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Chris Hemsworth talks ’Extraction’ and how to keep moving
It was a dreary Wednesday morning at my house when Chris Hemsworth’s blue eyes lit up my laptop screen.
“Hey, how are ya?” he greeted everybody on Zoom, his eyes crinkly from smiling and with a deep-voiced huskiness that we all know and love.
It was only a ten-minute Zoom meeting from home, and yet the dashing Australian actor looked camera-ready as ever in a crisp, white button-down and a clean haircut.
With schoolgirl-like excitement that was difficult to conceal, two other reporters and I talked to the “Avenger” about his jaw-dropping new action movie “Extraction” that’s coming to Netflix this April 24.
Director Sam Hargrave, who was the stunt coordinator on “Endgame,” also joined us for the call from a more home-y set-up, in what seems to be his study with a book-covered desk behind him.
GMA News Online was among the select members of the media who were supposed to meet them at a press junket in Mumbai in mid-March, but as we all know, the COVID-19 nightmare put the whole world to a halt.
A month later, Netflix emailed us asking if we were still willing to do the interview over Zoom. Would I ever.
In “Extraction,” Chris plays Tyler Rake, a fearless black-market mercenary who goes on a deadly mission: To rescue a crime lord’s kidnapped son in a foreign land.
Netflix was kind enough to let us see the action-packed thriller in advance, and we saw Chris deliver what he calls the “most intense amount of action” he’s ever done in a film.
The first reporter got right to it, asking Chris what he had to do to go through some of physically and emotionally exhausting days during the production.
And, like a gift, the actor gave us a generous overview of juggling training, rehearsals and shooting his scenes.
Chris even shared a little bit about being away from his family, which was super sweet.
“I guess this is one of the first times I shot a film without my family being with me. There was so much movement logistically. (It) was just too tricky.”
Chris also revealed that he and Sam had a sort of motto on-set.
“’Keep moving!’ That was -- wasn’t it, Sam? That was the motto,” he asked his director in the next window.
“Yeah,” Sam chimed in with a chuckle. “Never stop! Keep moving!"
The movie is filled with gripping fight scenes, intense car chases, and a lot of weaponry. There’s even a 12-minute long action sequence where Sam strapped himself to moving cars just to make sure the audience is right in the thick of the action with Tyler Rake.
Nevertheless, Chris and Sam are also excited for the audience to see the film’s remarkable story and the character’s emotional journey as well.
“I think not often do you have — and this is what I loved about the script — such complex, incredible action coupled with an emotional story, and a heartbeat at the center of it,” Hemsworth tells GMA News Online.
“And I do believe that the action resonates so much more because you understand what the emotional component is of that sequence, and the way you know (why) he’s fighting.”
The fact that Sam tapped the “incomparable Chris Hemsworth” (his words) for his feature film is basically assurance that “Extraction” is going to keep the audience at the edge of their seats.
And with the film making its premiere on Netflix this April 24, even people bored at home amid the COVID-19 threat are in for a wild ride. — LA, GMA News
“Extraction” starring Chris Hemsworth and directed by Sam Hargrave premieres this April 24, 2020 on Netflix.
