Many actors have attempted it, and while few have succeeded, Taron Edgerton might just have nailed it better than anyone.<\/p>\n
The British actor plays a crazed serial killer in the thrilling new Netflix movie Apex, out today, and adopts an Australian accent so convincing, I spent the first minute or two he was on screen wondering why on earth he\u2019d been cast if they were just going to dub an Aussie actor over the top. <\/p>\n
Speaking to news.com.au alongside co-star Charlize Theron, Edgerton said the pitch-perfect Aussie accent wasn\u2019t an innate skill.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the hardest accent I\u2019ve ever done,\u201d Edgerton told us. \u201cIt was challenging \u2013 I had an incredible dialect coach, Felicity, and I worked hard on it like I always do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edgerton said one detail in his character Ben\u2019s backstory gave him a slight \u201cget out of jail free card\u201d in delivering the accent: Ben was born in the UK but moved to Australia at a young age.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he has a romanticised, fetishised idea of what it means to be an Aussie. There is something inherently performative and strange about the character \u2013 Sasha\u2019s astute and savvy and she sees through it, much to his chagrin.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sasha is Theron\u2019s character, a grieving widow on a solo road trip to explore the Australian wilderness and test her limits with extreme sports (despite the fact that\u2019s exactly how her husband, played by Eric Bana, had died). <\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to know what Tourism Australia would make of Apex: The locations are undeniably spectacular \u2013 the film was mostly shot around the Blue Mountains last year \u2013 but almost every Aussie Sasha encounters is various shades of menacing. <\/p>\n
Ben is the worst of all, an apparently friendly, helpful bloke who appears in the bush when Theron needs help the most, only to quickly reveal his murderous intent. <\/p>\n
From there, the film unfolds as a tense cat-and-mouse game, as Sasha tries her best to flee a man who gets a sick pleasure from her terror. <\/p>\n
Edgerton said he and Theron had careful intent when portraying the characters\u2019 relationship. <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the shared instincts that Charlize and I both had from the offset was that there should be no sexual dynamic to his pursuit. There\u2019s weirdly a kind of playful innocence to it, although of course he\u2019s anything but innocent,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
For Theron, who turned 50 during filming, Apex is the latest in a long line of action movies that have, in the past, taken a physical toll on the star. She\u2019s previously spoken about the long-lasting injuries she sustained making films like Atomic Blonde, The Old Guard, and Aeon Flux \u2013 everything from torn ligaments to a dislocated jaw to a neck injury requiring surgery. <\/p>\n
I asked if that difficult history made her more reticent to sign on for a stunt-heavy film like Apex. <\/p>\n
\u201cOh god no,\u201d she insisted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like, we live in the time of modern medicine and I am just riding that boat. I\u2019m basically just turning bionic. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m made of metal plates, so I just get better for every action movie I do later in my career.\u201d<\/p>\n
Apex is released on Netflix today. <\/p>\n