The ESP Guitar Company

The hit series Limitless: Live Better Now (Hulu/Disney+/NatGeo) features actor Chris Hemsworth taking on epic challenges to explore science-backed ways to improve our health. In addition to tasks like climbing a frozen 600-foot wall and enduring brutal Special Forces pain training in South Korea, Chris takes on another assignment that wouldn't be easy for anyone: he learns how to play drums to perform at a sold-out stadium show with Ed Sheeran... with his teachers being drummer Ben Gordon and the other members of renowned Australia-based metalcore band Parkway Drive, featuring ESP Signature artists Jeff Ling and Luke Kilpatrick.

To be clear, Hemsworth — an accomplished actor best known for his role of Thor in Marvel's "Avengers" movie franchise — had never even tried to play drums previous to this assignment. But as a fan of Parkway Drive (and a neighbor and friend to Gordon), he had a good teacher to help him at least learn the basics. In a recent interview, Gordon was asked if Hemsworth had any natural talent as a drummer.

Gordon quickly replied, “When he first came to me, he was really bad. He was a complete novice. He had no idea about it. He had no rhythm. But that was kind of the challenge, and that’s what makes the episode fun.”

He added, "I have a lot of admiration for him because the whole premise of the episode was him finding something that he wasn’t gifted at, which was quite hard because he’s very talented in many areas, and diving into something that he finds uncomfortable.” And after months of practicing, Hemsworth put his understandable fears aside and successfully got behind the kit in front of 70,000 fans at Sheeran's show in Bucharest.

A Good Reason to Learn Music
In the first season of "Limitless," Hemsworth got some very real — and very frightening — news: he found out he had two copies of the APOE4 gene that makes him eight to 10 times more likely than the average person to get Alzheimer’s disease. He consulted an expert, who told him that learning a musical instrument is one of the best ways for a person to protect themself against cognitive decline.

ESP Makes a Guest Star Appearance
Obviously, the focus of the episode was Hemsworth working with Gordon to learn drums, and then performing live with Sheeran. But after initially gaining some skills, Chris got to sit in with PWD and jam along with Jeff and Luke, who were respectively playing their ESP Signature Series guitars, the E-II Jeff Ling and the E-II Luke Kilpatrick. Both of these Japan-built models are designed to offer the smooth playability and aggressive tones that make them perfect for Parkway Drive's music.