Chris Hemsworth Took A Leap Of Faith On One Of Spiderhead's Most Intense Scenes

The Netflix thriller "Spiderhead" is one hell of a trip. Starring Miles Teller and Chris Hemsworth, "Spiderhead" tells the story of a unique, state-of-the-art prison in which inmates volunteer for a variety of clinical trials for new drugs in exchange for time off their sentence.

Sure, it sounds like a good trade, especially when it comes to drugs like the N-40 love drug.

But obviously, all is not what it seems.

Hemsworth plays Steve Abnesti — the weirdly positive head of research who oversees the Spiderhead research program. But one of the film's most intense scenes sees Abnesti taking maximum does of his own creations. A scene that Hemsworth himself admits was a bit... much.

"That was intense," he told CinemaBlend. "I had to, I don't know, in the space of a minute go through about four or five different emotions, and it was a thing that scared me reading the script."

The drugs of "Spiderhead" are all about inducing different emotional responses. At least, that's what the inmates are led to believe. But it soon becomes obvious that things aren't what they seem in this swanky, futuristic penitentiary ... and the inmates might be in real danger. After all, Abnesti is not the kind of character we're used to seeing Hemsworth play.

"The idea of Chris using all of his charm and all of his charisma [and] his might to convince you that what you're doing is your choice when it's not," said producer Eric Neuman. "It seems, in a lot of ways, like an even bigger betrayal. And I think it's very effective with the audience, who are seeing a guy they've come to love as Thor, among other things. A character who has never played a bad guy playing a really bad guy."

That's right — Abnesti isn't the kind-hearted savior he makes out he is. In fact, it turns out that Spiderhead is far from the relaxed, easy-going prison that it seems, too.

But when it comes to the role of Abnesti, one of the most difficult moments comes towards the film's ending — when a fight between himself and inmate Jeff ends with a flood of emotions thanks to his MobiPak, a device that administers the drugs, becoming damaged. And while it sounds like quite the intense experience, thankfully, Hemsworth knew exactly how to handle it.

"I thought this is going to be either really cool, or really hokey and I'm thankful it worked out," he said. The key to the scene, according to Hemsworth, was not worrying too much about how it would pan out, instead diving straight into the moment.

"As much as it was, think less and go for it, and let it be sort of visceral in my gut, if I tried to kind of map that out too specifically and intellectually, I think it would have felt orchestrated."

The result is a beautifully deranged moment in which the "caring" doctor — who has been revealed to be as sinister as they come — gets his due. Hemsworth's portrayal of that emotional deluge is quite the highlight in a film full of memorable, intense moments.