Why Chris Hemsworth Was Cast In Bad Times At The El Royale

Chris Hemsworth in Bad Times at the El Royale

The following story will contain spoilers for Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale, a movie you should experience with as little knowledge as possible. We'll avoid as much as we can, but maybe bookmark this and then come back after you saw it!

Chris Hemsworth is a major player in Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale. But I can't tell you who he plays. Or even how he's involved in the story. Because he's the culmination of a couple of different journeys that don't get resolved into the pivotal act three. But we DID ask writer/director Drew Goddard why he wanted Hemsworth for this project, and he elaborated:

Look, every time I'm writing, I'm like, 'Could Chris play this part? Could Chris play this part?' Part of it is a discussion with Chris, because there are a lot of juicy parts in this movie, and you could say, 'Chris, here are a couple of characters. Are you feeling them in any way?' He just latched on to Billy Lee right away. He just got it. He just knew what he wanted to do.

What does Billy Lee do? I really don't want to tell you. Images like the one featured above suggest that Billy Lee likes to walk around in the rain with his shirt unbuttoned. That he looks like Chris Hemsworth, and enjoys the perks that come with that. He's a persuasive guy, with a specific agenda. And the fact that the current Thor took to Billy Lee is... well, it's mildly disturbing.

Chris Hemsworth played a significant role in Drew Goddard's debut feature film, The Cabin in the Woods. In it, Hemsworth played the stereotypical jock -- except, he really WASN'T that, and when he started playing up those traits, it allowed the stoner in the piece to realize that something was off. Hemsworth and Goddard know how to bend a genre to fit their storytelling needs, and they do so once again in the sinister Bad Times at the El Royale.

Powered by RedCircle

Here's Drew Goddard, opening up about working with Chris Hemsworth once again:

Drew Goddard's Bad Times at the El Royale is in theaters as we speak, and while there are a lot of good reasons to go to a theater nowadays -- from Bradley Cooper's magnificent A Star is Born to Damien Chazelle's stoic First Man -- you haven't seen anything like El Royale on the big screen in a long while, and I really recommend you give this one a shot. Once you do, come back and let us know what you thought of it... and of Hemsworth, specifically.

Sean O'Connell
Managing Editor

Sean O’Connell is a journalist and CinemaBlend’s Managing Editor. Having been with the site since 2011, Sean interviewed myriad directors, actors and producers, and created ReelBlend, which he proudly cohosts with Jake Hamilton and Kevin McCarthy. And he's the author of RELEASE THE SNYDER CUT, the Spider-Man history book WITH GREAT POWER, and an upcoming book about Bruce Willis.