Taron Egerton

Taron David Egerton (born 10 November 1989) is a Welsh actor and singer. He gained recognition for starring as Gary "Eggsy" Unwin in the action comedy film Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). He has also starred in several biopics, portraying Edward Brittain in the drama Testament of Youth (2014), Edward "Mad Teddy" Smith in the crime thriller Legend (2015), Eddie "The Eagle" Edwards in the sports film Eddie the Eagle (2016), and Elton John in the musical Rocketman (2019).

Early life
Taron David Egerton was born on 10 November 1989 in Birkenhead, Merseyside, the son of Christina "Tina" Pound and David Egerton, a couple from nearby Liverpool. His grandmother is Welsh. He has two younger sisters. His first name is a variation of taran, which means "thunder" in Welsh. His father is a musician who used to run a bed-and-breakfast, and his mother is a social worker. His parents divorced when he was very young, and from then on he lived with his mother. He then moved with her to Llanfairpwllgwyngyll on the Welsh island of Anglesey, where he went to primary school.

Egerton moved to Aberystwyth when he was 12. As a child, he had an interest in animation and making sculptures as well as drawing. He began acting at the age of 15 after his friend convinced him to do a youth theatre programme. He says he was the "class clown" and acting seemed to be a better use of that energy. He attended Ysgol Penglais School before he went on to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where he graduated with a BA (Hons) in acting in 2012. While there, he received the Stephen Sondheim Society's Student of the Year Award in 2011.

Career
Egerton made his acting debut in 2011 with a small role in two episodes of the ITV series Lewis as Liam Jay. Later, he was added to the main cast of the Sky1 series The Smoke. Egerton played Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, the young protégé of Harry Hart (Colin Firth), in Matthew Vaughn's film Kingsman: The Secret Service and its sequel, Kingsman: The Golden Circle. The first movie's success launched Egerton into fame and resulted in him signing a three-movie contract with 20th Century Fox.

Egerton co-starred in Testament of Youth, based on the life of Vera Brittain, and appeared in the two-part episode "The Ramblin' Boy" in the seventh series of Lewis as Liam Jay. In 2015, it was announced that Egerton would be starring in Billionaire Boys Club. Egerton voiced Johnny the gorilla in the animation film Sing in 2016. He was named one of GQ 50 best-dressed British men in 2015 and 2016. In 2018, Egerton played the title character in Robin Hood.

In 2019, Egerton starred as musician Elton John in the biopic Rocketman, receiving positive reviews for his work. In June 2019, Egerton performed a live duet of "Your Song" with Elton John at the opening night of the U.K. leg of Elton's farewell world tour Farewell Yellow Brick Road in Brighton & Hove.

Personal life


Although born in England with only one Welsh grandparent, Egerton considers himself to be Welsh "through and through" and is fluent in the Welsh language.

Egerton has stated that he finds an "umbrella in the rain" type of romance better than the dating app experience common to his generation, stating: "Actually, I have asked a girl out Kamikaze-style. I stopped her on the Tube and said, 'I think you're gorgeous, I think we should go for a drink some time.' It's terrifying, but ultimately so much more rewarding." He later took half a day off from drama school to go on a date with her.

He has been dating assistant director Emily Thomas for over two years. He has said of her, "My girlfriend also works in this industry, which means that we both struggle to kind of sync up time alone together, but one thing we do when we do get that time is we go and camp together. And we listen to podcasts on a little speaker and drink Corona and watch the sun go down and it's beautiful. That's some of the happiest time of my life."

Egerton has spoken in favour of activist causes. In 2015, he responded to a question asked of a female co-star about misogyny: "I don't think things are changing fast enough—but you didn't seem to want to ask me that. It's not just a question for the women." He has also addressed his privilege as a white actor in Hollywood: "I'm the epitome of an actor who walks into a room and has the upper hand just because I'm a mid-twenties Caucasian male. How frustrating must the industry be for a person of colour?" Egerton has shown support for the LGBT community as well, stating in an interview about his performance in Rocketman, "Elton John's a gay icon. And who are we, as frankly heterosexual filmmakers, to not put that element of his story? How dare we. And that's not what we did." Having lost a grandmother to motor neuron disease, Egerton is also an ambassador for the MND Association.