The premiere of Tyler Rake on Netflix three years ago was a huge success for the streaming giant. The debut in the director’s chair of the actor and specialist in action scenes Sam Hargrave was pure dynamite and gave the viewer no respite. Chris Hemsworth played the role of a black-ops mercenary hired to rescue the kidnapped son of an imprisoned Indian mob boss prince. A suicide mission that the tough Tyler fulfills by leaving his skin in multiple confrontations with the enemy.
As expected, the sequel has not taken long to get going and in this Tyler Rake 2, which lands on the platform on Friday, June 16, the Australian actor once again shows off his muscle after miraculously surviving in the outcome of the first installment to deal blows to anyone who prevents him from carrying out his new mission: to get the wife and children of a ruthless Georgian gangster out of jail.
The film, shot on location in Vienna and Prague, once again stars French-Iranian actress Golshifteh Farahani and surpasses its predecessor in fast-paced and extremely risky action scenes, with a 21-minute long shot that begins with the escape of jail, continues to fight the numerous inmates in the yard, goes through a fast-paced multi-vehicle chase and ends with a helicopter landing on top of a moving train.
And, as if that were not enough, Joe Russo’s script explores the protagonist’s existential crisis through a family tragedy that haunts him and that gives him several layers with different identities. “Tyler Rake is a person who goes it alone. On the one hand he has that heroic part, but also a certain cowardice. What attracted me is that he does not always do the right thing. He has a great load of guilt, of shame, because he is a being human and they are things that the public can connect with. What has he done in his life? How can he somehow redeem himself? All these traits give him a certain spontaneity and he is also a dangerous character because he does not follow the rules. All of them Those layers of the character form a creative part that I really like to explore as an actor. And it was important that it be a character with the moral compass in the right place”, he tells in conversation with a small group of media, including La Vanguardia, in his recent visit to Madrid to promote the film.
Hemsworth, who will blow out 40 candles on August 11, owes his great popularity to the role of Thor in the Marvel universe, with which he will return in Avengers: Secret Wars in 2026. “I like to diversify. Even within the character of Thor, I always you try to bring something different and reinvent yourself. I try to find things that are creatively interesting and work around an equally interesting team. You have to find the right balance. For example, the public goes to see Tom Cruise to do what he knows how to do. If suddenly does something different, no one is going to see it. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to have a comfort zone. Sometimes you like to break out of the mold, other times it’s okay to fit in, but you have to find that creative balance. I have to admit, Thor has opened me up many doors. I don’t know what would be of me without him, but I like to try new paths”, he admits.
Asked if he thinks globalization has forced action movies to create more complex characters and villains, Hemsworth nods. “Our job as actors, directors and filmmakers is to create characters that are as complex as possible. Not to fall back on the good guy/bad guy thing flat, no questions asked. Can you empathize with the bad guy’s motivations? Sometimes , sure, you have to fall for the traditional formula, but a movie is only as good as the conversation it generates. The dark knight did that very well with the Joker. You think, okay, this is the bad guy, but it leads you to wonder that you hadn’t considered. What do we really stand for? Something similar happened when we filmed Rush with Ron Howard, with the figure of Nikki Lauda. Tyler Rake 2 plays with that. Not to the point of wanting the bad guy to win, but the audience can understand their motivations beyond what is strictly rational”.
During their visit to the El hormiguero program, both Queen Letizia and Infanta Sofía took the opportunity to meet the attractive actor in person, a partner of the Spanish actress Elsa Pataky, with whom they have three children. “What? What? I can’t talk about that,” he comments, dodging the answer with an infectious smile. But he does answer how he feels to be a man so desired by the public, especially the female one. “I could say it’s thanks to my parents, but the answer would be that I ask myself the same questions as anyone else in the morning, and while I appreciate the compliment, I try not to dwell on it. Whether you listen to praise or criticism, being affected by it is not good. The important thing is that I support myself with my family and my friends. They help me keep my feet on the ground. I live in Australia, not in Los Angeles, that helps a lot, and I separate my work from my personal life,” he confesses.
After starring in so many action movies, aren’t you a little tired of the genre? “Yes, sometimes I get exhausted and a little bored and I would love to do smaller films. I have done other things, like Spiderhead with Netflix, which has not been seen as much as Marvel, but it is something totally different from what I had done before. I have also shot Furiosa, with George Miller, of a depth and complexity that for me was most refreshing”, affirms the interpreter, who likes it better “when we focus on the acting part rather than the action But I have to admit that I’m a very athletic person and it’s easier for me to transition into an action movie more than other actors.” And he continues: “I would love to make a romantic film and who knows what the future holds. It’s not like I get a hundred scripts a day with different registers, but I am at a point in my career where I do take great care in what I choose and what I do.” do”.
In 2019 his name sounded to give life to the wrestling star Hulk Hogan in a biopic that Todd Phillips was going to direct. “We had a conversation a few years ago. I love Phillips. A script has been written and there are different opinions on the project. Right now Todd is very busy with the Joker sequel and I don’t know where we are at right now,” says the actor. , who hopes the film will go ahead “because Todd is a genius and I’m sure he would do something unique and unexpected. Let’s see what happens.”
For now, it’s time to enjoy his performance in Tyler Rake 2, for which, among other goals, he had to lose weight and learn about 5,000 choreographed movements. It is clear that -although he still has to learn Spanish- there is no challenge for Chris Hemsworth that can resist him.
