Liam Hemsworth Was Never The Same After His Divorce From Miley Cyrus

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Liam Hemsworth and Miley Cyrus certainly gave the tabloids plenty of drama to feast upon during their turbulent decade-long relationship. The pair first got together while shooting the Nicholas Sparks romantic drama "The Last Song" in 2009, and after three years of an on/off romance, they put a ring on it. Despite calling off their engagement soon after, the pair eventually made it down the aisle in 2019. Unfortunately, this appeared to be the death knell of their relationship, as within the span of eight months, Hemsworth and Cyrus announced they'd separated. And this time it was for good, with the divorce officially finalized in February 2020.

So how has the youngest Hemsworth sibling coped since the one-time Hollywood golden couple said their permanent goodbyes? From new relationships and dietary changes to image makeovers and controversial castings, here's a look at Liam Hemsworth's eventful post-Cyrus life.

The first major change Liam Hemsworth made after splitting from Miley Cyrus was his diet. Indeed, after his strict diet once caused a serious health scare — the excruciating pain of a kidney stone, which forced him to undergo hospital surgery — the actor decided that the vegan life wasn't for him.

In an interview with Men's Health, Hemsworth explained that the chance of having another kidney stone is 50 percent if you don't change the way you eat. His condition formed from an overload of oxalates, an organic acid found in high levels of foods he'd use in his morning smoothies. "And that was what I considered super healthy," he added. "So I had to completely rethink what I was putting in my body ... If something works well for a period, great, keep doing it. If something changes and you're not feeling great, you've got to reassess it and then figure it out."

Hemsworth, who turned to veganism in 2015 shortly before he reunited with the "Hannah Montana" star, also admitted that changing his diet helped his mental health. "Honestly, the past six months ... I'd say exercise and fitness is a big thing for me to just feel balanced and level headed."

Liam Hemsworth has largely kept mum about his 2020 divorce from Miley Cyrus. His ex-wife, not so much. Indeed, the "Can't Be Tamed" singer has repeatedly thrown shade in the Aussie's direction, both in speech and in song!

Yes, Cyrus' monster hit "Flowers" was widely interpreted as a dig against her former husband thanks to lyrics like "I can take myself dancing / I can hold my own hand / Yeah, I can love me better than / Yeah, I can love me better than you can." To add insult to injury, the track enjoyed an eight-week stint atop the Hot 100 and won both Best Pop Solo Performance and Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards.

Then there was the meet and greet in which a fan with a familiar name asked for Cyrus' signature on his vinyl edition of her ninth studio effort, "Something Beautiful." The Disney Channel graduate duly obliged, also adding "the best Liam" in ink, too. During a livestream with Cody Simpson, the star appeared to make her feelings toward Hemsworth crystal clear (via Grazia): "I always thought I had to be gay, because I thought all guys were evil, but it's not true. There are good people out there that just happen to have d***s. I've only ever met one, and he's on this live."

Unsurprisingly, the tabloids and social media had plenty to say about Liam Hemsworth's divorce from Miley Cyrus. But instead of trying to answer back, Hemsworth decided to let it slide.

"From my point of view, the majority of the time things that are written about me are completely false," Hemsworth told Men's Health in 2020. "There are times when you want to speak up and there are other times when it's not worth it, because you're just going to draw more attention to it, and then it's better to just not think about it and let it all wash away." It was an approach the Aussie was also forced to adopt several years later.

Indeed, following the announcement he'd be replacing Henry Cavill in the fourth season of "The Witcher," Hemsworth became the subject of intense scrutiny on X and TikTok. In fact, the response was so vociferous it essentially forced the star to quit going online altogether. "I dealt with that sort of thing in the past a lot and, you know, at the end of the day, I love making movies and I love telling stories and acting," he told Entertainment Weekly. "I just don't want any of that to affect my way of telling the story that I'm trying to tell."

Liam Hemsworth didn't waste any time getting back in the saddle after splitting from Miley Cyrus. Just four months after news of their separation emerged, the "Isn't It Romantic" star was spotted enjoying lunch with another woman, one who'd turn out to be his future wife!

In December 2019, Hemsworth was pictured introducing his parents, Leonie and Craig, to model Gabriella Brooks at a Byron Bay restaurant. A month later, the pair were snapped frolicking on one of the area's many beaches, while in May 2020, the Aussie revealed to People that he was spending the quarantine period with his new beau in his Phillip Island hometown. The loved-up couple continued to visibly express their love for each other throughout the year before making things Instagram official with a snap at a "Peaky Blinders"-themed bash for brother Chris Hemsworth.

Despite all the public displays of affection, Brooks told Stellar magazine (via Elle) that the pair planned to keep their relationship on the downlow: "... I feel like in an industry where so much is put out on show, there are some things you just want to keep to yourself. I completely understand [the interest]. But at the end of the day, I guess I just like having that for me ... But he's great ..."

After getting the tabloids in a frenzy after being spotted with a diamond ring during a trip to Ibiza, Gabriella Brooks confirmed on Instagram in 2025 that Liam Hemsworth asked for her hand in marriage and showed off the piece of jewelry.

So did "The Hunger Games" star pull out all the stops while popping the question? Well, as he admitted during an appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon," not so much. "I didn't have a huge plan behind the engagement," Hemsworth revealed (via People). "I mean, I had enough of a plan to have bought the ring, but I was sort of just waiting for the right moment."

It's not known exactly where Hemsworth got down on one knee, but it wasn't in the Maldives as reports first suggested. "We went there recently," the Aussie told Today (via USA Today). "I finished shooting about three weeks ago and went straight to a tropical island and let my hair down ... or took my hair off," he added, referring to the long, luscious locks he has to sport for "The Witcher." "But no, we're super excited. It's a happy time in life."

In October 2022, fans of Netflix's "The Witcher" were left shocked following the news that Henry Cavill was replaced by Liam Hemsworth. However, no one was more surprised at this casting development than the show's new face.

"It came out of nowhere," Hemsworth told Entertainment Weekly about the offer to assume the role of Geralt of Riva in the fourth season. "I'm a massive fan of Henry's, and I'm a fan of what he did in the show," added the star who claimed to have been an avid player of "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt," describing it as "one of the best video games of all time."

While the public response to Hemsworth's appointment was decidedly mixed, executive producer Lauren Hissrich had little doubt they had the right man for the job. "The other really great thing about Liam is he takes this really, really seriously," she gushed. "I think he knew that he was stepping into big shoes. It was really important to him to have certain things [for] continuity — and also certain things that he could invent so that his Geralt could stand on his own two feet."

If Liam Hemsworth thought he'd been given a hard time by fans for replacing the oft-shady Henry Cavill in the fourth season of "The Witcher," who knows how he coped with the press' response? Indeed, following his debut as leading man Geralt of Rivia in the video game adaptation, the Aussie was hung out to dry by a whole host of TV critics.

"Liam Hemsworth is as charismatic as a bollard in a wig," declared The Guardian before adding that he was also "a scowling lunk who brings a wildly uneven vibe." Radio Times wasn't impressed, remarking, "He's less physically imposing than his predecessor and lacks the stoicism and chemistry of his predecessor." While The Independent argued, "It's impossible to avoid feeling like this is a huge downgrade." Unofficial reports also suggested viewership was significantly down from previous seasons.

To make matters worse, that very same week, Miley Cyrus picked up her tenth career Grammy nomination, with "Something Beautiful" nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album.

In 2025, Liam Hemsworth's father, Craig, and brother Chris embarked on a voyage to the Northern Territory from Melbourne for a National Geographic series titled "A Road Trip to Remember." It was a particularly poignant documentary for the fact that the elder of the two had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

Speaking about the illness while on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Liam admitted that the entire family had found it hard to cope with. "It's an incredibly difficult thing, I think for anyone who's had someone they love going through it." However, the "Independence Day: Resurgence" star believed that watching the unique road trip had served as a form of therapy. "What was really interesting for me personally was I saw things and I saw my dad talk about things that I don't think he necessarily would have spoken about with me. I don't think we'd have had those conversations."

"It was really nice to put Chris in a room with dad and hear him talk about his feelings and not wanting to be a burden," Hemsworth went on to add. "It's hard for me to talk about but I think it's really insightful. I also think it's really educational and shows a lot of things you can do for people that are going through Alzheimer's."

While Liam Hemsworth had risen to fame as the chiseled heartthrob in films such as "The Last Song," "The Dressmaker," and "Isn't It Romantic," the Aussie seemed determined to shake off his pin-up persona in the wake of his divorce from Miley Cyrus.

Indeed, the first project he shot following the split was "Poker Face," a thriller in which a poker game between five childhood friends is interrupted by an art heist. And as suicidal Michael Nankervis, Hemsworth sported a decidedly more mature look, including salt and pepper facial hair and grey hair, which made him look at least a decade older than his real age of 32.

Speaking to Stan Australia about the Russell Crowe-directed film, Hemsworth — who had a long-running bromance with "The Hunger Games" co-star Josh Hutcherson — revealed that it wasn't the new look that he found hardest to get to grips with. "The difficult part about playing that role was going to a really dark place and finding things to draw from, to be authentic to that character."

Liam Hemsworth leaned further into action cinema after his split from Miley Cyrus. He reunited with "Poker Face" director/ co-star Russell Crowe in "Land of Bad," playing a United States Air Force TACP. He famously took over from Henry Cavill as Geralt of Rivia in the fourth season of Netflix's "The Witcher." And he went on the run, literally, playing the prey in a survival game in "Most Dangerous Game."

Hemsworth played Dodge Tynes, an ex-athlete with an inoperable brain tumor who agrees to be hunted for 24 hours to help leave his family financially secure, in the 12-part Quibi series that was later turned into an film. And he certainly suffered for his art, he explained to Deadline.

"I did an enormous amount of preparation, thankfully, going into this, you know, running, starting with 5K and then sort of working up to 10K, which was a lot for me, and I think we all kind of underestimated how much I was actually going to be running in the first few weeks of the shoot," Hemsworth said. Despite being in peak physical condition, the Aussie admitted the constant action scenes took a toll on his body. "... It was great to do something so physical, but running is not an easy thing on your body."

In 2024, Liam Hemsworth was cast opposite Laura Dern in "Lonely Planet," an age-gap romance in which a novelist falls in love with a much younger finance manager while on a writer's retreat. And the pair displayed so much chemistry that some viewers wondered whether their romance was offscreen as well.

In an interview with People, Hemsworth, who by this point had been dating future fiancée Gabrielle Brooks for several years, explained why he and Dern made such convincing fictional lovers. "It was weird — it felt like we'd known each other for a long time, and there was this instant trust there, and connection," he said about their first meeting. "And as we worked together, that just grew and evolved, and we had such a great time doing this project together. And it was a really unexpected, wonderful surprise to work with someone that I was already such a big fan of and is obviously an amazing, brilliant actress."

Dern, who'd divorced only husband Ben Harper a decade earlier, was just as enthusiastic about her co-star on the Netflix film's promotional trail, telling People their characters' more intimate moments were a breeze to shoot: "By the time we were doing those scenes, there was nothing we couldn't talk about together and work out creatively, professionally, all of that."