Exclusive Blackhat Trailer and Chris Hemsworth Q&A

For his next big move, Chris Hemsworth is dropping his Thor hammer and picking up a computer keyboard. The blond Aussie switches gears to star in Michael Mann’s upcoming cyber thriller, Blackhat. (Yahoo Movies has the exclusive premiere of the film’s new trailer, above.)

Hemsworth plays a genius hacker released from prison to take down a high-tech terrorist wreaking havoc on banks, power grids, and other systems around the globe.

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The 31-year-old actor phoned Yahoo Movies during an Australian getaway to discuss his latest film. But before getting into Blackhat, Hemsworth humored us by discussing his recent coronation as Sexiest Man Alive. “I got more comments about it than any movie I’ve ever done,” he said of the People magazine honor. “I don’t know what that says about my acting. Maybe it’s not that memorable,” he added with a laugh. “I’m sure there are many people out there who demand a recount.”

Here’s what Hemsworth said when the conversation moved on to Blackhat, in UK cinemas from 20 February:

What was the most shocking thing you learned about cyber crime as you prepared for the role?

With the press of a button you can shut down power grids and blow up nuclear power plants. It’s endless, the things that are possible.

The topic is especially timely in Hollywood with the recent hacking at Sony Pictures and of celebrity email accounts. Has that affected you at all?

And I know Marvel has had [this issue] with the [leaked] release of their [Avengers: Age of Ultron] trailer — due to some form of hacking. It certainly makes me not store anything I want to keep secret on any computer or device because it’s all penetrable. It’ll just mean that people now spend more and more time and effort into protecting those things. I’m sure a lot of money is going to be lost due to spoiled release dates and other things being let out of the bag too early.

I assume for Blackhat you didn’t have to be in Thor-level shape. Did you find that refreshing?

It was. I was also losing Thor weight partly for this film but also for In the Heart of the Sea shooting just after this. That was a more dramatic weight loss. It was the other extreme. It was nice not having to lift weights, but it meant I had to run a lot and not eat very much. I don’t know which I prefer, force feeding myself or starving myself. They’re both pretty sh—-y.

You’ve never played a genius before nor have you played a hacker. What did you do differently to prepare for the role?

I just became really, really smart [laughs]. I had to do a lot of prep and research within the world of computers and the cyber world and hacking — which was completely foreign to me. It’s definitely not one of my skill sets. Neither math nor computers was a class that I excelled in by any means in school.

I worked with one particular guy, Chris McKinley, who’s up there in the top of his field with computer math science programs. I started from typing, knowing how to type, and then [we] worked our way through having some sort of familiarity in the hacking world. … how these guys think and how they view the world. They know all the vulnerabilities of the so-called secure system.

I think they find it quite amusing how safe we all think we are.

Michael Mann (Manhunter, Heat, The Insider) is one of Hollywood’s top directors. How did you approach working with him?

With a huge amount of respect and admiration for what he’s done. I’m a huge fan. He has such a detail to prep, to schedule, and a way of working. It’s sort of exhausting but he gets something else out of you. You know, he’ll do 50, 60 takes, and you have no idea why you’re doing it again. … It’s kind of like breaking a horse, I think. [He’ll] just beat you down until you’ve got nothing left. Then you give a very natural performance.

Did you know that coming in or was it a surprise?

I knew it was going to be work the day I signed on. Twenty-four hours later I had a phone call saying, “Right, I need you in Chicago tomorrow. We’re going to visit a steel mill,” which is in my character’s backstory. Then, “We’re going to go to one of the prisons there, spend some time in the prison, see some prisoners to understand the psychology and that world.” And then I went to another prison in California, and then math and computer classes started — and this was months before we started shooting! Giving me that kind of in-depth prep is invaluable.

You’re committed to playing Thor through 2017?

I don’t actually know. I just get sent protein shakes in mail and then I know there’s another one around down the corner [laughs].

Is action-fantasy always going to be a staple of your career?

I might have had my fix by 2017 [laughs]. I love the character. I love that world. It’s been incredible and hopefully will continue to be that way. It depends on what the story is. You obviously don’t want to go and repeat the same thing again. I do love those films. Even from an audience point of view, I love going to cinemas and watching, say, Guardians of the Galaxy. I love being lost in that fantasy and adventure. I’m sure it’ll always have some place as long as I get to mix it up with other things like Blackhat or Rush — when I did that, it was certainly a change of pace for me and certainly a positive one.

'Blackhat' is in cinemas from 20 February, 2015.

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