Netflix thriller Extraction star on how guns ‘feel part of me’, blowing Chris Hemsworth’s mind, and her itch to do comedy

For some reason, Golshifteh Farahani feels really comfortable with guns. The Iranian-born actress played the leader of a group of Kurdish women fighters in the 2018 French film Girls of the Sun , and now appears alongside Chris Hemsworth in Netflix blockbuster Extraction.

“Strangely, bows and arrows and guns are like instruments for me,” says Farahani, 36. “I can handle them, it feels like they’re part of me. I don’t know if it’s an ancient thing, maybe in my soul.”

Perhaps it’s from her Iranian background? “No, I don’t think so,” she responds with a chuckle. “No, no, no! Iranians can recite poetry and eat food. I don’t think they’re much of warriors.”

Extraction, originally titled Dhakar, is based on a graphic novel, Ciudad, that Ande Parks co-wrote with Joe Russo a decade ago. Russo, who co-directed Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame with his brother Anthony, wrote the Dhakar screenplay.

Hemsworth, known for his role as Thor in the Marvel films, came on board as one of the producers. Sam Hargrave, the stunt coordinator on the Avengers movies, makes his directing debut, lending his action prowess to the film’s many car chases, stunts and crashes.

Apart from a brief early sequence in Australia the film is entirely set in Dhaka, Bangladesh, though the city was mostly re-created in Kolkata, India – a perfect fit given its large Bengali community; filming also took place in Ahmedabad, India. Hargrave shot for two weeks with a small team in Dhaka. The production then moved on to Thailand, where the quieter scenes, including Farahani’s, were shot, as was the film’s finale, an epic gun battle over a bridge.