In Netflix's Spiderhead, Thor's Chris Hemsworth is trading in his good-guy card for some shady business. Adapted from George Saunders' 2010 short story, Escape from Spiderhead, the movie takes place in a hulking island compound where, in exchange for a reduced sentence, inmates have voluntarily signed up for an experimental drug program. The substances elicit extreme emotions, ranging from uncontrollable laughter to maximum arousal to irrational terror.
Overseeing the operation is Steve Abnesti, portrayed by Hemsworth, a friendly but ego-driven scientist whose tests were designed to better serve humankind -- or so he claims. As the narrative unfolds and the prisoners begin to question his methods, Steve's intentions come under fire, with disastrous results. Hemsworth recently spoke with CBR about Steve's moral compass, crafting a likable scoundrel, and bringing humor to his characters.
CBR: Steve is the guy you hate to love and love to hate. How did you go about striking that perfect balance between being villainous and being likable?
Chris Hemsworth: I had a great script to work with, great scene partners, and director Joe Kosinski at the helm. It was mine to mess up. I wanted the character to be unpredictable. There were a lot of layers to this individual. On one hand, he's charismatic, powerful, successful, and highly intellectual, but there's a strange lack of social etiquette and misunderstanding of human behavior and social cues. The strange irony was he was there manipulating human behavior. He has a dark sense of humor, too. It just allowed for a very large space to play and work in. I did want him to be charismatic. He didn't get to where he was just based on his business smarts. He understood how to manipulate people. He understood how to navigate the chess board of life, all for his own purpose and his own success.
He is witty, too. Whether it's Steve or even Thor, what do you enjoy about bringing a lightness or comedic tone to your characters?
It's accessible. I think it's a great entry place for an audience to warm towards and be on board with, which is great if you are playing anyone slightly villainous because you let them in. "Oh great, we are along for this ride," and then it's, "Boom." You hit them with something unexpected. Yeah, humor. I think, in life, I surround myself with people who have a great sense of humor because if we aren't laughing and having a great time, then what are we doing?
Steve will do anything to achieve his goals. What are your thoughts on that old adage, "The ends justify the means," and how it's reflected in this movie?
It's a constant discussion we had throughout the film. Even the one about free will, "Are we best left to our own devices, or do we need an outside influence, or somebody to save us from ourselves?" That's prominent throughout history. You have examples of good times and bad times when people dived in and took control. It's very personal, too, depending on each experience. That's what I loved about the film, I guess. The morality behind what was taking place within this prison system and within the film. Having a great divide between opinions was fun. That was the intention.
The genre-bending and darkly funny psychological thriller Spiderhead will begin streaming on Netflix on June 17.