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Taron Egerton plays Ben, a man hunting a woman in the Australian wilderness, in Apex
He has gone viral for the scene where his character erratically dances to a song after making a threat
Director Baltasar Kormákur exclusively tells PEOPLE that the song Ben dances to “was actually Taron’s idea”
Taron Egerton brought something special to his latest role.
The Welsh actor, 36, stars as the ultimate villain in the Netflix movie Apex alongside Charlize Theron. The action thriller follows Theron’s Sasha, a rock climber and widow, as she is brutally hunted through the Australian wilderness by Egerton’s Ben.
The Rocketman alum has gone viral for his portrayal of the hunter, particularly the scene where he brings out a boombox and tells Sasha that she has “until the very end of this song to get as far away from me as you can.” He plays the song “Go” by The Chemical Brothers and makes a dramatic bird call before erratically dancing.
The movie’s director, Baltasar Kormákur tells PEOPLE in an exclusive interview that the song Ben dances to “was actually Taron’s idea.”
“The idea came that we’re going to have him use a song rather than wind down the clock. I liked the idea that it would be weird in this environment to bring out music. It took some time to find the right song and then Taron brought this song and I just loved it. I also loved that he loved it, and to see the joy and the madness that takes him on,” he says.
But not everybody on set initially supported the choice, Kormákur notes.
“Not everyone was agreeing on that in the beginning, but after he’d done it, I’ve never seen the crew and his costars, and everyone, be that happy. Hands down, that was the right choice,” he says.
Egerton’s Apex character differs greatly from some of his most popular roles, which include playing Gary “Eggsy” Unwin in the Kingsman spy comedies and Elton John in Rocketman. Kormákur, who also directed 2022’s Beast and 2024’s Touch, admits that casting him was a risk.
“Charlize and I signed on at the same time. We met and the idea was bringing us together to do this and I could really see that as a perfect fit. But Taron, it was a little different because the character was different on the page from what we see in the movie,” he says.
“We met and we discussed it and I thought, ‘Okay, this could be very interesting, risky journey because I hadn’t really seen him play anything like that. But I also liked the idea of showing a card that he hadn’t played too much before. So that became the unknown, and that is always exciting but also a risky place to be in,” Kormákur says.
Ultimately, the director found that Egerton “brought unhinged nervousness” and his “inner creep” to the challenging part. “We wanted to go inward and find his insecurities, and bring it from there, rather than have him act it from the outside in,” he says.
(L-R) Taron Egerton and Baltasar Kormákur on set of ‘Apex.’
Credit: KANE SKENNAR/NETFLIX
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Egerton acknowledged his big scene in an Instagram post on Monday, May 4, where he shared behind-the-scenes snaps from the set.
“No dancing in these, no need to run,” he cheekily wrote in the caption.
Apex is now streaming on Netflix.
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