Charlie Hunnam could have been killed when he was filming ‘The Lost City of Z’ when a deadly scorpion crawled up his arm.
The 36-year-old actor portrays British adventurer Colonel Percy Fawcett in the real-life biographical film which follows his journey deep into the unexplored Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century which led him to discover a new ancient civilisation.
Hunnam stars in the movie with Robert Pattinson, Sienna Miller and Tom Holland among others and they all had to shoot the movie on location in Colombia and one encounter with a poisonous arachnid almost cost him his life.
In an interview with the Metro newspaper, Hunnam recalled: "I improvised in a scene where Tom and I were being surrounded by a hostile tribe. I pulled us to the ground and a scorpion ran onto my hand. It stopped there for a while and I just froze.
"I didn’t want to say anything and we kept on trying to interact with the people in the scene while I kept on looking at the scorpion. Then it ran up my finger to my arm and hoped off. The crew snake wrangler [expert] said that if it had stung me, I would have been dead in about five minutes."
Despite his near-miss, British star Hunnam admits it was an incredible experience to film in South America and get that close to the natural world.
Speaking about working in the jungle, he said: "It was so reassuring to shoot this in a place that is so filled with life. It felt like the entire environment was living and breathing. It was really energising and nurturing to be there."
Charlie Hunnam dodged scorpion sting on The Lost City of Z
