Aaron Taylor-Johnson Biography

By the age of 12, Aaron Taylor-Johnson had already appeared on stage, television, and in feature films. Born in Holmer Green, Buckinghamshire, England, he attended the Jackie Palmer Stage School in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England between 1996 and 2008. There he was tutored in jazz, tap, singing, acrobatics and drama.

Aaron began acting at the age of six, with his first role as the son of Macduff in Macbeth, followed by a role in Arthur Miller's play All My Sons. He made his television debut in the British series Armadillo, playing Young Lorimer Black, the younger version of the lead character. By 2004, Aaron played a regular role in the BBC-TV series Feather Boy, an adaption from a novel of the same name. In 2007 he played a recurring role in the series Talk to Me, followed by a lead role in the series Nearly Famous (also 2007).

At 12, Aaron made his big screen debut with the title role in Tom & Thomas (2002). He landed another starring role in The Thief Lord (2006), based on the book by Cornelia Funke. In 2006, Aaron was cast in the major motion picture The Illusionist, as the young Eisenheim in various flashbacks recalled by his older self, played by Edward Norton. Two years later he snagged a role as a heart throb in the British teen comedy Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging (2008). Just one year later, he had the chance to play the role of a lifetime as John Lennon in the 2009 biopic Nowhere Boy. His performance in the film earned him a British Independent Film Award nomination.

Next, Aaron starred in Kick-Ass (2010) opposite Nicolas Cage, as a high school student who decides to become a superhero, followed by the 2011 historical film Albert Nobbs (the film for which Glenn Close earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination) and Oliver Stone's Savages (2012). He also played the role of Count Vronsky in the film adaptation of Anna Karenina (2012), starred in the superhero action comedy Kick-Ass 2 (2013), and appeared in Godzilla (2014) and The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015).

In 2016, Aaron earned widespread acclaim for his unsettling role in Tom Ford's dark drama Nocturnal Animals with Amy Adams and Jake Gyllenhaal. He played Ray Marcus in the Oscar-nominated film and for his stellar work, won a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe.

His later projects include The Wall (2017) opposite John Cena, and starred in Outlaw King (2018), which was the TIFF opening night gala film in 2018.

He also collaborated with his wife Sam Taylor-Johnson on A Million Little Pieces(2018), which they co-wrote and was directed by Sam.

In Christopher Nolan's highly anticipated Tenet (2020), an espionage thriller based on the concept of time inversion, he starred alongside John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh.

He played a supporting role in David Leitch's action/comedy Bullet Train (2022) starring Brad Pitt, then worked with Leitch again in the action/comedy The Fall Guy (2024), playing a movie star whose stunt guy is Ryan Gosling.

Aaron is currently married to his Nowhere Boy director, Sam Taylor Wood, despite a 23-year age gap. Their first daughter, Wylda Rae, was born on July 7, 2010 and their second daughter, Romy Hero, was born on January 18, 2012. Aaron is also a stepfather to Wood's two older daughters, Angelica and Jessie.

Filmography:

The Fall Guy (2024)
Bullet Train (2022)
The King's Man (2021)
Tenet (2020)
A Million Little Pieces (2018)
Outlaw King (2018)
The Wall (2017)
Nocturnal Animals (2016)
Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Godzilla (2014)
Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
Anna Karenina (2012)
Savages (2012)
Albert Nobbs (2011)
Chatroom (2010)
Kick-Ass (2010)
Nowhere Boy (2009)
Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging (2008)
Dummy (2008)
The Illusionist (2006)
The Thief Lord (2006)
Shanghai Knights (2003)
Tom & Thomas (2002)