Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo: We're like a couple of naughty school kids

Chris Hemsworth and Mark Ruffalo are no strangers to sharing the screen, having previously starred together in Marvel films such as Thor and Hulk.

Now the pair have reunited for a very different type of film.

They are starring alongside each other in Crime 101, a tense thriller that swaps superhero spectacle for a game of psychological cat and mouse.

Speaking at the premiere, Hemsworth told the BBC that their long-standing friendship brought both energy and challenges to the set.

"The two of us get together and we're like a couple of naughty kids at school that need to be wrangled to be focused," he said.

In the film, Hemsworth plays an elusive jewel thief planning one final heist, while Ruffalo stars as a determined detective intent on catching him.

While the pair are well known for their comedic chemistry, Crime 101 marks a shift into darker territory.

"We have a familiarity in the comedic space," Hemsworth said. "This is a dramatic film so it was quite an adjustment and discomfort at first."

Ruffalo said Crime 101 gave Hemsworth the opportunity to take on a very different type of role from those that audiences may be used to seeing.

"I got to see him do something I've been dying to see him do that I know he can do but hadn't had the director to help him," the 58-year-old actor said.

"When I saw him walk on set, I didn't recognise him, he was totally transformed and I thought this is what I want to see you do."

The Poor Things actor revealed that the pair had been discussing working together outside the Marvel universe for years.

"We've been talking about doing a project for years," he said. "I love him and we have a really close relationship. We always see each other and ask, 'What are we going to do together?'"

Ruffalo said it was Hemsworth who first approached him about the film.

"Chris reached out to me immediately. I read the script and thought, absolutely," he said.

Starring alongside Hemsworth and Ruffalo is Halle Berry, who plays an insurance broker who gets entangled in the heist.

The 59-year-old said her character showed that "women of a certain age are not indispensable and resists that by standing up for herself".

That mentality is very similar to how Berry sees herself, telling the BBC she is focused on "building a company to help women going through perimenopause", which she was diagnosed with in her early 50s.

The American actor says she is "always" being pigeonholed into a certain role due to her age but she "resists at every turn".

Berry is set to play President Joanna Duncan, a gender-swapped version of the lead role from the The President is Missing, a political thriller novel by Bill Clinton.

"It's my fantasy to have a female American president and I would love to see a woman lead the country and I hope to get to see that in my lifetime but at least I get to play one."

Crime 101 features all the classic car chases and stunts you'd imagine from an old school crime thriller and Hemsworth said that was one of the most enjoyable parts of filming.

"The stunts were intense for all the right reasons - you have the adrenaline pumping and you're like a big kid, and that's what I love about doing those films."

The Australian actor joked that his upbringing "on farms where we were bashing about in old cars" helped prepare him for the car chasing stunts.

Avoiding stunt doubles and green screen added to the film's authenticity, according to Hemsworth. "It is really us experiencing those emotions so there's an added layer of grit and authenticity," he said.

Outside of acting, Hemsworth has been throwing himself into new challenges, from fitness experiments to learning new skills.

His Limitless documentary sees him explore ways to live longer and healthier and as part of the show which aired last summer he learnt to play drums, eventually performing live with Ed Sheeran.

"I had planned to continue the drumming," he said, "but that period was so intense I get PTSD when I see a drum set."

With three children, he said he knew he should return to it "for my brain health", but suggested his brief moment on stage might remain a one-off.

"Ed Sheeran is doing a tour in Australia and he said he'd come get me and three beers into that conversation I agreed.

"I thought about it again when I was sober and told him I'm not doing that again. I've done it once and checked that box."