Who is Aaron Taylor-Johnson? The man linked to James Bond
This week, the James Bond watch went into overdrive as reports emerged that Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been offered the role of 007 for the next Bond film. This follows months of speculation, which Taylor-Johnson himself felt the need to address a few weeks ago.
Although the BBC has since attempted to quell the rumour, claiming an anonymous “production insider” told them there was “no truth” in it, the genie may well be out of the bottle. Bond is the word on everyone’s lips and predictive text suggestions once again.
There’s been nearly a decade of conjecture since the release of Spectre and through the almost farcical production nightmare that No Time to Die became. Now, finally, we might be getting the answer we – and MI6 – have been waiting for.
So, if Aaron Taylor-Johnson really is next in line to don the world’s most famous tuxedo, it’s time to take a closer look at Daniel Craig’s potential successor. Who is the man already being touted as the new James Bond? Here, we answer some of your most searched questions…
What are Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s best-known movies?
Aaron Johnson, as he was known early in his career, secured his big Hollywood break playing the eponymous teen superhero in the first of the Kick-Ass movies. He was also a supporting cast member in Tom Ford’s 2016 neo-noir Nocturnal Animals alongside a host of celebrated actors, including Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Andrea Riseborough and Michael Sheen.
Perhaps the film which was to define his career trajectory from teen comic book hero to the bookies’ favourite for James Bond was Christopher Nolan’s Tenet. In this time-bending thriller, Taylor-Johnson plays a military commander in the secret organisation from which the movie takes its name, who helps save John David Washington’s “Protagonist” from certain death.
This led to a starring role opposite Brad Pitt in the action comedy Bullet Train and the main part in David Mackenzie’s upcoming film Fuze.
So, where is Aaron Taylor-Johnson from?
Having performed on stage since the age of six, it seems as though Aaron Taylor-Johnson was always destined for great things in the acting world. Back in 2012, he told The Guardian: “I was always told at school that you had to have a back-up plan, but all I ever wanted to do was act. There was no plan B for me.” He hails from High Wycombe on the outskirts of London, where he went to school until the age of 15 before pursuing acting full-time.
He landed his first major role in 2008 at the age of 18, playing a young John Lennon in the biographical drama Nowhere Boy. The then-unknown British director Samantha Taylor-Wood helmed the film, on the set of which she would meet her future husband.
Is Aaron Taylor-Johnson really the new James Bond actor?
It’s a little early to start photoshopping pictures of Aaron Taylor-Johnson into James Bond’s evening suit just yet. The source for this morning’s story of a “formal offer” to the actor from Barbara Broccoli, who owns the rights to the 007 franchise, isn’t corroborated. It could be that Eon Productions bosses are just putting the feelers out, trying to gauge the public’s initial reaction to the idea of Taylor-Johnson as the next James Bond actor.
Idris Elba is still the preferred pick for many fans, while it’s hardly a stretch to imagine former Superman Henry Cavill driving an Aston Martin with 007 number plates. The reality is that this will continue to be a rumour mill until it’s confirmed by Broccoli herself.
One thing’s for sure: whether he’s Aaron Taylor-Johnson or anyone else, the new Bond will have a job on his hands trying to fill the shoes of Daniel Craig. Craig is widely seen as having fronted at least two of the best-ever James Bond movies. He’s arguably the most successful version of the MI6 operative, both at the box office and with the critics.
On other topics, will there be a Kick-Ass 3?
After the movie Kick-Ass 2, there was a further sequel in the offing. The film franchise was always intended to be a trilogy, mirroring The Dave Lizewski Years series from the Hit-Girl & Kick-Ass series of comic books. The sequel didn’t perform especially well at the box office, though, and was received poorly by critics.
The cast of Kick-Ass also didn’t seem to be up for continuing the movie franchise. Actor Chloë Grace Moretz, who played Hit-Girl, expressed disappointment at how the sequel had turned out. And Aaron Taylor-Johnson himself suggested he had been intimidated to reprise his role as Dave Lizewski at all.
Director Matthew Vaughn struggled for years to get a third film greenlit before announcing this year that the series was being rebooted altogether. A brand new Kick-Ass movie entitled School Fight has already been filmed with a totally new cast. This project is set to be the first of a complete trilogy.
In a sense, then, there will be a Kick-Ass 3. Only without the actors from the original Kick-Ass film series, including Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
Who is Sam Taylor-Johnson?
Aaron Johnson and Taylor-Wood married in 2012, which is why they are now both known by the surname Taylor-Johnson. They have two daughters together, Wylda Rae Johnson and Romy Hero Johnson, and also have partial custody of Sam’s daughter, Jessie Phoenix Jopling, from her previous marriage to art dealer Jay Jopling
Sam Taylor-Johnson has gone on to direct the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey and the movie A Million Little Pieces starring her husband. Her biopic of Amy Winehouse, titled Back to Black, is set to premiere in the UK next month.
