Chris Hemsworth says he's 'fascinated' by wrestling as he prepares to play Hulk Hogan

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Chris Hemsworth said he has become “fascinated” by the world of professional wrestling as he prepares to portray Hulk Hogan in a biopic for Netflix.

The superhero star is set to play the 1980s wrestling icon in the movie, which will be directed by Joker filmmaker Todd Phillips.

Hemsworth told ScreenRant that he has not seen a script for the film yet, but that he is excited to get started.

He said: “I know it's being written now and worked on. I know very little about that. It's sort of in the process now.

“I'm just fascinated by that world, and I think they're pretty keen to show a side of the world that people haven't seen before. I'm as intrigued as you are.”

Hogan became the face of the WWE — then called WWF — in the 1980s and headlined the first three WrestleMania events.

The biopic is believed to follow Hogan’s early years in the wrestling business as he made his name and climbed to the top of the industry.

As well as achieving numerous championships in the ring, Hogan became a major celebrity and starred in movies including Rocky III and Mr Nanny.

In recent years, he is perhaps most famous for the scandal resulting from a leaked sex tape in which he repeatedly used racial slurs.

He sued gossip website Gawker in the aftermath of the leak for defamation and loss of privacy, winning a $115m (£93m) award from the court and later settling with Gawker for the amount of $31m (£25m).

Hemsworth, meanwhile, is currently promoting his role as mercenary Tyler Rake in the Netflix action thriller Extraction.

He is also set to return to his most famous role in the near future for Taika Waititi’s hotly anticipated superhero fourquel Thor: Love and Thunder.

Hemsworth said the script for the movie is “pretty insane” and sees Waititi at his “most extreme”.

Read more: Hemsworth launches into action for Extraction

The Hulk Hogan biopic is part of a boom in recent movies about wrestling, including Fighting With My Family and the WWE-supported Netflix adventure The Main Event.

This week, it was announced that former wrestler Dwayne Johnson will executive produce a series based around the strange world of backyard wrestling.