This time around, the actor plays Larry Hall, a doomed drug dealer in the new Apple TV + drama
Taron Egerton channeled a pop god into Elton John’s biopic Rocket manearning accolades – and a Golden Globe – for his interpretation of how a shy piano prodigy transformed into an international superstar.
But in his latest role, as a doomed drug dealer in the new Apple TV + drama black bird, he didn’t have extravagant sunglasses or feather boas to take off every day after filming was finished. For black birdwhich is based on a true story, he had to obtain something darker: the confessions of Larry Hall, a man convicted of the murder of a girl suspected of kidnapping, raping and killing many others.
“As much as it was a great creative experience, there were days when I came home feeling like I don’t want to hear those things anymore,” said Egerton, whose character’s job is to extract these confessions, in a recent video call from his kitchen in London.
Egerton, 32, who lent his soulful tenor voice to both flamboyant (John) and hairy characters (mountain gorilla Johnny in the animated musical to sing), he could have chosen pretty much any musical role after that Rocket man. And then there’s that gorgeous look and piercing green eyes that seem to be begging for a cape and a skintight dress.
Instead, he wanted his next big role to be the one to show the world that he was more than a man of song and dance.
“I wanted to do something that was really different from Rocket man“he said.” People tend to think of you related to the last thing you did. They don’t want to take the risk of giving an actor a role they didn’t see in a previous version. “
He found it in the psychological thriller black birda six-episode miniseries that author and screenwriter Dennis Lehane (About boys and wolves) adapted from the prison memoirs In With the devilwritten by James Keene with Hillel Levin.
The series, which premieres on July 8, centers on Egerton as Jimmy Keene, who is offered the option to commute his 10-year prison sentence on one condition: he must get Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) to tell him. where he buried the body of at least one missing girl, and possibly a dozen more.
“A role like Jimmy – or, indeed, a role like Elton – are absolutely the roles I want in my career,” said Egerton. “That’s not to say that everything I want to do has to be heavy and dark – I’m definitely drawn to these things – but it’s very, very nourishing to creatively write this way because it makes you want to bring out the best in you.”
Egerton wasn’t always so keen on acting. He was born into a working-class British family, with a father who ran an inn in Liverpool and a mother who worked in the social services field. They divorced when he was 2 and moved with his mother to Wales.
When he was 12, he moved to another part of Wales, Aberystwyth, which made him feel desperately alone. “I lost all the friends I had as a child when I moved,” he said. “I was pretty cocky and confident, but that was to mask the insecurity I was feeling.” He did not take an interest in acting until the age of 15. “It was as much about trying to be social and making friends as it was about being interested in acting,” he said.
But acting took off. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2012, he landed a few minor roles, starring in a theatrical production of The last of the Haussmans at the National Theater in London and starring in British TV dramas Lewis And The smoke.
Then came his big break: director Matthew Vaughn (Kick-Ass: Break everything, X-Men: first class) cast him for the role of the street rat-turned-spy Eggsy in the British action comedy film Kingsman: Secret Service2014. The role made him co-star opposite Colin Firth, despite Egerton having never been on a movie set.
“He walked in and auditioned perfectly,” Vaughn said over the phone. “It was Eggsy. I liked that side of him in the role because Eggsy’s role was also about being in a world you’ve never been in and growing up.”
Shortly after the success of the first film kingwho grossed over $ 414 million worldwide, landed roles in Flying highin the Disney animated film to sing then, Kingsman: The golden circle.
So he went through a tough time, first playing the lead role in Otto Bathurst’s adaptation of Robin Hood in 2018, and later as the antagonist of the biopic drama The billionaire kids’ club2018. Both were critically satirical box office flops.
“I ignored my instincts about these two jobs because I was offered a lot of money to do them,” he said. “And that’s just fatal. You can’t choose roles that way.”
“But I feel I should be kinder to myself,” he continued. “I was a 25 year old boy raised by a single mother with very little money. I wanted to make money, not just for myself, but for the people who are important to me. And as much as I was, I wasn’t satisfied with the outcome of these two films. , I can see very clearly, in retrospect, why I made them. “
things have changed with Rocket manfor which he learned to play the piano and sang many of his songs live.
“He has an amazing voice,” said Dexter Fletcher, who he directed Rocket man. “But he was also an actor willing to go somewhere where he wasn’t afraid to make a fool of himself. He wasn’t focused on being this nice, callous, handsome guy.”
Vaughn, who was the producer of Rocket manhe said he believed the role helped demonstrate that Egerton could “literally play any role”.
“He’s in a rare, rare club,” Vaughn added. “Hugh Jackman is the only other guy who is truly an action star and a music star.” / TRANSLATION LÍVIA BUELONI GONÇALVES
Source: Terra
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
