Aaron Taylor-Johnson names his generation’s most impressive actors: “You want to go on a journey”
From making his big screen debut at the tender age of ten to being tipped to be the next James Bond, it’s been quite the journey for Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
The British star has proven himself highly capable of doing pretty much anything he puts his mind to. Blockbuster superhero fare, small indie dramas, gothic horrors, whatever the hell Tenet was. ATJ seemingly had zero limits, and he’s still only in his mid-30s.
Taylor-Johnson, who recently earned a former Bond actor’s support for playing the next version of the character, occupies an interesting place in the current acting landscape. He is both young enough to still be considered a rising star, but has also been in the business long enough to witness and work with dozens of other big names of the future. This makes him more than qualified to comment on his peers, which is exactly what he did during an interview with Hero magazine.
The star of Nowhere Boy was asked for his opinion on who he thought were the best actors in terms of being vulnerable on camera. He wasn’t specifically asked to name young performers, but he ended up rattling off a list of stars who had either just broken into the limelight or were on the verge of playing their biggest ever roles.
“It can chop and change a lot,” he admitted. “If it’s a group of actors our age… Jack O’Connell, for instance, is someone who is a raw, talented, unpredictable wild beast, which is beautiful. Miles Teller has that, I think Daniel Kaluuya has that – you want to go on the journey with them. You’re not anticipating the next move or line, I think Timothée Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name had it.”
At the time of this interview, Kaluuya was probably the most established of the names Taylor-Johnson mentioned. The two would have known each other from the 2010 screenlife horror Chatroom, in which they both appeared. Chalamet was well on his way to overtaking him, though. 2021 saw everyone’s favourite pixie man star in some massive movies – Don’t Look Up, The French Dispatch, Dune – and things would only get better in the years following Taylor-Johnson’s comments about him.
Teller had already hit it big with Whiplash, but was on the verge of re-entering the public eye with Top Gun: Maverick when this interview was given. His performance as Bradley ‘Rooster’ Bradshaw – combined with one of the greatest moustaches in cinema history – made the public fall in love with him all over again.
Much like Teller, O’Connell would also go through a career renaissance shortly after this interview. The Skins alum, who is unexpectedly good friends with The Jam frontman Paul Weller, reemerged in a major way in 2025. After years out of the spotlight, he suddenly found himself in two of the year’s biggest films: Sinners, in which he plays an Irish music-loving vampire, and 28 Years Later, in which he starred alongside Taylor-Johnson.
These keen observations about some once-and-future superstars prove that Taylor-Johnson knows exactly what he’s talking about. He picked out four of the finest actors of their generation, some of whom were mere months away from solidifying that status. If this acting thing doesn’t work out, then he’s got a real future as a talent scout.
