M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller hits theaters Aug. 9

Josh Hartnett

Josh Hartnett Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Josh Hartnett said he realized after attending Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour with his daughters that the concert audience depicted in Trap wasn’t actually “over-the-top.”

The actor, who stars in M. Night Shyamalan’s upcoming psychological thriller, admitted that he initially didn’t fully understand the life-altering experience concerts in this day and age can be for fans who see their favorite artists. That led him to question how the audience was portrayed in the movie Trap.

“I took them to the Eras Tour about two weeks ago when it came to London, to see Taylor Swift, and that was the first big thing they were interested in seeing,” Hartnett recently told the Associated Press, adding, “What was amazing about it, I sent a picture to Night basically saying this is life imitating art. Because when we shot the film I felt like his characterization of the audience felt over-the-top to me, as someone who hadn’t been to a pop concert with their kids yet.”

The Oppenheimer actor even recalled thinking on set while filming the concert scenes, “I was like, these guys are way too into it, people aren’t like this at concerts. I remember concerts being like, everybody’s too cool to really do anything. Things now are…they’re rabid. Kids are rabid about the artists that they love now.”

But Hartnett’s perspective changed once he went to the global superstar’s biggest tour to date, and it was then that he understood the filmmaker was spot-on with his depiction of the concert environment.

“So when I went to the Eras Tour, I watched that sort of interaction,” Hartnett said of Swifties. “Their intense idolizing of Taylor Swift and like crying when they saw her and all of that was in line with what Night created here, which I was pretty impressed by.”

Trap, which hits theaters Aug. 9, follows a father (Hartnett) and his teen daughter (Ariel Donoghue), who attend a pop concert by Lady Raven (Shyamalan’s daughter, Saleka Shyamalan). However, they realize they’re actually at the center of a much darker event — a police operation to capture a serial killer.