Extraction 2 Made Chris Hemsworth ‘Strip Down’ The Body He Built For Thor

Director Sam Hargrave previously spoke about having to be in top physical condition himself when shooting the “Extraction” movies. Prior to overseeing the first film, the stunt performer actually doubled for Chris Evans as Captain America, and told Men’s Health, “For the Avengers movies, you had to stay functionally strong, but you also had to look like the actor. So there were a lot of aesthetic workouts that we would do.” But when it came to the “Extraction” movies, he directed as if he was part of the stunt team, flying around on wires and follow cars while shooting the scenes himself. That required him to maintain a much more lean and functional physique.

And that’s exactly what Chris Hemsworth had to do in order to play Tyler Rake. Speaking to Rappler, the actor explained how trimming down and steering away from muscle mass actually helped reduce the risk of injury, adding:

“For ‘Thor,’ it was more aesthetic and about building muscle and looking bigger and stronger, but it wasn’t overly functional. For this film, it was about stripping a lot of that down and being able to move more. More flexibility, more functionality.”

Hemsworth also recalled how having a stunt performer in the director’s chair (or director’s harness, in this case) was useful, as Hargrave could actually demonstrate the stunt himself before the team performed it. The director explained:

“I try to look at it like a fan myself…. What would I enjoy? How can I do that in a way that is interesting or hasn’t been done before? There’s so many great action designers and choreographers out there and I don’t feel like I’ll out-choreograph them. But I might photograph it in a way that’s unique to my point of view.”