Exclusive Interviews With The Crew Of Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember Documentary Now Streaming On Disney+ & Hulu

Go behind the scenes and deeper into the storytelling with the Director and the Director of Photography

Following Chris and his father as they retrace meaningful places from their past, Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember captures the movie star confronting memory, aging, and the fear of what comes next. To discover what it takes to film a documentary about Alzheimer’s with care, while keeping honest, we chatted with Director Tom Barbor-Might and Director of Photography Jim Jolliffe to discuss what made the project so personal.

Note: This interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.

Exclusive Interview With Director, Tom Barbor-Might, And Director of Photography, Jim Jolliffe

Most people know Chris as an action star, but this project shows a more personal side of him. What drew you to telling this story?

Tom: Chris and I worked on an episode of Limitless. We had mutual friends and he was aware of my filmography. He’s smart, driven, and curious about lots of things. People don’t often get to see that side of him, they’re used to Thor. He’s a surprisingly sensitive person. We had conversations like, "I’d love to do something together." I pitched him what became an episode of Limitless, about facing your fears and during the making of that episode, there was a discovery that he was predisposed to Alzheimer’s. Rather than running away from that, he [ran] towards it and was like maybe there's something we can do that would help people.

I wanted to make a film that was about having a lovely experience with family whilst talking about things that really matter to everybody. Families want to live forever and have memories of those experiences. The fact that I’d worked with Chris before and enjoyed that, we had good creative conversations and I was in that headspace anyway. 

Chris was in that headspace [too], to explore and make a film about things everyone can access. It wasn’t heavy, but was really meaningful and there’s a real core of heart at the center.

Jim: A great deal of my work is about emotion, telling a story where the camera becomes invisible and the subject has freedom to evolve. I’ve worked with the director, Tom Barbor-Might, for years, building up a relationship where we understand each other’s vision. Tom brought me onboard to shoot the finale of Limitless with Chris Hemsworth [season 1] and that episode in particular was a very personal journey, dealing with old age and death, breaking the boundaries between cinema and immersive theater. When Tom invited me back to shoot Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember, it was a beautiful opportunity to make a film [to help] people understand that they’re not alone in dealing with dementia. People are people, whether they’re an accountant or action star, and everybody goes through hardship. To see Chris as a son, learning to deal with his dad’s early-stage Alzheimer’s — I really hope it’s relatable. That’s what drew me to this story.

The film follows Chris and his family through places from their past. How did you capture those moments in a way that felt honest and real?

Tom: This film was more of a road trip than anything, what I mean by that is we did it for real. The family is very authentically visiting places meaningful to them. One of the ideas for the film was, “I’d like to do a project using Chris where I’m not making him do a version of his life, I’m capturing the essence of what happened, recording it, and celebrating it." So there was no real sense of script, rehearsal, or, "We’re going to this place and we’re going to act."

Some of the time it wasn’t a literal explanation or moment, it was an emotion he wanted to share with his family and places they hadn’t been for a while. It drew conversations [about] the time we spend with family where [we’ve] got space and connection. And sometimes it is explicitly about memory in a place and sometimes it wasn’t.

In terms of places…there were some that the family were like, "A significant thing for us is that we haven’t had a holiday together for so long and we’re all so busy, but we wanted to be together."

There were some choices about where they would live, like, "Let’s go to this place together and have that." But I think all of them were quite meaningful for different reasons. And they were places they had been before. 

With a film, when you’re making something very real in the moment and being guided by a family and how they feel, I think you have to be able to follow the lead of the characters. On this occasion, following the family’s lead was the way we did it. And I’m glad. There’s lots of films that are very designed, but this film had a shape very early and also had an organic feel which helped.

It didn’t look contrived. It was real and I wanted to feel that. When you watch it, you can feel the reality because it was real. The choices were not artificial in any way.

Jim: You have to take the lead from the cast and subject matter. It’s not set up or rehearsed, it’s their journey. I’m just there to document it, that’s what makes it honest and real. The trick is to make reactive documenting cinematic. I’m quite a perfectionist in what I shoot, but ironically, it’s impossible to achieve perfection.

The film has an authentic, nostalgic feel that draws people in and conjures family memories. What inspired your approach behind the camera?

Jim: Tom and I had many conversations about the best way to achieve this and decided to use uncoated Zeiss Super Speed lenses from the 1980s to get a soft, organic look. At the last minute, I [decided to bring] a vintage set of 1970s lenses that IronGlass in Ukraine had rehoused and hand-stained with red dye, adding a very subtle warmth that radiated through the highlights and flares. We ended up shooting [most of] the film with them [instead of] the Zeiss, that’s what gave it a beautiful, nostalgic look.

Were there any moments along the way that surprised or inspired you?

Jim: My parents are in their late 80s and my mother is showing early signs of dementia. [Working on this film] inspired me to be more patient and spend more time with them. I now make a concerted effort to help my mom with memories by telling her stories, showing her photos, talking about past experiences, and exercising her brain. Watching Craig and Chris’s journey, I was astonished by the power of human connection.

Did anything happen during filming that challenged or changed how you thought the story might unfold?

Tom: Absolutely that’s one of the key challenges of making a film like this. There were definitely points where things happened in a different order than expected, where we were guided by reality in a very good way. 

There were moments where something would happen and it would be so wonderful. We would have this beautiful conversation about love, and then something else would happen later. The job as an editor on the other end is really hard, because you’ve got all these authentic things happening to give a film shape. There were moments when we wanted to include things that were very profound, big, and important, and other times that I think weren’t quite as fun or as heartfelt that we thought might be important.

So we had to make some calls on those, in the edit, of what to trim down. And as for lessons learned, it’s hard making films in this style, it’s really minor, just be calm and be brave. I guess I’ll say something whacky. You’re a little bit brave and you should be brave. Because sometimes we have a plan, follow where we assume things are going, and then reality takes you somewhere else entirely. If you’re too rigid I think you end up with a film that feels quite contrived.

I'll tell you one more thing, and this sounds really obvious, it’s to do with authenticity. If your characters, your family, is a very unusual family in that they are incredibly well-known and very busy, you get asked questions publicly that are very staged sometimes. 

You’ve got to make them feel calm and safe and protected in order to say things that mean something to them. In this case, we did something I do as a filmmaker, something I love to do: we shot and recorded audio not just with the family, a big camera crew, and a big thing, we actually also recorded, with cameras we put in the car. 

Some of the most intimate moments are the family with no crew in the room. And of course, the crew did all the heavy lifting making the stuff happen. It’s an incredibly complicated and sophisticated, technical execution. Some of the best moments were, where we weren’t physically in the room with the family, and therefore they could just sort of have more relaxed conversations. When I wasn’t in the room directing, when they felt like they weren’t in a performance, that helped us get to something authentic that I loved.

Jim: You can’t go into a project like this with any expectations; you have to be open to any path that unfolds. I find this [style] of filmmaking so exciting.

What do you hope audiences feel or take away after streaming Chris Hemsworth: A Road Trip to Remember?

Tom: It’s really a strange thing. I’m really proud. I really love this piece. I think what I hope is that when people watch the film, they feel warmth and joy and a sense of hope. Maybe the most important thing I want people to feel is they want to go and see their family, their friends, and be like, "You know what? I’m going to go call my mum or my dad or my kids or my… you know, whatever." 

I hope that’s the thing they feel. The other thing I hope they feel is this sense that it’s okay to talk about things that are actually like topics that are, how would I describe them? Uncomfortable. 

They’re uncomfortable but they’re important and challenging. And if you talk about those things in a way which is calm and you build an environment for that, you can do the best thing, particularly with kids. One of the things that I am very conscious of, when we were making the film, was it was very tempting for people to avoid certain subjects. But in a family dynamic, with enough love and care, expressed, present, and managed, to be able to have tricky conversations is a really good thing.

We’re going to do this beautiful thing for us all, and it does have heart. That is what it’s about. Even though what we’re talking about is a bit intense and vulnerable for everybody to want to talk about. I think what you can take away is, you can talk about it. I hope people talk about it in a really nice way.

I also hope that people who are struggling with anyone, in their family, maybe kids, grandparents, or maybe their parents, who are having to focus on deep things, or being challenged by something. [I hope] they feel they can talk about it in a way which is sensitive, age-appropriate, and all those things, and that they feel seen and understood because that’s what some films can do. And if we pulled any of that off, I would be very grateful. 

Jim: I hope people watch it and [see] Craig and Chris’s trip as a very personal father-son journey, beyond the motorcycles. It’s about their bond, the love Chris has for his dad, and [how he’s] helping [him navigate the] challenges with Alzheimer’s. I hope people relate to it and learn from it as I did. It’s the memories you make now that count.

What movies, shows, or documentaries have inspired you throughout your career? Any Nat Geo, Disney+, or Hulu* specifics that come to mind?

Jim: I’m a massive movie and documentary buff and watch as much as I can. I draw inspiration from [my favorites, as well as] photography, painting, and music. Nothing excites me more than [discovering] a new artist and their work. But funnily, it was watching Star Wars as a kid that ignited my career path, and shows like Andor have kept that love burning. It’s hard to find a better place for incredible documentaries than Nat Geo. Without sounding like a fanboy, I feel honored that [my film] is [part of their family]. Currently, I’m [working on] an exciting project with Tom for Disney+ and Nat Geo about Pompeii starring…shhh, I can’t say! But I look forward to talking to you about it.

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