In late June, Rayna Campbell, actor Rudhraksh “Rudy” Jaiswal, and Sam Hargrave, director of Extraction, attended a virtual panel with moderator Charlotte Hendrickx (Class of 2019). Hargrave is an actor's director through-and-through, looking for actors who work truthfully in each scene, in each moment. According to Hargrave, Campbell was “brought back for additional photography,” because of her ability to work in each moment. As director, Hargrave works closely with his actors, giving specific feedback and direction to work truthfully and fully. Jaiswal’s view of acting matched well with Hargrave and Campbell, putting the emphasis on what happens moment-by-moment, and allowing oneself to stay truthful and organic.
Despite a cast led by Chris Hemsworth, Extraction didn’t have a typical Hollywood premiere. “Our press tour was planned to go all over the world, we were going to go to India, Australia, Spain… when lockdown happened, we couldn’t,” says Hargrave. When the film premiered, Campbell had “Hundreds of marriage proposals and fanmail,” she continued, “Okay, I’m fine with this!” Within 10 days, over 90 million households had watched Extraction.
Campbell’s plays a Radio Tech, a sort of “English Miss Moneypenny”-- a role often left for white actresses. In spite of this Campbell seized the role, and director Sam Hargrave specifically chose Campbell after viewing her audition footage, “I believed she could do it… Rayna was the best person for this job.” Jaiswal’s role places him in the midst of action, right next to Hemsworth, something he was ecstatic about. (His background has a fair amount of athletics and gymnastics, which aided tremendously in his role.) He was able to perform the majority of his own stunts, except for the “really dangerous ones,” which, despite Jaiswal’s excitement, Hargrave said simply, with a chuckle, “No.”
Catch the full interview exclusively on the Actor’s Society.
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