Aaron Taylor-Johnson
Aaron Perry Taylor-Johnson is an English actor and screenwriter, best known for his portrayal of the title character in the Kick-Ass films and Quicksilver in .
Taylor-Johnson began performing at age six and has appeared in films such as Shanghai Knights, playing a young Charlie Chaplin, The Illusionist and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging. He had his breakthrough performance in the John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy. He went on to portray Ben in the Oliver Stone-directed crime thriller Savages, Russian aristocrat Count Vronsky in Joe Wright's adaptation of Anna Karenina and Lt. Brody in Gareth Edwards' monster movie Godzilla. For his performance as psychopathic drifter Ray Marcus in Tom Ford's thriller Nocturnal Animals, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor and was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role.
Early life
Aaron Perry Johnson was born in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, the son of Sarah and Robert Johnson, a housewife mother and civil engineer father, respectively. He has a sister, Gemma, who appeared in his film Tom & Thomas in a small role. He is Jewish. He was educated at Holmer Green Senior School and attended the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe between 1996 and 2008, where he studied drama, tap, jazz, acrobatics, and singing.Career
Taylor-Johnson began acting at the age of six. On stage, he appeared in a London production of Shakespeare's Macbeth, playing the son of Macduff alongside Rufus Sewell, who played Macbeth, in 1999. He appeared in Arthur Miller’s All My Sons in 2000. His television roles have included Niker in the 2004 BBC adaptation of the novel Feather Boy, Aaron in Danny Brocklehurst's ITV1 serial Talk to Me, and Owen Stephens in Nearly Famous. In 2003, Taylor-Johnson appeared as a young Charlie Chaplin in Shanghai Knights, with Chaplin depicted as a member of a London gang of street thugs. In 2006, he appeared in The Illusionist, appearing in the early flashback scenes as Edward Norton's character, Eduard Abramovicz, as a teenager. The scenes show the young Eduard as he first learns magic, and to do this, Johnson had to learn how to perform the ball trick displayed by his character. He learned how to perform the balancing of the egg on the stick, although that was effected mechanically. Also in 2006, he starred in the film The Thief Lord, as Prosper.promoting Godzilla'
Taylor-Johnson appeared as John Lennon in the 2009 biographical film film Nowhere Boy, directed by Sam Taylor-Wood. His performance saw him receive the Empire Award for Best Newcomer and he was also nominated for Young British Performer of the Year by the London Film Critics' Circle. In 2010, Taylor-Johnson appeared as David "Dave" Lizewski/Kick-Ass, the lead character in Kick-Ass, based on the superhero comic book of the same name by Scottish writer Mark Millar. His performance in Kick-Ass saw him nominated for the BAFTA Rising Star Award. He has also appeared as the central character, William, in Hideo Nakata's Chatroom. In December 2010, Taylor-Johnson joined the cast of Albert Nobbs as a replacement for Orlando Bloom, who dropped out of the production due to his wife's pregnancy. Taylor-Johnson starred in R.E.M.'s 2011 music video "Überlin", which was also directed by his then-fiancée.
In 2012, Taylor-Johnson played Count Vronsky in Anna Karenina. Later that year, he starred as Ben in Oliver Stone's Savages. HitFix film critic Drew McWeeny was positive of the bond between Johnson and co-star Taylor Kitsch, which "seems not only credible but lived in and authentic throughout the film", and noted the evolution in maturity of Johnson since Kick-Ass. Taylor-Johnson starred in the Godzilla reboot, released in May 2014. Taylor-Johnson played Quicksilver in ', the sequel to The Avengers. Taylor-Johnson first appeared as the character in a post-credits scene of the film . The role reunited him with Elizabeth Olsen, who played his wife in Godzilla.
In 2016, he played Ray, a menacing Texan, in Tom Ford's thriller Nocturnal Animals. For the role, he won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture. Taylor-Johnson also became first Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor winner since Richard Benjamin who did not receive an Academy Award nomination. For the role he also received a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In 2017, he played an American soldier in Doug Liman's thriller The Wall, and in 2018, he appeared in Outlaw King, a British-American historical action drama about Robert the Bruce and the Wars of Scottish Independence. In May 2019, Taylor-Johnson was cast in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet''.
In 2020, it was announced that Aaron Taylor Johnson will join Steve Pemberton on West End stage in The Pillowman play. directed by Matthew Dunster.
Personal life
Aaron Johnson began a relationship with Nowhere Boy director Sam Taylor-Wood, after meeting on the 2009 set of the film when he was 18 and she was 42. They announced their engagement in October 2009 and married at Babington House, Somerset, England on 21 June 2012. The two changed their surnames to "Taylor-Johnson" and use the surname professionally. The couple have two daughters. He is also stepfather to two daughters from his wife's previous marriage.Taylor-Johnson was named one of GQ's 50 best dressed British men in 2015.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
| 2000 | The Apocalypse | Johanan | Raffaele Mertes | |
| 2002 | Tom & Thomas | Tom Sheppard / Thomas | Esmé Lammers | |
| 2003 | Behind Closed Doors | Sam Goodwin | Louis Caulfield | |
| 2003 | Shanghai Knights | Charlie Chaplin | David Dobkin | |
| 2004 | Dead Cool | George | David Cohen | |
| 2006 | ' | Prosper | Richard Claus | |
| 2006 | ' | Young Eisenheim | Neil Burger | |
| 2006 | Fast Learners | Neil | Christoph Röhl | Short film |
| 2006 | ' | Michael | Stefan Schwartz | |
| 2007 | The Magic Door | Flip | Paul Matthews | |
| 2008 | Dummy | Danny | Matthew Thompson | Nominated — ALFS Award for Young British Performer of the Year |
| 2008 | Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging | Robbie Jennings | Gurinder Chadha | |
| 2009 | ' | Bennett Brewer | Shana Feste | |
| 2009 | Nowhere Boy | John Lennon | Sam Taylor-Johnson | Empire Award for Best Newcomer Nominated — ALFS Award for Young British Performer of the Year Nominated — British Independent Film Award for Best Actor |
| 2010 | Kick-Ass | David "Dave" Lizewski / Kick-Ass | Matthew Vaughn | Nominated — Empire Award for Best Actor Nominated — BAFTA Rising Star Award Nominated — Scream Award for Best Breakout Performance – Male Nominated — Scream Award for Best Fantasy Actor Nominated — Scream Award for Best Superhero Nominated — Teen Choice Award for Breakout Male |
| 2010 | Chatroom | William Collins | Hideo Nakata | |
| 2011 | Albert Nobbs | Joe Mackins | Rodrigo García | |
| 2012 | Savages | Ben | Oliver Stone | |
| 2012 | Anna Karenina | Count Vronsky | Joe Wright | Final time credited as Aaron Johnson Nominated — Alliance of Women Film Journalists Award for Best Depiction of Nudity, Sexuality, or Seduction |
| 2013 | Kick-Ass 2 | David "Dave" Lizewski / Kick-Ass | Jeff Wadlow | First time credited as Aaron Taylor-Johnson |
| 2014 | ' | Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver | Anthony and Joe Russo | Uncredited cameo |
| 2014 | Godzilla | Lt. Ford Brody | Gareth Edwards | |
| 2015 | ' | Pietro Maximoff / Quicksilver | Joss Whedon | |
| 2016 | Nocturnal Animals | Ray Marcus | Tom Ford | Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Virtuosos Award for Best Supporting Actor Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role Nominated — San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2017 | The Wall | Sgt. Allen "Ize" Isaac | Doug Liman | |
| 2018 | Outlaw King | James Douglas, Lord of Douglas | David Mackenzie | |
| 2018 | A Million Little Pieces | James Frey | Sam Taylor-Johnson | Also writer |
| 2020 | Tenet | TBA | Christopher Nolan | Post-production |
| 2020 | The King's Man | Lee Unwin | Matthew Vaughn | Post-production |
Television
Video games
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2010 | Kick-Ass |