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Chris Hemsworth is a man on fire! The actor is back as Tyler Rake and is taking the action to the next level in “Extraction 2.”
The movie star spoke with “Extra” about the action-packed sequel that almost never happened and what it was like preparing for those wild stunt scenes.
“The original script, the character was done and dusted. He died at the end. We thought that was essential and the perfect conclusion to the redemption tale he was on,” Chris revealed.
“The studio started watching the footage and said… ‘We should give ourselves an out here because this feels pretty special.’ Then the film blew up, was the number one film on Netflix at the time, and off began the collaboration of where we could take this character and what we could explore,” he continued.
“We knew the action was gonna be there. I knew that [director Sam Hargrave] was gonna bring that in spades. But the emotion component — that we’d really only touched on in the first film — was something we were really able to dive into.”
In the movie, out June 16 on Netflix, Hemsworth plays a commando back from the brink of death who’s on another dangerous mission. The film, Chris said, was grueling to make.
“You’d shoot all night. You’d sleep in the day. So, I wasn’t even seeing the sun. And the first half of the shoot for me was probably the hardest.”
As for what was also likely one of the hardest parts of the movie? Filming those crazy stunt scenes.
“I let them light me on fire,” Chris said. “To do this every day for four months, you gotta be really careful. I don’t care how fit you are and how prepped you are, your body starts to break down, and the big reason it starts to break down is the mental fitness isn’t there, and so that’s something I’ve always been really mindful of.”
And that’s one reason why Hemsworth needed a nice, long surfing break from work.
“I’ve just taken eight months off basically out of exhaustion and realizing that life is whipping by, and my kids were getting old, and I was missing opportunities with them. So I had a wonderful time with the family and reinvigorated the creative spark as well, and now I feel rested and ready to get back to work.”
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What also keeps Chris relaxed is listening to Ed Sheeran. The actor joked he’s a borderline stalker of the “Photograph” singer, and he’s already seen Ed’s recent tour three times!
“[Sheeran is] the most incredible musician. Good person. Humble, kind. Great sense of humor,” Chris told “Extra.”
So, can we expect a Chris and Ed duet someday?
“I’d rather bring him into a film than me trying to sing! That would be catastrophic for the both of us, I think,” Hemsworth said.