Why Taron Egerton hates method acting: “I’ve heard horror stories”
If you can name a Welsh actor who, in the last ten years, has successfully portrayed a singing, piano-playing gorilla, a jailed drug dealer and a bespectacled 1980s Olympic ski-jumper, then congratulations, you’ve probably just thought of Taron Egerton.
Since he got his big break as the lead in the first Kingsman movie back in 2013, Egerton has established himself as one of the industry’s most talented frontmen, pivoting from tough guy to musical star and back again without issue, and racking up awards and nominations in the process.
Although he was born in Liverpool, Egerton identifies as Welsh and credits the singing traditions of his fellow countrymen for inspiring his vocal abilities, alongside his parents encouraging him to listen to the likes of David Bowie and Elton John, the latter of whom he would end up winning a Golden Globe for portraying in 2019’s Rocketman.
It was thanks to those singing talents that he wound up as that piano-playing gorilla, too, in the monster hit animation Sing, alongside Matthew McConaughey, which did so well that it spawned a sequel in 2021. Since then, though, Egerton has been seen in much grittier roles, including the award-winning Apple TV+ miniseries Black Bird opposite the late Ray Liotta, a prison drama about a jailed sports star who befriends a serial killer and is enlisted by the FBI to help him confess his crimes.
Egerton’s performance was so good that he was nominated for another Golden Globe, a SAG award, and an Emmy. He followed that up with Netflix’s Christmas action flick Carry On and is currently starring in another series for Apple TV+ called Smoke about a real-life arsonist.
Aside from his musical influences, in terms of acting as a craft, he has expressed admiration for two of his former co-stars, namely Colin Firth and Adolescence’s Stephen Graham.
Asked by The Telegraph about his thoughts on method acting and the issues it can cause on set, Egerton said, “I think a creative environment and a place of work requires a degree of social conformity, so that you can all work together. And that means being civil, it means being personable, it means being polite.”
He also once stated that, “A part of everyone wants to be Leonardo DiCaprio”.
Although DiCaprio is known for getting incredibly immersed in his characters for movies, he is not a method actor in the traditional sense, and that’s something that Egerton is wary of and feels quite strongly that if he were to stay in character the entire time, as some actors including the multi-Oscar award winning Daniel Day-Lewis have been known to do, it could cause potential issues.
He added: “I think refusing to drop character, regardless of the consequences, demonstrates disregard for your co-workers… I’ve heard horror stories… But who knows? Perhaps people are able to do it in a way where they navigate treating the people around them well. It often yields really great results. I don’t know that method acting has a monopoly on good acting.”
Egerton looks like he’ll have a very busy end to 2025 and starting 2026 with his starring role in the fourth Kingsman movie, The Blue Blood, a film adaptation of a novel called She Rides Shotgun about a father protecting his daughter from a deadly gang, and an action thriller titled Apex with Marvel’s Eric Bana and Charlize Theron.
