Chris Hemsworth has definitely handled his share of action over the years, but his upcoming action-thriller EXTRACTION will be pushing the star to his limits. The Netflix film is the feature-film directorial debut of Sam Hargrave, who has served as stunt coordinator on many films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as well as ATOMIC BLONDE, THE ACCOUNTANT, SUICIDE SQUAD, and more. Hemsworth stars as Tyler Rake, "a fearless black market mercenary who embarks on the deadliest mission of his career when he’s enlisted to rescue the kidnapped son of an international crime lord."
Sam Hargrave and Chris Hemsworth spoke with Entertainment Weekly about the stunts and action-scenes of EXTRACTION, which seem to be some next-level stuff. "That was a big reason for doing the film," Hemsworth said. "The way Sam wanted to shoot, with a lot of continuous takes and minimal editing, meant there weren’t moments where a stunt guy could jump in, so it was nice to step up to that challenge. I'd never experienced this amount of action before. It was exhausting, but one of the most rewarding things I've been a part of, because at the end of it I felt like we'd run a marathon." Hargrave added, "In my opinion, Chris has never been pushed. He has a lot of physical ability, and I’ve seen flashes of brilliance in the Thor movies, so I wanted to test him. I still don’t think we got to his full potential, but we pushed him further than he’s ever been — and it really shows on screen." Damn. Hemsworth knew that he had to give EXTRACTION his all, especially when Hargrave was strapped to the front of a car with a helmet on in order to shoot certain sequences.
Beyond the hard-hitting action, Chris Hemsworth also said that it was the character of Tyler Rake who drew him to take part in the film.
There was a relatable, authentic character that I hadn’t embarked on before. It was a tortured soul, with this lack of courage to face his previous experiences, and yet as far as his job went, there was a kamikaze approach; he did not care for his own safety, and that makes for a dangerous individual. A lot of my films have largely been fantasy- or special-effects-based, so it was nice to have a grounded story, but there was a physicality to it that was equally as impressive as [my] superheroes.
EXTRACTION will debut on Netflix on April 24th.