Taron Egerton has revealed that he is pen-pals with Sir Anthony Hopkins and received some very wise, albeit chilling, advice from the legendary actor.
Taron Egerton has revealed he is pen-pals with SIr Anthony Hopkins(Image: Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard/YouTube)
Taron Egerton has revealed that he is pen-pals with Anthony Hopkins and received some chilling advice from the 88 year old actor when it came to playing a villain.
The 36-year-old actor appeared on Dax Shepherd’s podcast The Armchair Expert this week, and spoke about his preparation for his villainous role in Apex. The film sees Taron, a psychopath who hunts women and is obsessed with being the “Apex” of the Australian Wilderness.
But who could he turn to for advice while playing such a psychotic role? The actor revealed he turned to none other than Sir Anthony, who played the legendary villain Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs in 1991.
“I’m honoured to say that I have a sort of slight pen pal relationship with Anthony Hopkins, and I asked him before doing the movie for advice about playing a really f***ed up individual.”
He then said that Sir Anthony revealed that : “Yeah, and he said he said something like he said I don’t know where Lecter came from. Probably something in my childhood.
“But he said the only advice I would give you, and I don’t need to tell you this, but the only advice I would give you is don’t play the evil. You know, play play him as the hero of his story.
“And I took that. I really took that advice forward with me.,” he said.
Taron is better known for playing the likes of Elton John in Rocketman, Robin Hood, and a charismatic spy in the Kingsman, so this evil role was more of a stretch for the actor.
Nonetheless he added that he found playing the baddie pretty thrilling: “Parts like that where the rules are a little bit malleable, and you get to do something where you’re being a license to be as strange as possible, so freeing and expressive. I had a great time.”
Sir Anthony has previously reflected on playing the legendary cannibal doctor – a job that won him the Best Actor Oscar in 1991 – telling Variety in a 2021 Actors on Actors interview with Jodie Foster, that he was inspired by a former teacher and a robot for the role.
He said that HAL 9000, the AI antagonist from 2001: A Space Odyssey, was a major inspiration: “He’s like a machine,” Hopkins says of Lecter. “He just comes in like a silent shark.”
He was also inspired by Christopher Fettes, a teacher who taught Hopkins at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art: “He had a cutting voice, and he would slice you to pieces,” Hopkins said. “His analysis of what you were doing was so precise; it’s a method that stayed with me for all my life.”
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