Director Sam Hargrave Takes Us Behind the Scenes of Chris Hemsworth's Craziest Stunts in ‘Extraction 2’

Sam Hargrave has quickly made himself one of the most exciting directors of the high-octane thriller genre. In keeping with the trend of the best new action directors being former stunt performers, Hargrave spent two decades falling and fighting on film sets all over the world—most recently in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where he went from stunt doubling for Chris Evans and Captain America in The Avengers to stunt coordinator for Avengers: Endgame.

Every element of that vast experience was tapped a few years ago when Hargrave directed his first feature narrative film, Netflix’s whirlwind action hit Extraction, starring Chris Hemsworth as black market mercenary Tyler Rake. The movie was jam-packed with hard-hitting action, including a jaw-dropping 12-minute, one-take sequence with the viewer following Hemsworth during an explosive car chase. For the highly anticipated follow-up, Extraction 2, the goal for Hargrave was to level up the stunts, which meant challenging himself both in execution and ideation.

Related: ‘Extraction 2’ Trailer: Chris Hemsworth Returns to Kick Ass

“Sam’s knowledge of action and stunts, as well as how to tell a story with them is impressive,” said Hemsworth while promoting the sequel. “Extraction was the most intense film I had ever done—until we filmed the second one.” The extra effort was worth it, with Tyler Rake now becoming the center of a full-on franchise, with a third movie already confirmed by Netflix.

Men’s Journal spoke with Hargrave about his pursuit of epic stunts, why Chris Hemsworth makes the perfect Tyler Rake, and the fitness center fight sequence that's sure to make gym-goers double check the lock on the leg press.

Men’s Journal: There's a brutal fight scene in a fitness center, where guys are bashed against a rack, choked with a cable machine, tossed off a balcony with a treadmill, and crushed by a leg press. How do you go about building a sequence like that?

Sam Hargrave: One of the challenges with any new action movie, and creating new action sequences, is that there have been so many great creative minds in the genre before. You start to really ask yourself if you’re going to be able to bring something new to the game. One of the best things you can do as a director is to surround yourself with great people who are consistently making you elevate your game. When it comes to stunts, I have ideas of course, but really it’s more important for me to be the curator of good ideas. The best idea should always win.

As far as mapping out a fight sequence in a gym, we start by studying everything that's come before. We want to make sure we don’t repeat a beat that audiences have already seen. There will be times that we find inspiration, but we always make sure to find our own spin on the action. Keeping in mind the location, we’ll look at everything that’s available that could be used to the character’s advantage.

To be honest, a lot of the inspiration for the gym sequence came from TikTok fail videos. So many of us are on our phones, on social media, and we see clips that really take us off guard. You see these fails, and they elicit this real intense reaction. The first thing you think is, “I hope that person is okay.” Then the stunt person in you starts thinking about how that could look in a film, and how you could bring that reaction into the film you’re doing.

Related: Inside Chris Hemsworth’s Most Grueling Workouts With Trainer Luke Zocchi

Can you give an example of a TikTok fail video you used for inspiration?

The treadmill stunt specifically came from one of those videos, where we saw someone hitting the treadmill once it was going pretty fast. It was a member of the stunt crew, Thayr Harris, who came to me with the treadmill idea and showed me the video. From there, we try to figure out how to escalate it for the film—like, what if that person did a scorpion off the treadmill and flew off a balcony down an entire floor. That’s where the creativity is. It’s not always entirely new ideas. Sometimes it’s bringing a new element to a past idea.

I could've said it didn’t feel realistic, or it didn’t fit into my vision, but once I saw the inspiration video he was using and a rehearsal of the stunt, I made that decision that it was worth it. I hadn’t seen anything like it in a movie before. I had to work to keep it in the edit as well, because you’re always second guessing yourself in the edit. I fought for that one in particular because of the unique nature of it. It ended up making it into the trailer and a lot of people have commented on it.

For some of the fights in Extraction 2, it’s hard to imagine a guy could survive unless he’s built like Chris Hemsworth.

I honestly can’t imagine any actor besides Chris Hemsworth portraying Tyler Rake. He’s perfect for the role. He has the physical presence, the spatial awareness, and the ability needed to play the character. There’s also this emotional vulnerability he possesses that brings us into his journey. He’s willing to be vulnerable and doesn’t mind cracking open that tough action hero exterior. That’s important—to see the inner workings of the soul, because you can have great action, but eventually it can just turn into a guy kicking a bunch of butt with no reason why. It’s no good to just have action for the sake of action.

In keeping with your goal to level up the action from the first film, the sequel includes a one-take sequence on a speeding train. What were the logistics around filming that?

We spent months perfecting that sequence, putting all the pieces together moment by moment. There are hand-offs that happen between cameras during the shot, and moments during the car chase part of the sequence where I was being handed the camera from a speeding car and had to keep a flipping car in frame. We were doing practical effects, with real explosions, while we were all driving around in the picture cars and the camera cars, along with all of these motorbikes.

The train element took about three weeks of rehearsal alone, and it was the first scene which we actually filmed at that location. The train was going 30 or 40 miles per hour. The helicopter actually landed on the train and I needed to be the one filming that. I feel that because I have that history with stunts. I have this body awareness that has developed over the years. During this sequence we all took our hits to get the shot.

Related: 19 Ways Chris Hemsworth Trains to Transform Into Thor

Speaking of which, Tyler Rake is very nearly killed at the end of Extraction. From a director’s standpoint, was it a challenge documenting a comeback that feels both motivated and believable?

We wanted to be truthful to the circumstances that we’d created for Tyler Rake in the first movie. We had to be frank with the fact that he had the living hell beat out of him, and he’s not exactly superhuman. So, in the second film we have to show a broken man. He’s going to need real time to recover, and he’s going to have some real traumas from the event. The character has to find his own reason to come back. As filmmakers, we have to answer that question too. Why did we bring him back? If we can’t answer that question, then we shouldn’t make the movie.

In the first movie, we started with him seeking redemption by helping people because he left his son in a very vulnerable position. So now he sees it as his duty to protect those who are less capable than him. Through those actions, he’s opened his door to his true calling—helping those who need protection from evil. When he’s beaten down, wondering why he’s still alive after being through so much, we’re witnessing the birth of the hero Tyler Rake.

Who are your idols in the world of stunts and fight choreography?

Jackie Chan, for one. I grew up going to a Taekwondo school where I was training constantly. When I'd wake in the morning to train, I'd first cue up a Jackie Chan movie to one of my favorite scenes and watch it while I ate breakfast. Then I'd repeat that throughout the day for lunch and dinner. I was this kid getting three healthy helpings of Jackie Chan action every day for several years.

I was also a fan of all kinds of Hong Kong action cinema growing up. As far as gun play, John Woo is a true master of that special effects-driven action. But in my mind, nobody does it like Jackie Chan. The way he mixed comedy with action, all while keeping the stakes high because of how much you cared about his characters, is something I’ve always strived to emulate. I think we’ve been able to create that feeling with Tyler Rake in Extraction.

Extraction 2 is now streaming on Netflix.