Chris Hemsworth is temporarily leaving his superhero duties as he prepares for his latest role as a Formula One race car driver. In the much-anticipated flick, he portrays the life of the late James Hunt and how he competed for the 1976 F1 championship.

For the role, 'Thor' was required to shed 30 pounds of muscle. "Look, I'm James Hunt's height but Thor couldn't even fit into a Formula One car. I realize that, but I will be James Hunt's size, if I get the part." The Australian actor made his audition tape for 'Rush' while he was filming for 'The Avengers' in 2011.

The 30-year-old actor described the diet that he needed to take as "brutal": "I ate very little protein and carbohydrates and then I'd just run to sweat it off."

In real-life, F1 cars needed to be between 150 and 160 pounds in order to fit in their cars. Liam Hemsworth's older brother is 190 pounds. Despite the difficulty, the elder Hemsworth declared why he wanted to nab the part: "It came at the perfect time for me as far as the hunger and desire for what I wanted to do. The story spoke to me on a few levels. However outrageous Hunt was, his willingness to stay true to himself and not conform to some standard or be packaged in a neat little box by the sponsors was intriguing."

He has similarly confessed that the nude nes made him more nervous than the dangerous driving scenes: "Are you kidding me? It's like 100 people standing around."

The adrenaline-filled film will be hitting the theaters this September 27.