Profile: Taron Egerton

Earlier this year, while getting all excited for the release of Kingsman, I decided to watch Colin Firth and his still unheard of co-star being interviewed on The Jonathan Ross Show. I think it only took five minutes for me to fall for Taron Egerton. His familiar soft Welsh accent, his charisma, his wit, but also his modesty really touched a chord with me. When I later saw him in Kingsman I was very impressed, but what I saw after that made me think that Taron Egerton is more than just the ‘hottest new thing’. He is, or very soon will be, an actor to be reckoned with.

Early Years

Taron Egerton was born in Birkenhead but raised in Aberystwyth. For those of you outside of the UK, this means that he was born in England but we Welsh have since claimed him for our own. (Taron’s name is even a misspelling of the Welsh word for thunder.) Having spent his teenage years on stage in the local theatre, after a childhood thinking of working in animation, Egerton was initially turned down by RADA. They said he had to ‘grow up a bit’. It was after a year working in a shop and then travelling which changed whatever it was RADA was apprehensive about, and he was allowed in.

Egerton went on to graduate with a BA in Acting and in 2011 won the Steven Sondheim Society’s ‘Student Performer of the Year’. But he won’t sing in interviews, so don’t ask him. Egerton graduated in 2012 and went on to do some plays, a few short films, and had a small role in the crime drama Lewis before being cast as Asbo in the TV series The Smoke.

As Asbo, Egerton is brilliant. He is every bit the hardened street kid with a heart of gold. His ability to mask guilt and despair with anger is quite unique, and was something about him which really blew me away. Even in this, his first proper role, he showed a great talent, but also the potential to be even more. No doubt it was his role in this series that inspired Matthew Vaughn to then cast Egerton in Kingsman.

Action Hero

For the future, at least, Egerton will be known as the young guy out of Kingsman. And why not? In the role of Eggsy, Egerton builds on the type he learnt as Asbo in The Smoke (including trying out another Londoner accent). The c*cky kid with strong morals is a difficult type to play, despite its popularity. But it’s something that Egerton really succeeds in. He has the face and the knack for cheekiness as well as the potential for menace. This will see him well in the rest of his career, as he will never be pigeon-holed.

I loathe to think that Egerton will continue on this action film path. It was a great opportunity to him and has no doubt taught him a great number of skills, which Vaughn has allowed him to show off to a huge audience. But it is in the looks and in the silences that I feel Egerton really works as an actor. Even in the short Hereafter, made very early in his acting career, he appears to be ‘in it’ much more than the other actors are, to the extent I imagined there was a greater story to be had in the life of his small supporting character, Tamburlaine.

But there is no real reason to worry about where Egerton will pitch his acting type, because I’m not sure he has one. Unlike many actors of his age and good looks he hasn’t simply gone to where the success most likely lies. Instead, in his short career, he has given himself over to a number of very different characters.

A Sensitive Soul

After the making of Kingsman, Egerton changed tack completely and took on the role of Edward Brittain in the adaptation of Vera Brittain’s WWI memoir Testament Of Youth. The memoir details Brittain’s early twenties, growing up in shadow of The Great War. Most notably, she wrote about her lover Roland, her friend Victor, but more than anything about her brother Edward. He was a supportive and loving brother. Their relationship, thanks to the excellent performances of Alicia Vikander and Egerton, is something that duly comes across on screen.

Edward Brittain was a complex man. Young as he was, like many other men of his generation he became an army officer. It was also discovered, much later on after his death, that he was gay. In Brittain, Egerton found and devoted himself to an impressive character: a person who was at once an innocent boy and a strong officer, but also an emotional man who was not free to love as he would want to.

Egerton is phenomenal in Testament Of Youth. He is strong, yet sensitive. He is young, but wise. Challenged with yet another accent (this time, an upper class English lilt), as always it is what goes on behind Egerton’s eyes that really makes his performances glow, especially in this role. He manages to accurately convey the warmth and stillness of Edward, and this is possibly what defines Egerton as an actor. He can communicate great emotion and thought with simply being and watching and thinking. His lightness of touch is something to be admired.

The Potential For Villainy

Egerton’s most recent role was in the Tom Hardy led biopic of the Kray twins, Legend. Playing the notorious Teddy Smith, Egerton was underused, in my opinion. Smith was the gay lover of Ronnie Kray, a noted prostitute, and one who was a seeming psychopath. The potential for Egerton’s performance was great but, like many of the other actors in this film, he was cast in the shadow of two Tom Hardys.

That being said, it was an admirable role for Egerton to take on. It shows his predilection to try out a variety of characters, and also ones with the potential for villainy. While his legion of younger female fans might not like to see him as the bad guy, I look forward to seeing him play a proper nasty piece of work, and I think he would appreciate the challenge too.

The Future Looks Bright

While Egerton has hopes to return to the stage (having started there) the future of his film career seems great enough to keep him from it for some time. Earlier this year, Egerton filmed a biopic of the noted Olympic skier Eddie The Eagle. A role that will no doubt have potential for comedy, it is my hope that they also delve into Eddie Edwards’ personal emotional state during that turbulent time (the 1988 Winter Olympics). The film will most likely be released early next year.

While Egerton has no real announced projects on the horizon, rumours of what he might be doing abound. From the moment Kingsman was released, Egerton’s name has been connected to the Spiderman re-boot, Cyclops in the newest X-Men film, and now being touted as a possibility for the young Han Solo in the new Star Wars origin film. Which I, for one, hope isn’t just a rumour. His talent for strong action and playful cheekiness would be perfect for such a role.

The most likely of those rumours is one circulating of Egerton as Robin Hood in Lionsgate’s new version of the mythological English hero. But with Fox also staking a claim on Egerton for the Kingsman sequel, this will only happen if the two production companies can agree to new shooting schedules, which will allow Egerton to star in both.

In Conclusion

It seems foolish to write so deeply about an actor who is only so recently out of the starting blocks. But my belief in Egerton is that great, and I believe my optimism is not unfounded. Egerton has great potential and an acting style that is all his own. He can be dark and moody or warm and sensitive, and even sometimes all at once. Maybe I’m biased toward my fellow countryman, but why not? Welsh actors are some of the best. With few Welsh characters on screen, they are challenged to deliver different types and many different accents throughout their careers.

Egerton is a bold actor with great potential. I do so hope that he continues to pick characters so different in type, and roles as challenging in nature. But, y’know? I’d watch him in anything. I’m simply happy that in an industry of so many broken promises and misled careers that I finally have someone who I can get excited about and can look forward to watching on the cinema screen.

(From my fascination with Mr. Egerton you’d be right in thinking that all of his work has been covered here on Film Inquiry. You can read my reviews on the short film Hereafter (where you can also watch it), Testament Of Youth and Legend, along with David Fontana’s piece on Kingsman. Just follow the links. As proof that good acting is never confined to the expected arenas, here is Egerton in the music video for Lazy Habits’ The Breach.)

(top image source: http://images.fashionnstyle.com/)