Zac Efron has taken up a new role away from his popular figure as a high school lover as he is set to become America’s most notorious serial killer, Ted Bundy in a new film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.
But Efron was not sure he could play the role of Bundy,
“Initially, I had reservations. I’ve seen people make horror films like this before, and it seems like an aggressive play to separate yourself from a perceived image. And it’s got a lot of killing and hacking and slashing. I think I’ve seen that before too many times,”
he told Variety.
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile premieres today (Jan 26) at the Sundance Film Festival.
While Ted Bundy is known to the US for his kidnappings, rape, burglary and necrophilia, the film is told from his girlfriend, Liz Kloepfer (played by Lili Collins)’s perspective. She believes he is innocent of the crimes levelled against him.
However, Bundy himself had admitted to killing more than 30 women before his execution in 1989.
This month marks the 30th anniversary of Bundy. In this regard, Efron says that the film is not a glorification of the killer.
“I feel a responsibility to make sure that this movie is not a celebration of Ted Bundy,” Efron says. “Or a glorification of him. But, definitely, a psychological study of who this person was. In that, there’s honesty,”
he concluded.
