youth, aaron taylor johnson

ii. interview

excerpt from flaunt magazine!
article by isabel fabelo
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sitting across from aaron taylor-johnson, he had an aura that was immediately apparent as to why the world had fallen in love with him. sitting in an los angeles cafe as he told me about his childhood, he never gave off the over inflated ego that people in hollywood sometimes had. he was genuine and authentic, and you could see why in his story.

   "you know, i just started acting because my parents were just trying to find activities to wear me out, i didn't quite realize everything that it was. but even then, i think somehow i knew that it was special— acting, i mean." he explained to me, whilst he pushed his head of dark curls away from his face and offered up a small smile, "when you're eleven, you don't fully understand what it means to be on the west end, but i think that was for the best. during the day i was just a normal kid at school and at night i got to run around in a theatre, or be on a set. it was a good balance to have at that age."

even when he began to talk about how his career really started to take off, he remained so humble it was almost astonishing. he detailed how the ball just "started to roll;" 2008's angus, thongs, and perfect snogging, nowhere boy in 2009, scoring the titular role of kickass in 2010, by twenty one his career was in full swing. "i had no idea that i would ever be able to play one superhero— let alone two." that of course, was in reference to marvel and his role as quicksilver in 2015's avengers: age of ultron. as we started talking about role in marvel, i quickly noticed that so much had to do with one person: elizabeth olsen. and it made sense, because their characters were so deeply rooted in one another.

"lizzie is an amazing actress and incredible to costar with." he mused at one point, "we went straight from godzilla to working on our characters together to filming this massive movie together, and all the while she was my partner in all of it, or what have you. that sort of binds you together as actors, and as people. we work really well together, and she has so much talent, it's insane. truly. we're good friends, we want to work together again soon."

   and then i had the opportunity to bring up máire kavanagh, another of his costars that aaron is famously close to, and one that everyone alike wants to see them on screen together again. as we talked, it was clear how much he admired the young actress. "i worked with her brother on kickass, years before pointless endeavors, and i was thrilled when she got the role [of nora.] i'd never met her before we screen tested, but their whole family is so talented and humble and genuine, and she's no exception."

when i asked what it was like to work with her, he wasn't short of words there, either. "she's why the movie worked so well. i really only like to take characters i can relate to, and peter was someone i think a lot of people can relate to at one point or another in their lives— he's at this point where he doesn't know what to do next, and he doesn't know how to figure it out. máire connects with nora the same way i like to connect with my characters. she was going through the same things nora was; growing up, figuring out how to be her own person in such a massive world, what have you. working with someone who was invested in their character and in their work and portraying it as authentic and real as she possibly can— it makes all the difference. she inspired me to do better everyday, and in the end it clearly payed off. she's wonderful, she's one of my dearest friends. i can't wait to see what she does next."

as we talked, i realized that i could probably talk to aaron all day if we had the time. he's smart and infectious, but it's a very subtle feeling. he talks about acting the way everyone wishes they will one day hope to talk about their job, and discusses his friends the way everyone wishes their friends talk about them. he's humble and gracious, but most definitely, the eleven year old running around the back stage of a west end theatre is still the guiding force of his heart, and of his art.

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