Chris Hemsworth Wound Up With An Interceptor Cameo At Netflix's Request
Two years on and Chris Hemsworth’s partnership with Netflix continues to go strong. So far, the actor has starred in two action flicks for the streamer, the 2020 film Extraction, and more recently, Spiderhead with Miles Teller. At the same time, Hemsworth has also been busy behind the scenes, serving as an executive producer in the action thriller Interceptor, which stars his wife, Elsa Pataky.In the movie, Pataky plays an Army captain who must fight off a group of terrorists determined to launch nuclear strikes across the U.S. by first taking down its interceptor facilities. And although Hemsworth doesn’t join Pataky in the onscreen action here, the Marvel actor does make a cameo in the movie. As it turns out, the idea for this may have come from Netflix itself.
Chris Hemsworth Appears As A Salesman On Interceptor
Interceptor is quite a fast-paced movie, and all of its action takes place inside an interceptor family where Pataky’s Captain J. J. Collins fights to keep terrorists from overrunning the control center. At some point in the film, however, the rogue group of infiltrators manages to broadcast themselves, informing people throughout the U.S. that their doom is near.
It is also in this moment that Hemsworth makes his surprise cameo, posing as a jolly salesman, oblivious to the impending danger around him. “Yeah, I think he's an up-and-comer, that actor who played Jed the stoner TV salesman,” Matthew Reilly, who wrote and directed the movie, jokingly remarked.
“I think he's got a future. Keep an eye out for him. His name is… Hemswith? Oh, Hemsworth, I think.”
Hemsworth barely gets any screen time in the movie, although it’s fun watching him play a salesman who starts cheering for Pataky’s character as the broadcast inside the interceptor goes on. Not to mention, the actor also delivers some hilarious lines in the movie.
“What a guy. Just so funny. There's even a line where they're stampeding out of the store, and Chris says, ‘Hey, we're not closing yet!’ That was all him,” Reilly revealed. “The amount of stuff we left on the cutting room floor with Chris… He was just such a good sport, and when you meet him, you realize just how funny he is.”
Netflix Wanted Chris Hemsworth To Appear In Interceptor
When Reilly and Pataky started working on Interceptor, it was mostly understood that Hemsworth would stay behind the scenes. But then, Netflix had other ideas. “Netflix said they wanted to work with Elsa and Chris said he’d be involved as an EP,” Reilly explained. “Naturally somebody at Netflix goes, ‘Hey, Chris, you might want to be in the movie.’”
That wouldn’t have been a challenge if Hemsworth didn’t have several projects going on at once. At that time though, the actor was in the middle of filming Thor: Love and Thunder with Taika Waititi. And so, Reilly had a limited time with the actor. “I got Chris straight off the Thor set,” Reilly said. “I got to direct him for two hours. He doesn’t mess around. He’s laser-focused.”
As for Hemsworth’s cameo look in Interceptor, the actor noticeably looks a bit like fat Thor and as the Thor: Love and Thunder trailer has confirmed, there are also parts of the movie where fat Thor would make an appearance. That said, Taika Waititi, who has returned to direct the latest Thor installment, couldn’t confirm if this was going to be the case initially. “This is an ongoing debate that we’re still having at Marvel. Cause we’re trying to figure out how long — how many months or years — this is after Endgame, at what point does this take place?” he explained instead.
Thor was still his heavier self at the end of Avengers: Endgame and the film’s writers, Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, believe that would make the most sense in the story. “He’s emotionally resolved. We fix his problem, and it’s not his weight,” explained. “But our issue that we wanted him to deal with was his emotional state that his mom addresses. And I think he is the ideal Thor at the end of the movie, and he’s carrying some weight.”
Ultimately, it does look like Thor does manage to shed the weight off but not before Hemsworth filmed his scenes for Interceptor. Nonetheless, it all worked out and fans couldn’t be more pleased.
Meanwhile, fans who want to see more of Hemsworth on Netflix may not have to wait all that long. Filming has already wrapped up on Extraction 2, although so far, the streamer hasn’t announced a release date yet. On the other hand, Reilly is open to the idea of doing an Interceptor sequel, and in fact, he’s written it already (“Netflix likes it.”).
And if it really were to happen, perhaps Hemsworth’s Thor: Love and Thunder co-star, Natalie Portman, can also join in on the action. “Elsa and Natalie are actually very close,” the director revealed. “We could put her in Interceptor 2. I could do that. She's fabulous.” As for another Hemsworth cameo, Reilly said, “Absolutely, oh yeah. If he wants to do it, we'll do it.”
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