Best remembered for playing the titular role in the superhero black comedy Kick-Ass in 2010, Aaron Taylor Johnson is an English actor. Apart from working in movies, Taylor Johnson has appeared in few episodes of shows such as Feather Boy, I Shouldnt Be Alive, Talk to Me, and Nearly Famous. He used to go by his birth name Aaron Johnson but legally changed his name to Aaron Taylor-Johnson in 2013 after marrying director Sam Taylor-Wood.
EARLY LIFE
Born on 13th of June, 1990 to a housewife mother and civil engineer in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, Johnson has a sister called Gemma. He studied at the Holmer Green Senior School, following which he studied drama, tap, jazz, acrobatics, and singing at the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe between 1996 and 2008.
PERSONAL LIFE
When Johnson began his shoot for the 2009 biographical drama Nowhere Boy, he fell in love with the director of the movie, Sam Taylor-Wood. Ignoring the thirteen-year-gap between the two, the 19-year-old Johnson got engaged to the 42-year-old Taylor-Wood the same year. The following year, they became parents to their first daughter Wylda Rae. The two then go married in 2012, welcoming their second daughter Romy Hero. The following year, in 2013, Johnson and Taylor-Wood legally changed their last name to Taylor-Johnson and use it professionally too. Taylor-Johnson is also stepfather to Taylor-Woods daughters from her previous marriage, Angelica and Jessie Phoenix.
STAGE CAREER
Taylor-Johnson had started acting at a mere age of six and first debuted on stage with the 1999 adaptation of Shakespeares play Macbeth, where he played the role of Lord Macduffs son. The following year, he was seen in Howard Davies 2000 adaptation of Arthur Millers 1947 play All of My Sons.
TELEVISION CAREER
He first appeared on television with the 2000 TV movie The Apocalypse, following which he was cast in the 2001 television drama Armadillo, where he played the role of the young Lorimer Black. His most prominent television appearances was on the 2004 drama Feather Boy, playing the role of Niker. He went on to feature on single episodes of shows such as The Bill, Family Business, Casualty, and Coming Up. His other roles on television include that of Aaron on the 2007 four-part British drama Talk to Me, and that of Owen Stephens on the 2007 British mini-series Almost Famous. In 2014, the actor voiced for the character of Jaidan on the American adult animated sitcom Family Guy.
MOVIE CAREER
Making his movie debut, Taylor-Johnson was cast in a dual role in the 2002 family film Tom & Thomas, playing the role of two estranged twin brothers, Tom and Thomas, who, in an attempt to reunite, find themselves in trouble. Starring alongside Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson in his next movie, Taylor-Johnson was seen in the action-comedy Shanghai Knights, playing the role of Charlie. Next, he was cast in the 2006 British-German family film The Thief Lord, where he was seen playing the role of Prosper, a recently orphaned boy, who, along with his brother, escape from their cruel aunt and uncle, only to find themselves in ill company.
His other projects in the years to come included The Best Man in 2005, The Illusionist in 2006, and Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging in 2008. After being cast alongside Pierce Brosnan and Susan Sarandon in the 2009 drama The Greatest, he was seen in the 2009 biographical drama Nowhere Boy, where he played the role of the Beatles frontman John Lennon in his adolescent years and his relationship with his guardian aunt. His performance in the movie won him the Empire Award for Best Newcomer and a British Independent Film Award nomination for Best Actor. His most noteworthy role came with the 2010 superhero black comedy Kick-Ass, where he played the titular role and was also seen reprising his role in its 2013 sequel Kick-Ass 2, both of which were commercially successful films.
Playing a self-destructive teenager, Taylor-Johnson was seen in the 2010 drama-thriller Chatroom, which bombed at the box-office and opened to mainly negative reviews. Following his rather unsuccessful movie, he was seen in the 2012 historical romance Anna Karenina, where he plays the role of Count Alexei Kirillovich Vronsky, who enters a romantic relationship with the married Princess Anna Arkadyevna Karenina, portrayed by Keira Knightley. The movie opened to positive reviews and also won four Academy Award nominations. Portraying the role of Quicksilver, Taylor-Johnson was seen in a cameo appearance in the 2014 superhero movie Captain America: The Winter Soldier, a role he reprised in the 2015 superhero movie Avengers: Age of Ultron. Cast alongside Elizabeth Olsen, Taylor-Johnson was seen in the science fiction monster film Godzilla in 2014, where he played the role of Lt. Ford Brody. His other projects include the neo-noir psychological thriller Nocturnal Animals opposite Amy Adams in 2016, and the 2017 war drama thriller The Wall directed Doug Liman, opposite John Cena.