British actor Tom Hardy stars as a detective in action thriller Havoc

The team behind Netflix’s new action thriller Havoc say it will “put Wales on the map” for filmmakers across the world.

Starring Tom Hardy as a “jaded” detective, Havoc tells the aftermath of a drug deal gone wrong.

Although it is set in an unnamed US city, all of it – including car chases and shootouts – was filmed in Wales.

Hardy and his co-star Forest Whitaker were spotted filming in south Wales in 2021, but the production experienced several delays because of the pandemic and the writers strike in the US.

Welsh locations doubled as a US city, something director Gareth Evans said was “challenging”

Havoc, which also stars Luis Guzmán, Jessie Mei Li and Timothy Olyphant, began with the vision of its Welsh director Gareth Evans.

“I had this, like, one core image which was a corrupt cop in a crime scene where a drug deal’s gone wrong and for whatever reason he was scooping cocaine into a coffee cup,” said Evans, best known for gangster film The Raid and thriller series Gangs of London.

“And it all mushroomed out from there.”

Evans said it was “incredible” when Hardy came on board in the lead role and as a producer.

Tom Hardy plays a US detective taking on a criminal syndicate alongside an all-star cast

“One of the nicest things about Tom [is] I knew I was in my wheelhouse when it came to action film-making, but with Tom his skillset is deep dive explorations into morally complex characters and so we were able to fuse two styles together.”

Evans, who grew up in Hirwaun, Rhondda Cynon Taf, still lives in Wales.

He said recreating the US in south Wales was “challenging” but he wanted to bring work to the area.

“I started going around, like, Swansea, Port Talbot, Cardiff and Newport, looking for any little bit of architecture that I could find that might pass as a little bit Americana,” he said.

“And so we took a look and we thought if we can get 30% or 40% real in camera then the VFX (visual effects) can take care of the rest.”

Swansea’s Brangwyn Hall became the outside of an American police precinct, Swansea University’s Bay campus provided exterior street shots, and a fishing shack was built in the Merthyr Mawr countryside.

Jessie Mei Li who previously starred in Netflix’s Shadow And Bones shares top billing with Tom Hardy

Although Havoc was made in Wales, US production company XYZ Films joined forces with Wales-based Severn Screen to make it.

Aram Tertzakian, one of XYZ Films’ founders, has worked with Evans since Apostle, the 2018 horror featuring Michael Sheen which was filmed around Margam Park in Port Talbot.

Tertzakian spent much of the pandemic in an Airbnb in Cardiff while Havoc was being filmed.

“Gareth brought me to Wales for this project because he is a great patriot and wanted to figure out how to make films in Wales,” said Tertzakian.

He said he believed that after Havoc, filmmakers and producers in the industry are going to be “a lot more focused on Wales being on the map”.

“I think it’s always been seen as an option but when they see Havoc and what we pulled off, I think it’s going to blow their minds and really make Wales a lot more viable for a lot of people.

“Wales is one of the good guys,” he added.

“You’ve got really hard working crews, a lot of dedication and love for the game. You get some amazing locations, both interiors and exteriors and we had a blast.”

The film was entirely shot and cut in Wales, with some visual effects added in elsewhere

According to Netflix and Creative Wales, Havoc is the largest feature film ever to be shot entirely in Wales, with post production also completed in Cardiff.

Netflix said its productions in Wales, which also include Sex Education, had generated more than £200m for the UK economy since 2020.

Jack Sargeant, Wales’ minister for culture, said productions like Havoc had delivered “significant economic and reputational benefits”.

“We are immensely proud of our Welsh creative industries, which employ over 35,000 talented individuals, and the world-class infrastructure we have in place for film and TV productions.”