenneth Branagh’s wife to thank for his topless scene in hit superhero movie Thor.

The Australian actor strips off to reveal his toned body in the Marvel blockbuster, but director Branagh has revealed that he only asked him to do so to please his wife.

“I was a bit embarrassed when we came to do the scene in the movie when he takes his shirt off,” the five-time Oscar nominee told Graham Norton. “I felt uncomfortable talking about how we would do it and how he might feel he shouldn’t. I even rang my wife to ask her, and she said rather over-enthusiastically, 'Get him to take his shirt off!’”

Fortunately for Branagh, his wife, and the female population, Hemsworth was happy to oblige having spent a lot of time in the gym preparing to play the God of Thunder. “Of course I'm going to get my bloody shirt off, mate,” Branagh recalled him saying. “I've been training for nine months for this thing!’”

However, Hemsworth said at the time that he asked “What's the why? What are we doing?” before agreeing to go topless as he did not want it to be gratuitous. “The justification was that it was Thor coming home from battle, washing blood off his hands,” he said, adding that he “overfeeds on protein and endless amounts of chicken breast and steak and fish and vegetables and brown rice” to stay in shape.

Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Colm Feore and Stellan Skarsgard also starred in Thor, which grossed an impressive $450 million worldwide in 2011. The film was so popular that sequel Thor: The Dark World followed in 2013, with Hemsworth disappointed that Branagh did not return to direct.

“Ken built that character and everything I know about the Thor world I learned while shoulder-to-shoulder with Ken,” he said. “I learned so much from him.”

The Graham Norton Show airs tonight at 10.35pm on BBC One.