M. Night Shyamalan’s new thriller, Trap, opens in theaters this week with the Josh Hartnett-starring film centering on a man and his daughter who find themselves at a major concert event that just so happens to be a trap to catch a serial killer. Of course, with the film being about a serial killer, part of the preparation for the film included learning about serial killers, especially for Hartnett. Speaking with ComicBook, the actor revealed what he learned about serial killers preparing for Trap — particularly their need both for recognition and to convince people that they’re not monsters at all.
Videos by ComicBook.com
“Well, I mean, there are lots of interesting aspects of people with psychopathy and the amount of kind of serial killers that are willing to talk to reporters about what they did and why they did it, it’s amazing because they want recognition,” Hartnett said. “They want to be out there. But also, the thing that most people who are writing about them will say is that they’re incredibly charming in person and you almost think you doubt many times over the course of talking to them that they could be the ones that do these horrible things because they have… they’ve necessarily spent their whole life trying to convince people that they’re not these monsters, right? And they still don’t get away. They still never get away from that even when they’re in prison and they want to put you at your ease and they want to, like, you’re more manipulatable when you’re at your ease. So, that part was incredibly useful for this movie because we need him to be charming and we need the audience to go along with him. So, it needs to be convincing and that was kind of the crux of it.”
Hartnett Has Previously Called His Trap Role a “Pivot”
For some fans, seeing Hartnett in a film such as Trap may be a little unexpected, the actor previously said that the film is a pivot for him, one that he’s excited to take on and called it “one of the best experiences” of his career.
“It’s a pivot [for me],” Hartnett explained. “But I try to make all of my roles pivots. If you’re playing the same thing again and again, it gets boring to the audience. Working with M. Night was one of the best experiences of my career. I think he’s a true Artist in the capitol-A sense of the word. And I think people are gonna be really surprised and excited about the movie we make. It’s very bizarre, very dark, and it’s wild.”
Here’s the official description of Trap: “Warner Bros. Pictures presents a new experience in the world of M. Night Shyamalan—Trap —featuring performances by rising music star Saleka Shyamalan. A father and teen daughter attend a pop concert, where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”
“Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.”
Trap opens in theaters August 2nd.
