# Taron Egerton

Taron Egerton (/ˈɛdʒərtən/ EJ-ər-tən; born 10 November 1989) is a Welsh actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he performed in stage plays before gaining recognition for his starring role as a spy in the action comedy films Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).
Egerton has 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. He also starred as Jimmy Keene in the miniseries Black Bird (2022), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, as Henk Rogers in the biopic Tetris (2023), and in the thriller film Carry-On (2024).

## Early life

Egerton was born in Birkenhead on 10 November 1989. His mother worked in social services, while his father ran a bed-and-breakfast near Liverpool; both of them are Liverpool natives. He has two younger half-sisters. Although born in England, Egerton considers himself to be Welsh "through and through" and is fluent in both Welsh and English.
Egerton's parents divorced when he was two, and he subsequently moved with his mother to the Welsh island of Anglesey, where he went to primary school. The family then relocated to Aberystwyth when he was 12 years old. He became lonely due to losing childhood friends. He began acting at age 15, which he later explained was "as much about trying to be social and make friends as it was an interest in acting". He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 2012.

## 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 role 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 biopic 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.

### Career progression (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 wrote that Egerton "aces Jimmy's duality while switching from being overtly confident to silently breaking down". He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie. 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".
In in the Netflix thriller film Carry-On (2024), Egerton starred as a TSA agent blackmailed by a terrorist. He deemed it a rare opportunity to lead a film aimed at a wide audience. Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote that "Egerton exudes the right mix of stuck-in-a-rut defeatism and harried determination to hold the film together". On Netflix, Carry-On became the fifth-most-watched English-language film of all time.
Egerton will next star in the Apple TV+ miniseries Firebug and in the crime thriller film She Rides Shotgun.

## Public image and personal life

Egerton lives in West London. He describes himself as having come from a working-class background. Having lost a grandmother to motor neurone disease, he is an ambassador for the Motor Neurone Disease Association. Following speculation about his sexuality, Egerton explained that it is "a joy to support" his gay friends, though he is not himself gay. However, as a teenager, Egerton questioned whether he was gay and explained that he felt "very panicked and upset about how I would be perceived".
Egerton was named one of the 50 best-dressed British men in 2015 and 2016 by British GQ.

## Acting credits
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2014 | Testament of Youth | Edward Brittain | |
| 2015 | Kingsman: The Secret Service | Gary "Eggsy" Unwin | |
| 2015 | Legend | Edward "Mad Teddy" Smith | |
| 2016 | Eddie the Eagle | Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards | |
| 2016 | Sing | Johnny | Voice role |
| 2017 | TBT to That Time Archer Met Kingsman | Gary "Eggsy" Unwin | Short film; voice role |
| 2017 | Kingsman: The Golden Circle | Gary "Eggsy" Unwin | |
| 2018 | Billionaire Boys Club | Dean Karny | |
| 2018 | Robin Hood | Robin Hood | |
| 2019 | Rocketman | Elton John | |
| 2021 | Sing 2 | Johnny | Voice role |
| 2023 | Tetris | Henk Rogers | Also executive producer |
| 2024 | Carry-On | Ethan Kopek | |
| TBA | She Rides Shotgun | Nate | Post-production |
| TBA | Apex | TBA | Filming |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Lewis | Liam Jay | 2 episodes |
| 2014 | The Smoke | Dennis "Asbo" Severs | |
| 2018 | Watership Down | El-Ahrairah | Miniseries; voice role |
| 2019 | The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance | Rian | Voice role |
| 2019–2020 | Moominvalley | Moomintroll | Voice role |
| 2022 | Black Bird | Jimmy Keene | Miniseries; also executive producer |
| TBA | Firebug | TBA | Upcoming miniseries; also executive producer |

### Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2012 | The Last of the Haussmans | Danny | Royal National Theatre |
| 2013 | No Quarter | Tommy | Royal Court Theatre |
| 2022 | Cock | M | Ambassadors Theatre |

### Music videos

| Year | Song | Artist | Ref. |
| 2015 | "The Breach" | Lazy Habits | |
| 2019 | "(I'm Gonna) Love Me Again" | Elton John, Taron Egerton | |

### Audio

| Year | Title | Role | Notes | Ref. |
| 2019 | Me | Narrator | Audiobook | |
| 2020 | The Sandman | John Constantine | Audio series | |

## Discography
### Soundtrack albums

| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Peak chart positions | Certifications |
| Title | Album details | UK | AUS | AUT | CAN | FRA | GER | NLD | NOR | NZ | US | Certifications |
| Rocketman (with Elton John) | Released: 24 May 2019 Label: EMI, Interscope Formats: CD, LP, digital download | 5 | 6 | 38 | — | 55 | 67 | 81 | — | 9 | 4 | BPI: Gold |
| "—" denotes items which were not released in that country or failed to chart. |||||||||||||

### Guest appearances

| Title | Year | Other artist(s) | Album |
| "Thrill Me" | 2016 | Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Hugh Jackman | Fly (Songs Inspired by the Film Eddie the Eagle) |
| "The Way I Feel Inside" | 2016 | None | Sing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "I'm Still Standing" | 2016 | None | Sing: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "Let's Go Crazy" | 2022 | Tori Kelly, Reese Witherspoon, Nick Kroll | Sing 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "Where the Streets Have No Name" | 2022 | Tori Kelly, Scarlett Johansson, Reese Witherspoon, Nick Kroll | Sing 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "There's Nothing Holdin' Me Back" | 2022 | Tori Kelly | Sing 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "A Sky Full of Stars" | 2022 | None | Sing 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |
| "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" | 2022 | Keke Palmer, Tori Kelly, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson | Sing 2: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack |

## Accolades

Egerton won a Golden Globe Award for his role in Rocketman. He has also garnered a Grammy Award nomination for his work on its soundtrack. He has been nominated by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.