Chris Hemsworth’s Extraction Training Was More Intense Than His Thor Prep

When someone as physically fit as Chris Hemsworth says a training regimen is difficult, us mere mortals can’t even begin to imagine what that would look like. After playing Thor for close to a decade, Hemsworth is probably used to the grueling process of looking like a Norse god in all his muscled glory. But it wasn’t getting in shape for the Marvel character that the actor said was the most challenging thing he’s done. Instead, it was his prep for his role of Tyler Rake in Netflix’s Extraction.

It’s quite apparent that Hemsworth is extremely devoted to fitness. His perfectly-chiseled abs are a testament to that and he even launched his own workout app called Centr. For his own routine, the actor has worked with personal trainer Luke Zhocci for eight years now and Zhocci revealed that the perpetration for Extraction was far more intense than what had come before. This was due to how much more demanding stuntman turned director Sam Hargrave’s action sequences were.

“Getting Chris ready for Extraction was surprisingly intense because for other roles he gets a lot bigger especially for roles like Marvel’s Thor. On a day to day basis he was tested more physically doing his own stunts and a lot of running. We had to cover a lot more this time so we were also doing underwater training with dumbbells. We had to be prepared for everything so covered it all from swimming to functional movements.”

There’s no doubt that playing a character who’s a former SASR operator turned black ops mercenary isn’t an easy process. Most of the realistic-looking and visceral stunt scenes were brought to life with very little use of green screens or CGI, which also explains why Hemsworth found the making of the movie an intimidating process.

But the cast and stunt performers weren’t the only ones potentially risking life and limb. Hargrave even strapped himself to the hood of a car for a chase sequence, which was described as “one of the most technically challenging things” he’s ever done. In an interview on Netflix’s YouTube channel, Hemsworth and Hargrave broke down how some of the stunts were done in the safest way possible, but safe doesn’t necessarily mean risk-free.

All that hard work has clearly paid off though, because Extraction might be getting not one, but two follow-ups, including a prequel. And it’ll be truly amazing to see how the cast and crew top the insane action spectacle in the next installments.