Taron Egerton was propelled into the limelight thanks to his performance in Matthew Vaughn’s tongue-in-cheek action adventure Kingsman: The Secret Service back in 2014. As we look forward to his return in the role of Eggsy this month in the sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle, we here at Set The Tape thought it would be interesting to see how the young actor got to this point in his career.
Egerton was born at the end of the 80’s in the town of Birkenhead in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral on Merseyside, also home to television presenter and chat show host Paul O’Grady. Despite this, Egerton considers himself to be Welsh and even speaks the language after growing up in the Welsh Island of Llanfairpwllgwyngyll with his mother before moving to the historic market town of Aberystwyth when he was 12, where he attended Ysgol Penglais School and his talent was first nurtured.
Before he became a household name on the big screen, he appeared in two well known small screen productions. A year after graduating from RADA, he starred in a two-part episode of ITV crime drama Lewis with Inspector Morse star Kevin Whately. The following year he starred in the short lived Sky drama The Smoke alongside the new Doctor in BBC’s Doctor Who, Jodie Whittaker.
Despite the axing of The Smoke, Egerton went on to have an absolutely fantastic year in 2014, first starring in period drama Testament of Youth before getting his major break in Kingsman, all within a matter of weeks. Alicia Vikander, who played his sister in Testament of Youth, explained that their chemistry was like that of twins, whilst his Kingsman co-star and off-screen mentor Colin Firth also spoke highly of him, suggesting that he was always trying to work out whether Egerton truly recognised his own undeniable talent or that perhaps he was blissfully unaware.
In 2015, the star became the co-star once more in crime thriller Legend based on the lives of the infamous Kray twins where Egerton played Ronnie Kray’s psychopathic lover Edward “Mad Teddy” Smith. As well as being an effortlessly talented actor, Egerton has a strong singing voice, which he showcased in the 2016 animated musical comedy Sing. But it was back at drama school where he first displayed his vocal talents.
While attending The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, the actor was convinced of his abilities by teachers at the school and ended up completing his final year as the Lead Actor in the musical Saturday Night by Stephen Sondheim and even won the coveted Stephen Sondheim Society Student Performer of The Year Award in 2011. He also collaborated with the hugely talented musical theatre star and Hollywood big-timer Hugh Jackman on the soundtrack for their 2016 comedy Eddie the Eagle.
Despite Eddie the Eagle‘s poor performance at the box office, having only really made a mark in the UK, it was enough to get him a nomination for EE’s Rising Star Award at that year’s BAFTA’s. However, no doubt his achievements up until this point contributed to his nomination. Star Wars lead John Boyega walked away with the award on the night but he did manage to pick up a Best Newcomer Award at Empire Magazine’s award show a year earlier for his performance in the first Kingsman.
As for this year? As well as the release of Kingsman: The Secret Circle, we also have Billionaire Boys Club to look forward to that has a cluster of talent including Baby Driver‘s Ansel Elgort and Kevin Spacey, War Horse‘s Jeremy Irvine and American Horror Story‘s star Emma Roberts. To cap things off, Egerton will be taking on the difficult role of Robin Hood next year in a brand new adaptation alongside Jamie Dornan and Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx.
Could 2018 be the year Taron Egerton finally becomes an A-list, household name? Don’t bet against him.
What is your favourite Taron Egerton role? What did you think of Kingsman: The Golden Circle? Let us know in comments or on social media.