Taron Egerton admitted he didn’t read the reviews for his Netflix survival thriller “Apex,” noting it was a first for his career.
The actor, who starred opposite Charlize Theron in the action-packed movie released by the streamer in April, shared his stance on critic reviews during a Monday appearance on the “Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard.”
The topic arose after Shepard, a fan of Egerton’s work in “Kingsman: The Golden Circle,” called out the movie’s negative reviews, claiming many critics “discount[ed] the masterclass of directing that’s on display.”
He added: “Like, you have to acknowledge if you know anything about movies, what went into that movie and how well it was executed … You can then go on to say, ‘It’s not my cup of tea’ or, you know, ‘It’s not my sense of humor,’ whatever. But just the full disregard of this thing and ignoring how much skill was on display and acting talent was on display and great music. I’m like, there’s no integrity to this whole review thing.”
Egerton understood where Shepard was coming from, noting that as an actor he finds it “taboo to acknowledge any kind of relationship with critical evaluation and review.”
“It’s like you should pretend it’s not happening,” Egerton noted. “And of course, how many of us are successful at that?”
As Egerton went on, he shared that he was able to block out the noise regarding the reviews for “Apex,” confirming he “didn’t read one” film critique.
“The movie I just made is the first experience I’ve had where I got through it without succumbing to the temptation and reading them,” he recalled. “It’s the first time in my entire career that I’ve done that. I didn’t read one.”
He continued: “Look, I share your frustration. And the thing that has been my experience of it, that I think is quite specific to my time, is I feel like, it’s the integrity of it is compromised by the means through which you consume the review.”
Per Egerton, “a fair balanced appraisal of something coming from a place of goodwill does not make for good clickbait.”
And so, the actor acknowledged that there are a “myriad of complex motivations” inspiring today’s film reviews.
“Everybody’s fallible,” he said. “Everybody’s coming from their own subjective experience. Everybody has an agenda.”
Egerton noted he now makes an active effort to formulate his own opinions on final products, instead of relying on reviews.
“We all slip into the mode of thinking that external affirmation validation is going to be the thing that makes us whole and actually it never is,” he shared. “It’s turning to yourself and going, ‘Well how do I actually f–king feel about this?’”
“Apex,” which debuted on Netflix on April 24, received mixed reviews at the time, with many applauding Theron’s raw athleticism in the movie.
Watch Egerton’s full commentary above.
The post Taron Egerton Admits He Didn’t Read the Reviews for Netflix Thriller ‘Apex’: ‘First Time in My Entire Career’ appeared first on TheWrap.
