Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, and writer Peter Morgan (Frost/Nixon, The Queen) met fans at the Apple store in Soho, New York to talk about their new film, Rush, on Sept. 18.

The film, which has been directed by Ron Howard, follows the true story of racing daredevils James Hunt and Niki Lauda. After enduring a catastrophic accident at the 1976 German Grand Prix, Lauda couldn't participate in the final two races of the championship. Lauda had been the reigning champion at the German Grand Prix but Hunt nabbed the title in 1976. The film captures the rivalry between the two race-car driving champions, and the ultimate showdown when Lauda returns to face Hunt in the Formula One World Championship in 1976.

The film is as much of a human drama as it is a sports/action thriller. The 30-year-old Australian actor has been usually known for his mythological or fantastical roles, like Thor in The Avengers - Hemsworth just wrapped Thor: The Dark World - and the huntsman in Snowhite and the Huntsman. So when the host asked if this was his first time playing a real human being, Hemsworth laughed, "This was the first time I was not wearing a cape!"

"It is great to be playing a human, to play a role that's character driven," he added.

In the Formula One racing scenes, Hemsworth wears the traditional red jumpsuit. He said the color red was familiar to him, referencing his past roles in movies, and that the jumpsuit was very comfortable.

As Rush is set in the Seventies the sartorial vibrancy of that time is also reflected in the film, Hemsworth said he loved the Seventies style ("plenty of flairs and pop colors") and that he "stole a lot of that wardrobe," which included the jumpsuit.

While speaking of the challenges the actors faced portraying Hunt and Lauda, Hemsworth suggested that it was essentially the anxiety that came with playing such iconic figures. The fact that the two were racers didn't seem to be as much of a hurdle for either Hemsworth or Bruhl, as that was not part of the audition and they attended a four week boot camp to get trained.

But even after having immersed themselves in the experience, it doesn't seem like the duo have gotten any more excited about racing cars.

"My wife has a heavier foot on the pedal," Hemsworth laughed.

"In Germany, we don't have any speed limit," said Bruhl but he later added that he was actually a very safe driver.

Casting for the film also seemed to not have been a smooth ride. Morgan spoke about Hunt, being this really "good-looking, sexy" buy with "a lot of swagger," and how they struggled to find a suitable actor to channel his machismo.

"We couldn't find a handsome Englishman to play an Englishman," Morgan quipped.

Morgan went on to talk about how uncanny the resemblance between Hunt and Hemsworth, and Lauda and Bruhl, was.

"The similarity between these guys is breathtaking, astonishing," he said.

While Morgan made it sound like Hemsworth was meant to play the part and sought out for it, Hemsworth had a different story to tell.

Apparently, Hemsworth had read the script, loved it, and "chased hard" to get the role.

"I met Ron a couple of times but I could tell it wasn't going go to go anywhere unless I did something about it," he said.

He made an audition tape at home, which his wife filmed. He talked about how they did innumerable takes as his wife was a bit of perfectionist.

The host at the event asked Hemsworth if he demanded the nude scenes in the film. "Yeah, no pants!" Hemsworth responded emphatically.

Toward the end of the session Hemsworth joked about discussing sex scenes with Howard. "Maybe you could be in a missionary position and you could put your hand here," he nailed an impression of Howard while describing how he guided him.

"I never imagined I would have a conversation about sex with Ron!" Hemsworth laughed.

Rush hits theaters on Sept. 27.

Watch the trailer for the film:

Tags
Daniel bruhl, Ron howard