Zac Efron’s latest performance is worlds apart from High School Musical. He stars as the horrific serial killer Ted Bundy in the biography drama Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile.
The film shows a different side to the serial killer by telling the story from the survivor’s point of you. Some critics, however, have called the movie out on its “glamorization” of the monstrous man. Zac Efron since responded to such criticism and has explained that his portrayal of the serial killer is a commentary on the assumptions people made about Ted Bundy at the time.
“The goal was a very challenging one and I’m thrilled that it turned out the way that it did,” he explained. “I am not into portraying a serial killer or anybody of this nature or glamourizing them in any way. However, telling a very, very intelligent, introspective look inside the mind of two specific people, [Bundy and] Liz – his longtime girlfriend who knew him better than anyone, and also, as well as the general public, though he was innocent.”
Efron then went on to explain why the movie also makes a comment on white privilege. At the time, people looked at a good looking white man and assumed that he was not capable of doing such terrible things.
“Ted Bundy was a clean-cut, white dude, white person, so talk about white privilege,” he said. “What he got away with back then, nobody would be able to do today. It’s a moment in time that came and passed and is truly scary. But it does not glamorize the killing. This is an important thing for people to hear.”
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil, and Vile is out in cinemas tomorrow (May 3).
