Wielding his mighty hammer in last year's Thor, the Australian actor stormed US shores and—Bam! Pow!—became an action star. Now you can see him in cinemas reprising his comic-book-inspired role in The Avengers, which unites the heroes of S.H.I.E.L.D. to save Earth from imminent catastrophe. "I've been so fortunate," Hemsworth, 28, says. "People I've watched for years and wanted to work with—all of a sudden, I'm amongst them."

What was it like strapping on the chest plate and picking up the hammer as Thor this time around?
"The first day on The Avengers was a trip because I walk on set, and there's Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Sam[uel] Jackson—and not only are all those actors together, they're in costume. So you've got Iron Man, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Captain America, the Incredible Hulk, and Nick Fury!"

Your home life is fairly normal: married for a year-and-a-half with a new baby.
"It's fantastic. My wife [actress Elsa Pataky] is a strong Spanish woman. Australians tend to be pretty laid-back, but the Spanish have a beautiful fire and drive. We balance each other out perfectly."

Elsa has announced she'll only be speaking Spanish to your daughter. How's your español?
"Not great, but I'm getting there un poquito, which means 'a little bit' in Spanish [laughs]. I'm spending so much time learning lines for movies—I went from Thor to The Avengers to Snow White & the Huntsman—that mastering a whole other language is difficult. I better get with the program, though. The baby won't know what I'm saying and vice versa!"

Speaking of Snow White, what sets this version apart?
"It injects the [traditional] story that we all know with a lot of epic visuals and battle scenes and just ramps up every emotion in there."

By Brantley Bardin

Pick up the July issue of InStyle – on stands right now! – to read more of our interview with Chris Hemsworth.