Chris has a new photoshoot and interview with Entertainment Weekly. Check it out below!
Chris Hemsworth isn’t afraid of the elements. Not only does he know how to manipulate thunder and lightning as a Marvel hero, but for his latest film, the action-heavy Extraction 2, he braved snow, wind, and literally being set on fire (more on that later). So on a Los Angeles soundstage in late May, the Australian actor is more than happy to stand under a rain rig, posing as buckets of water douse him from above. He’s a professional, even when drenched, staring down the camera like he’s got a master’s degree in smoldering. But as soon as one of the directors calls cut, Hemsworth breaks into a grin, miming an air guitar and squeegeeing water off his face with his hands. He can’t help but try to make everyone on set laugh, at one point showing off a Little Mermaid-style hair flip that even Ariel would envy.
It’s a flexibility and spontaneity that’s served him well in his career: At 39, Hemsworth is one of Hollywood’s most beloved stars, a leading man with an action-figure physique and an impeccable sense of comedic timing. He’s played roguish space captains (Star Trek), unsettling cult leaders (Bad Times at the El Royale), and dim-witted receptionists (Ghostbusters) — not to mention 12 years as Thor, Marvel’s golden-haired, hammer-wielding god. And on June 16 he hits Netflix in the tense thriller Extraction 2, reprising his role as mercenary Tyler Rake. When the first Extraction dropped in 2020 in the early days of the pandemic, Netflix touted it as the streamer’s most-watched film premiere ever, earning a reported 99 million viewers, proof that Hemsworth can conquer both the box office and the streaming charts.
“There are some people who are just compulsively watchable,” says Anthony Russo, who, alongside his brother Joe, produced both Extraction movies and directed Hemsworth in multiple Avengers flicks. “And Chris Hemsworth is one of the most watchable there is.”
On screen, Hemsworth is constantly reinventing himself, even as off screen, he remains the genial Australian surfer he was pre-fame — always searching for something new. Returning for a second Extraction, he wanted to stretch his limits both physically and emotionally, diving deeper with character and aiming higher with action. “I’ve said this a few times,” Hemsworth tells EW, pulling a knee to his chest as he sits at a picnic table outside the rain room, “but when things become too familiar and too similar to what you’ve done, the audience — and myself — seem to check out.”
Hemsworth has always had an affinity for action. Growing up in Australia, he and his brothers — Luke, now 42, and Liam, 33 — would binge Schwarzenegger and Van Damme films. Afterward, they’d careen around their backyard, hitting each other with sticks and reenacting what they saw on screen.
Hemsworth has essentially now spent decades doing the same professionally (albeit with careful choreography and some of the best stunt teams in the world). In many ways, he seems an obvious choice for an action franchise like Extraction. But the Russos and director Sam Hargrave initially had other ideas about who should play the brooding Tyler Rake, hoping to cast against type with a more non-traditional action hero. (In other words, someone who looked less like a literal golden god, ripped from the pages of a comic book.)
Read more at EW.com
