Chris Hemsworth embraced his "departure" from being the hero in 'Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga'.

The 40-year-old star plays antagonist Dementus in the 'Mad Max' prequel and loved having the chance to be a villain after portraying Thor in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in several movies.

Chris told Entertainment Weekly: "It was a real departure, and it was nice... I was about to say it was nice not to wear a cape, but... I did have a cape in this film. And it's red – or it becomes red eventually, as well. The absurdity of that.

"I found a wonderful departure to it – to play the villain, transform, and inhabit a completely different physicality was a lot of fun. I loved it."

Despite his joy at being the baddie, Chris admits that he felt trepidation before taking the part and lacked the "confidence" that he usually has before working on a major film.

He said: "I don't really have a handle on the character. And I don't quite have all the confidence that I would normally have walking into this."

Hemsworth was able to overcome his fears by writing journal entries as Dementus and thinks that it is beneficial for performers to take on roles that require them to challenge themselves.

The 'Extraction' star explained: "I've heard people talk about how you want to choose the roles that scare you. And, yeah, it's sort of an actor-y thing to say.

"But I think it was a good thing. I think it forces you to dig that bit deeper. And the challenges, the adversity – that's where the growth occurs. I feel like I learned more on this film than anything I'd ever done because of what was asked of all of us and how challenging it was, in a wonderful way."