Rise to Fame
He played teenage John Lennon in Nowhere Boy (2009) for director Sam Taylor-Wood, who was 41 to his 18. They dated after filming wrapped and married three years later. That backstory follows him everywhere. The Lennon performance was strong enough to land him the title role in Kick-Ass (2010), where he played a costume-wearing teenager with no powers and a talent for getting hurt. American audiences showed up, he collected a BAFTA Rising Star nomination, and a new surname when he and Sam merged theirs.
In the Spotlight
The Golden Globe he won for Nocturnal Animals (2016) pointed one direction. Kraven the Hunter (2024) went the other, opening with $11 million in December, earning 15% on Rotten Tomatoes, and finishing with $61 million globally against a $110 million budget. He admitted during the press tour that he didn't give a f--k about his earlier Marvel work, which is a strange thing to say while selling another Marvel film. 28 Years Later (2025) with Danny Boyle landed better. The career is still negotiating between serious work and franchise money.
Side Notes
His early credits list him as Aaron Johnson. He became Aaron Taylor-Johnson after marrying Sam in 2012, the director who cast him in Nowhere Boy and was 23 years his senior when they met on set. They have two daughters together; he's also stepfather to her two from a previous marriage. The 23-year age gap has been tabloid material since they went public in 2010. What gets less play: the person who launched his career and the person he married are the same person.