“I Was Bitterly Disappointed”: Eric Bana Opens Up About the Brutal Beauty and Shocking Twists Behind Untamed — and the One Thing He Regrets Most

“I was always trying to spot a bear,” Eric Bana says with a laugh — but there was nothing funny about what came next.

In an exclusive sit-down with PEOPLE, Australian actor Eric Bana, 56, reveals the highs, lows, and emotional aftershocks of filming Netflix’s Untamed, the psychological wilderness thriller that’s left fans reeling. And while viewers are still talking about that jaw-dropping final twist, Bana says the real challenges went far beyond the script.

A Brutal Beauty

Filmed deep in British Columbia’s remote wilderness, Untamed tells the story of Kyle Turner, a haunted special agent with the National Parks Service, who unravels a web of murder, grief, and betrayal inside Yosemite National Park. For Bana, the natural setting was both a gift — and a curse.

“We were mostly up in the mountains during the day,” he recalls. “And I was bitterly disappointed that I didn’t see a bear.”

Yes, you read that right. Despite filming in prime bear territory, Bana says the production’s precautionary “bear man” — tasked with keeping the cast safe from grizzlies and black bears — likely kept the creatures away. “It was pretty awesome up there,” he admits. “But no bear sightings!”

What Nature Gave — and Took Away

Still, the raw landscape shaped the tone of the series. “If I had been playing this character on a soundstage, it would’ve been so much more stressful,” Bana says. “Having that expanse, that quiet, it helped. It grounded everything.”

But grounding didn’t mean escaping the darkness. Kyle Turner isn’t just chasing a killer — he’s unraveling from the inside, mourning the death of his son and a fractured marriage to Jill Bodwin (played by Rosemarie DeWitt).

“There’s very little about Kyle that overlaps with me personally,” Bana shares. “But you put yourself in his shoes and try to be respectful to that space emotionally. It’s heavy. You carry it.”

“It Was a Gut Punch”

By the time the Untamed finale hit, Bana himself was reeling.

“Filming the final confrontation between Kyle and Sam Neill’s character [Chief Paul Souter] was epic,” he says. “The scene was shot on a platform high above a raging river — so loud we could barely hear each other. We had to bring horses just to get to the location.”

And the twist? Devastating.

“I just couldn’t believe the reveal,” Bana admits. “It was a gut punch.”

In the finale’s most shocking moment, Souter confesses his role in the central murder — a woman’s fatal fall from Yosemite’s El Capitan — and then throws himself into the river below in a shocking suicide.

“Hopefully the audience doesn’t see it coming,” Bana says. “But on reflection, they’ll realize the signs were always there.”

What Comes Next?

With fans already clamoring for Season 2, Bana is staying tight-lipped. But one thing’s certain — the scars left by Untamed run deeper than any script.

“I came out of that wilderness a little different,” he says. “Not all of us came out the same.”