Taron Egerton reveals unlikely inspiration for Apex serial killer

Taron Egerton took inspiration from Peter Pan for his sadistic role in Apex.

The 36-year-old star plays serial killer Ben in the upcoming Netflix survival thriller and revealed that he was "informed" by the boy who never grew up as his alter ego hunts rock climber Sasha (Charlize Theron) in the wilderness.

Egerton told Empire magazine: "Lots of the choices I made with the character were informed with Peter Pan being a north star.

"He does this very strange crowing at times when he's very excited, and of course, Peter Pan would crow. All of that was in my head."

Egerton's killer is enigmatic in the movie and the Rocketman star enjoyed preserving a sense of mystery when it came to the character's background.

He said: "The scariest things in life are always the corners that aren't well lit, and I feel that way about Ben.

"I like the allusions. I like the hints at what's happened, the sense that a relationship with his mother ended very, very badly. But I think the moment you start to spell all of that out and be prescriptive about the character's pathology, you lose something of the enigma.

"There's a lot you learn in The Silence of the Lambs about Hannibal Lecter, but there's also a great deal (you don't know)."

Taron was asked to perform a free fall stunt for one particular scene in Icelandic director Baltasar Kormakur's movie and revealed that it was utterly terrifying.

The Kingsman actor said: "I don't usually struggle with heights, but I found hanging from a wire to be quite challenging.

"There's a free fall, and Balt asked if I would be open to doing it. I decided to give it a shot, and I don't mind saying – I was petrified."

Egerton continued: "The crew were incredible and I could kind of feel that everyone was on my side. Balt said, 'You can call, 'Action', whenever you're ready.' So I called, 'Action', and we rolled. And I fell. And I screeeamed. The moment we called, 'Cut', I got a lovely round of applause from the crew. I suppose that felt like a kind of real moment of achievement.

"I took the leap of faith. And when you see that moment in the movie, it's probably the best terrified acting I've ever done. The reason for that is because I was actually terrified."

Charlize also recalled how Kormakur wouldn't make her or Taron do stunts until he had carried them out himself.

The 50-year-old actress said: "He was always the first one to f****** do the craziest thing that he was asking us to do. He knew what I was capable of. You want someone that can push you to a level that you can't take yourself."