EGERTON
Taron

• 1. Career
• 1.1. Early work and Kingsman films (2012–2018)
• 1.2. Recognition (2019–present)

Taron Egerton is a Welsh actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Egerton performed in stage plays. He gained recognition for his starring role as a spy recruit in the action comedy film Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).

Egerton has also starred in several biographical films, portraying military officer Edward Brittain in the drama Testament of Youth (2014), the titular ski-jumper in the sports film Eddie the Eagle (2016), and singer Elton John in the musical Rocketman (2019). The last of these earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Egerton has since starred in the miniseries Black Bird (2022) and portrayed Henk Rogers in the biopic Tetris (2023), both for Apple TV+.

Career

Early work and Kingsman films (2012–2018)

Egerton performed in a stage production of the play The Last of the Haussmans at the National Theatre in London in 2012. After appearing in the crime drama series Lewis, he was cast as the lead in Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service, an action comedy film adaptation of the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, in 2013. He portrayed British Army officer Edward Brittain in the 2014 biographical drama film Testament of Youth, earning a nomination for Best British Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival. Kingsman: The Secret Service was released in 2015, garnering highly favorable reviews that described it as "fun, stylish and subversive" as well as grossing over $400 million. Writing for TheWrap, James Rocchi deemed Egerton to be "a naturally charismatic presence with smarts behind his smile" as Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, a recruit for an espionage organisation. Egerton rose to fame with the role. He starred in the crime film Legend that same year.

At the 69th British Academy Film Awards in 2016, Egerton received a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. In the same year, he played ski-jumper Eddie the Eagle in the eponymous biographical sports film and voiced Johnny, a passionate gorilla, in the animated musical film Sing. Egerton reprised the role of Eggsy in the film Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service, released the following year. It drew a mixed response from critics. In 2018, he starred in the crime drama film Billionaire Boys Club and played the title character in the action-adventure film Robin Hood. Both films were failures commercially and with critics. Egerton later specified that Robin Hood was not the film he had signed up to create and that it had "lost its vision." He attributed his involvement in Billionaire Boys Club and Robin Hood to monetary reasons.

Recognition (2019–present)

Egerton starred as singer Elton John in the biographical musical film Rocketman. He learned to play the piano for the part and sang live in each take during filming. The film was released in 2019, receiving positive reviews, and the actor's portrayal of John earned praise. The Washington Post's Ann Hornaday opined that Egerton "exerts a steadying, singularly charismatic force" in the role, while Richard Lawson of Vanity Fair described his portrayal as "nuanced and emotionally intelligent while still loose, carried with verve and agility". Egerton won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy for his performance. He also garnered a British Academy Film Award nomination for Best Actor in a Leading Role and a Grammy Award nomination for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media for his work on the film's soundtrack. That same year, Egerton narrated the audiobook version of John's autobiography, Me, and the two performed on stage together several times.

Also in 2019, Egerton voiced Moomintroll in the animated series Moominvalley and Rian in the fantasy series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. He reprised the role of Johnny in Sing 2, which released in 2021. Egerton starred in the play Cock by Mike Bartlett. Directed by Marianne Elliott and held at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End, the production marked his West End debut. After missing performances due to fainting on stage during the first night of performances in March 2022 and testing positive for COVID-19 later that month, Egerton exited for "personal reasons" the following month. The production of Cock garnered mixed critical reception, with Egerton's performance gaining praise. The Guardian's Arifa Akbar wrote he "is especially affecting in his romantic desperation".

Egerton executive produced and portrayed American drug dealer Jimmy Keene in the miniseries Black Bird, an adaptation of Keene's memoir In with the Devil. It premiered on Apple TV+ in 2022. Reviewing the series, Saloni Gajjar of The A.V. Club found that Egerton "aces Jimmy's duality while switching from being overtly confident to silently breaking down". The following year, Egerton portrayed entrepreneur Henk Rogers in the biographical film Tetris, about the video game of the same name, which also released on Apple TV+. Lovia Gyarke of The Hollywood Reporter commended him for playing Rogers with an "earnest goofiness".

Egerton will next star in the Netflix thriller film Carry-On.