Charlie Hunnam came close to dangerous creatures while filming The Lost City of Z.
Based on David Grann’s novel, the James Grey-directed movie tells the true story of British explorer Percy Fawcett, played by Charlie, who journeys into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovers evidence of a previously unknown, advanced civilisation that may have once inhabited the region.
While principal photography took place in Belfast, Northern Ireland, parts of expedition scenes were filmed in Santa Marta, Colombia. Accordingly, Charlie came across many exotic creatures, including ants, spiders, frogs, snakes and scorpions.
"You can never relax in that environment,” he told Total Film magazine. “It's not like being in a forest in Europe where it's pretty benign in terms of the things that can really harm you. It's just a multitude of the things all over the place that are pretty deadly, from plants to insects to larger animals.”
The Sons of Anarchy star labels travelling to the rural jungles a once in a lifetime experience. However, he admits fearing for his life when he came close to a scorpion.
"A scorpion was in the path where I put my hand down and it ran and hit my wrist and then changed its course, ran up the side of my hand, and along my finger,” he explained. "I just froze and kept on doing the scene. It was fairly common scorpion and they had the anti-venom, but if I had been bitten and didn't have the anti-venom, it was definitely deadly."
Charlie, 36, added that he not only enjoyed travelling for the role, but fully embraced his character. In fact, he felt an immediate connection with Fawcett from his first day on set.
"I think Fawcett was one of those rare individuals who had the courage and discipline and selfishness to put his internal responsibility to the forefront. And both James (Grey) and I could really relate to that," he shared.
