Thor, opening May 20, 2011, tells the story of a powerful but arrogant warrior, who is sent down to Earth as punishment for reigniting a reckless war. But, after a dangerous villain from his world sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth, the hammer-wielding Thor will learn what it takes to be a true hero in order to save mankind.

Australian actor Chris Hemsworth was the young actor chosen to take on the role of the powerful Thor, who will later also be a part of The Avengers, to be directed by Joss Whedon. Following the Marvel panel at Comic-Con (recap here), in which the first footage of the film was debuted, he spoke about the humility he’s felt from being a part of such a massive and epic project, and his excitement over being a part of the future Avengers film. He also said that he has yet to read or see a script for The Avengers, but he did confirm that they will be walking across the rainbow bridge in Thor.

Check out what he had to say after the jump:

Question: What was it like to be up for this role, along with your brother Liam?

Chris: Initially, I auditioned and it didn’t go any further. Then, the next I heard, he was being flown over from Australia to test with Ken and a couple of guys, and I was like, “What?!” As excited as I was, I was secretly angry. Nah. We’re very close. When he was auditioning, I was saying, “Look, I’ve got the feel about this.” And then, when I was auditioning, it was the same thing. We both gave each other feedback.

What’s your view on the character of Thor? How do you see this guy?

Chris: At the beginning of this film, he’s certainly a brash, cocky warrior who’s about to inherit the keys to the kingdom, and his father thinks that he’s not ready. It’s the journey of him learning some humility through the film. I think he’s one of those people who has his heart in the right place. He’s doing what he’s doing for his family and to protect the kingdom, and he thinks it’s the right way to do it. It just happens to be a very aggressive way of doing it, which probably isn’t the right way. It’s about tempering that raw emotion that he drives off most of the time, into the right direction.

How have you personally felt humility, since getting involved with this film?

Chris: I’ll tell you one particular story. Working with Anthony Hopkins every day is a blessing. The guy is incredibly humble and obviously talented, and I could keep going. But, we were in this one scene where we were having a big argument. It was all going along and he was doing it one way and it was great, and then Ken came up and whispered something in his ear and he said, “Oh, that’s a good idea.” And then, we started doing the take and it was like, “Oh, my god!” He was emotional and angry and it was incredibly powerful. Then, they called, “Cut!,” and the whole set started applauding and some people were crying. I remember sitting there and going, “That was amazing! I suck and I’ll never be able to do that.” I was thinking, “I’m in the ring with Hopkins, I’m doing all right, I’m holding my own,” until that moment.

Do you know what Ken whispered to him?

Chris: He said, “Let it affect you.” It was an argument between father and son, and we were yelling at each other, and he said, “Just let it affect you.” That was a different angle.

When he went into overdrive like that, did you have another gear to shift into yourself?

Chris: Yeah. You’ve got to step it up as well and try to react to whatever they’re giving you. With people like that, you can’t help but react, and that’s the key with acting. You can’t go in with things you plan on doing. Hopefully, you’ve got someone across from you who’s going to give you something you can react to, and he throws it at you all day. It’s just brilliant.

How did you feel when those tabloid rumors came out that the two of you didn’t get along?

Chris: We had a good laugh about it. Everyone else knew about it before I did and they were like, “Oh, Chris, we’ve got something to tell you.” Anthony rang me up and we just talked about the ridiculousness of it. They said a lot of funny things in that article. They talked about the amount of blue screen we were doing, which we weren’t. We had all these incredible sets. They talked about Anthony hating working in Santa Fe, and he wasn’t in Santa Fe. They talked about him hating Ken and not agreeing with him, and Anthony said to me a number of times that Ken was one of the best directors he’s ever worked with. I was blown away by Ken, but I don’t have the track record or the history that Anthony has. So, it was one of the most enjoyable experiences for me, and for him as well. He kept saying, “How fun is this?” He brings the enthusiasm of someone on their first day on set. You’ve got to laugh at it. Of course, there were moments when I went home and it was dark and I was alone, and I’d think, “God, the most talented, nicest guy on the planet hates me?” But, you’ve got to roll with that stuff.

What went through your mind to be on stage with The Avengers being assembled for the first time?

Chris: It was crazy! I didn’t even know that was going to happen until five minutes beforehand. I didn’t know Scarlett [Johansson] or Robert [Downey], or any of those guys were coming. Those are people I’ve admired and been inspired by for years, and I was up there standing on a stage with them thinking, “What am I doing? I don’t belong here.” But, it was great. I really look forward to working with those guys and learning from them.

Since he’s sometimes a bit of a punching bag for some of the other characters, are you comfortable with the role that Thor plays in The Avengers?

Chris: I don’t know what the script is going to be. We haven’t gotten a script yet, so I don’t know.

Are you going to walk across the rainbow bridge in Thor?

Chris: We do, yeah.