Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth has taken on a new role well outside the Marvel universe, becoming a co-owner of Archie Rose, Australia's most awarded distillery. The actor, best known globally for playing Thor, has acquired an undisclosed stake in the Sydney-based spirits brand alongside founder Will Edwards, with the pair setting their sights on cracking the lucrative United States market before the year is out.
From Marvel Star to Whisky Co-Owner
Hemsworth, who was born in Melbourne and spent part of his childhood in the Northern Territory outback town of Bulman, has described a long-standing personal connection to the brand. "Wherever I am in the world, tasting an Archie Rose whisky immediately transports me right back home, to that feeling of sitting around a campfire in the Australian bush with my mates," he said in a statement.
The actor says he is particularly impressed by the distillery's commitment to using only Australian-grown malts at its Sydney facilities — the original Rosebery site and bar, which opened in the city's inner south in 2015, and a production facility in Banksmeadow. "They're a brilliant example of what Australia does best, and I can't wait to share that with the world," Hemsworth said.
Edwards, who was not actively seeking a business partner when he first met Hemsworth through a mutual friend, says the fit proved impossible to ignore. "If you had asked me before this happened to pick someone to partner with, Chris Hemsworth would have been No. 1 on the list," he said. "He's an Australian icon and he's a really good bloke. There's no kind of pretence, he's willing to get his hands dirty and get involved in stuff."
Behind the Scenes for Over a Year
The partnership has been in the making quietly for more than twelve months, with Hemsworth working largely via email and phone before visiting the Banksmeadow production site. The team went to considerable lengths to keep his involvement secret — at one point telling staff he was scouting locations for a film role. Those efforts at discretion, however, were tested when Hemsworth, rather than slipping away after his visit, wandered down to the staff lunchroom and spent time chatting with the team over coffee.
"I assumed he was going to head off, and instead he goes down to level one, which is the lunchroom. He makes a coffee and then just chills out there with the whole team," Edwards recalled. "I'm like, 'Oh my god' — we're trying to keep this low key, and he's just hanging out."
Creative Role, Not a Distilling One
Hemsworth's involvement will be focused firmly on the brand's creative and commercial direction — product redesign, content strategy and the US market launch — rather than the craft of distilling itself. That responsibility remains with master distiller Dave Withers, a two-time winner of distiller of the year at the Spirits Business Awards.
"Chris is very comfortable leaving the distilling to the distillers," Edwards said. He added that Hemsworth's hands-on engagement with the creative process had exceeded expectations: "He's been very involved in that, more than I thought he would have been."
An Old Fashioned drinker by preference, Hemsworth is also partial to the brand's rye malt whisky.
A Major Market Opportunity
The timing of the investment reflects strong confidence in both the local and international spirits landscape. The Australian spirits market was reported to be worth $5.6 billion in 2024, while the US spirits market is currently valued at approximately $172 billion, with forecasts suggesting growth of a further $17 billion over the next five years. Whisky accounts for more than one-third of US spirits sales — a segment where Archie Rose is well positioned to compete.
For Edwards, the partnership marks a significant new chapter for a distillery that itself broke new ground when it became the first independent distillery to open in the City of Sydney in decades upon launching its Rosebery site in 2015.
