Josh Hartnett reveals real life inspiration for serial killer role in 'Trap'

Josh Hartnett is sharing how he found inspiration for playing a serial killer in director M. Night Shyamalan's new psychological thriller film Trap.

Getting candid, Hartnett admitted he drew inspiration from real-life “psychopaths” he’s come across during his acting career.

The Pearl Harbor star, who plays a serial killer dubbed "The Butcher" in Trap, told Entertainment Weekly: “There are a lot of CEOs, politicians, people in our business… a lot of people who are at the top.”

“They don't mind stepping over people or doing horrible things to get where they're going, and not having any empathy is a pretty big sign of being a psychopath.”

He explained: “Whether or not you're murdering people, I've met people like this, you know what I mean? So it was easy to take it all a step further, make it a little bolder, and make his cover so intense.”

In Night’s thriller Trap, serial killer Cooper Adams (Hartnett) attends a huge concert with his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue). He then finds out that the police know he’s at the concert and have a sting operation going on to catch him.

He also weighed in on the film being told from the antagonist’s perspective: “Night being Night, he wants to give the audience a new experience.”

“So this one is like a throwback thriller in a contained space from the perspective of the antagonist. It's like Die Hard from Hans Gruber’s perspective,” Josh Hartnett explained.