Interview: Executive Producer Jane Root on Pushing Chris Hemsworth Beyond His Limits in "Limitless: Live Better Now"

Following the global success of Limitless with Chris Hemsworth, the Emmy-nominated docuseries from National Geographic returns with a bold new mission: not just helping us live longer, but inspiring us to live better now. In the second season, Limitless: Live Better Now, Chris Hemsworth takes on three high-stakes challenges designed to sharpen the mind, strengthen the body, and reframe our relationship with pain, risk, and cognitive decline.

Ahead of the show’s August 15th streaming debut on Disney+ and Hulu (and August 25th broadcast on National Geographic), I spoke with Executive Producer Jane Root about the inspiration behind Season 2, how her team merges cutting-edge science with jaw-dropping stunts, and the moments that challenged everyone involved.

Alex: Season 1 of Limitless made a big impact worldwide. What was your guiding ideology going into Season 2?

Jane Root: We heard from people all around the world how they changed their habits, did surprising things, made alterations in their lives as a result of Series 1 — little kids who’d done the box breathing and felt less scared of going to school, older people who’d tried cold-water swimming. I did that myself. But we wanted to take it further. We did amazing things in Series 1, but here we really wanted to push it. What we’re always trying to do is merge big science — often cutting-edge science that’s only out there in journals — with really fun stunts. That’s the core recipe at the heart of one of these shows.

Alex: The season premiere sees Chris in the UK. Was that a special experience for you?

Jane Root: That was amazing. I was there when Ed Sheeran set the challenge — “Learn a new skill. Do something you’ve never done before." He gets Chris to play around on various instruments, then they fix on the drums. Ed says, “Okay, come and play drums for me at a giant concert." Chris says yes, everyone’s happy… and then Chris basically doesn’t do much for quite a while. Then the day comes when Ed says, “My tour’s coming to the end — you’ve got to come." It’s 75,000 people in Bucharest, Romania, and that’s when it’s game on. He really has to do it. I won’t give away whether he pulls it off, but I went to that concert and it was pretty amazing to see both the intensity leading up to it, and the relief afterwards.

Alex: Limitless is a truly global production. How do you coordinate so many moving parts between companies?

Jane Root: Our partners at Protozoa — Darren Aronofsky’s company, with Ari Handel — had the original idea and we worked on it with them. They’re involved in the thinking, but they mostly let us get on and make the shows. Wild State is Chris’s company — they’re obviously very involved with everything Chris. They’re both great partners, but in the end, we’re the ones on the line to deliver the stunts, deliver the shows, get it all filmed and edited, and make it work. That’s my team’s job.

Alex: How do you find the right new challenges and science to spotlight?

Jane Root: We have a fantastic team based in London who spend so much time trawling journals, talking to scientists, figuring out what people are thinking and where the science is going. Then ideas percolate — like how learning a new skill in midlife can really challenge cognitive decline, or how you can challenge pain with laughter or by thinking about it differently. Once you’ve got that nugget of science, the ideas get bigger and bigger. That’s exciting.

Alex: Was there more synergy this time between the series and other National Geographic platforms?

Jane Root: Yes — this time you’re really seeing everybody get behind the show, because it’s important to so many people. It’s both a really enjoyable watch and something that tells you things you can actually use — to deal with anxiety, take more risks, handle physical pain. It’s both a fun night in on TV and something that can really help you.

Alex: Did you personally take anything away from filming Season 2?

Jane Root: Learning new skills and taking risks is phenomenal. On a daily basis, ask: “How can I challenge myself?" One sequence about pain stands out — we wired Chris and some of his friends up with electric shocks and tested their tolerance. Then we had them play Jenga together. They were laughing and messing around, and it was incredible how far they could push themselves when having fun. I even tried it — I went to the dentist a couple of days ago, put on a funny podcast, and it really did help.

Alex: Was there a production challenge this season that stood out?

Jane Root: The [Luzzone] dam climb — the highest man-made climbing wall in the world, in the middle of winter. Everyone wondered if he’d be able to do it. One of my team tried it beforehand and said it was the hardest thing he’d ever done, and he’s incredibly fit. It wiped him out. We wanted big challenges, and we gave them to Chris.

Alex: Did Chris approach this season differently compared to the first?

Jane Root: Chris calls himself an experiential journalist now. In the first series, he was doing challenges that others set. This time, he really read the books, thought about the science — he was a journalist as well as a participant. That’s the biggest change.

Alex: What do you hope viewers take away from this season?

Jane Root: I hope that across the world, from little kids to people in their 90s and beyond, people will think: “How can I challenge myself? How can I take more risk? How can I recalibrate my life?" Chris really goes there — there’s no acting, it’s raw and real. If he can do it, so can you.

Limitless: Live Better Now premieres August 15th on Disney+ and Hulu, and airs August 25th on National Geographic.