How Chris Hemsworth Trained For Extraction

There is a belief that Hollywood, and the film industry as a whole, is all smoke and mirrors; nothing is real, and everything on the screen is some trick of the camera or the editing. The reality is, cinema is not only demanding creatively, but often physically as well. This is especially true in the action genre, in which actors go to incredible lengths to appear legitimate and believable. Every punch, kick, and one-liner has to be perfectly executed — just ask the star of "Extraction," Chris Hemsworth.

Sam Hargrave's thrill ride of a film hit Netflix back in 2020 and was met with plenty of excitement. Most of the discussion surrounding "Extraction" following its release centered on its explosive action, which made up the vast majority of the film. Hemsworth's Tyler Rake, a black market mercenary, is ruthless in beating his opponents to a pulp. Whether he has a gun or simply uses his hands, he is nigh unstoppable, giving the "Thor" actor a whole new characterization into which to sink his teeth.

The fight scenes in "Extraction" deserve high praise not only for their quality, but also for the commitment of those involved. Setting up such fast-paced and elaborate combat sequences is no small feat. As Chris Hemsworth admitted, training for such scenes was rigorous. Since the majority of the movie is action, the Australian thespian had his work cut out for him.

During a Q&A session on the Netflix Film Club YouTube channel, Hemsworth discussed the "exhausting but rewarding" training process he endured for the film's high-octane story.

As the old saying goes, "practice makes perfect," and that's a phrase easily applied to Chris Hemsworth's training to become Tyler Rake in "Extraction." When revealing how intense it was, he confessed that it was "incredibly challenging," but likened it to memorizing lines of dialogue. The best strategy to have is simple repetition, going in head-first over and over again until it becomes second nature. This way, he could familiarize himself with each step, weaving a seamless sequence of moves into well-paced and entertaining combat.

Hemsworth noted that it was an intense process that never slowed down. "Every day, we were shooting one scene, we'd be rehearsing the next fight scene the following day, so it didn't really stop," he recalled. Furthermore, the Australian actor pulled double duty just to ensure the choreography was just right. This wasn't a quick process either, as he later said, "It was a three-month shoot, basically kinda running, and sprinting, and fighting the whole time." Piggybacking from fight to fight is an intense feat, one that the average Joe couldn't pull off. 

It sounds like Hemsworth survived quite a grueling workout while shooting "Extraction," even for a bruiser like Tyler Rake. But just how intense was that experience compared to other roles?

Chris Hemsworth was no stranger to starring in action movies before he got the leading role in "Extraction." As a major player in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he's been part of some of the 21st century's most popular and ambitious action-packed blockbusters, after all. However, the actor had to step up his game for the Netflix thriller, describing it as "the most exhausting shoot I've ever been a part of" in an interview with news.com.au.

Going into the movie, Hemsworth was familiar with Sam Hargrave through the director's stunt coordination work with Marvel. That said, the intensity of the "Extraction" shoot still took him by surprise. "Sam and I have worked together on Avengers films and I knew it was going to be full of all the talent he was going to bring to the table with actions and stunts, but he took it up to a whole new level that I hadn't experienced before," he said.

Fortunately, Hemsworth was more than up to the task, and he'll reprise the role of Tyler Rake in "Extraction 2," which is set to premiere on Netflix in June.