Anna Karenina (2012)
Savages (2012)
Albert Nobbs (2011)
Making its debut on October 8th, the eve of what would have been John Lennon’s 70th birthday, is the touching biopic, Nowhere Boy. W spoke with lead actor Aaron Johnson about his film role as a young John Lennon, depicting the boyhood heartbreaks and teenage exploits that shaped the man whose music forever changed the world.
Were you a fan of John Lennon or The Beatles growing up?
I’m British, so it’s embedded in our history and culture. I love the Beatles, of course, and the music.How did being a fan affect your portrayal of John?
I never knew the in depth backstory of John Lennon. The script was my first insight into it. I guess not being a Beatles fanatic or from that generation allowed me to look outside the box and study, really observe what went on then. The pressure is on when you are playing anyone who was once alive. It being a true story, I wanted to do as much research as possible.
We sat down with Aaron Johnson earlier today to discuss his role as a young John Lennon in Sam Taylor-Wood’s ‘Nowhere Boy,’ but somehow a few questions about ‘Kick-Ass 2′ snuck in. MTV’s Splash Page tantalized us with some preview images from ‘Kick-Ass 2′ (the comic) in August, and comic creator Mark Millar assured fans that we’d soon have our balls glued to the proverbial wall.
Millar told MTV, “We’re probably about nine months away from production starting, at the earliest, because Matthew [Vaughn]‘s got to do ‘X-Men: First Class’… Matthew just wants to get ‘X-Men’ done next year, then hopefully we’ll just go straight into ‘Kick-Ass 2,’ that’s the plan.”
Aaron Johnson believes it is ”hypocritical” of people to criticise 13-year-old Chloe Moretz for swearing in ‘Kick-Ass’ while allowing them to listen to sexually-charged pop music.
Aaron Johnson has blasted “hypocritical” critics of ‘Kick Ass’.
The 20-year-old actor insists people shouldn’t object to the colourful language used by his 13-year-old co-star Chloe Moretz in the film because the movie came with an adult certification, unlike many raunchy pop songs that are accessible on radio.
He said: “I mean, at least we put a certificate on our film. It’s hypocritical. The same parents that complain then allow their six-year-old kids to listen to Rihanna on the school run. I have nothing against Rihanna but have you heard the lyrics?”
The ‘Nowhere Boy’ star also admitted he wished people would give Chloe more credit for the work she did on the action comedy, in which she played pre-teen superhero Hit Girl.
He added to GQ magazine: “I don’t see why they can’t acknowledge the fact that someone so young can be so mature, have to deal with those circumstances, and pull it off with great brilliance.”
After playing John Lennon in “Nowhere Boy,” Aaron Johnson tore a page from the late Beatle’s life. Just as Lennon became involved with an artist much older than he was and felt artistically liberated by their relationship, the 20-year-old British actor fell in love with his 43-year-old director, Sam Taylor-Wood, a conceptual artist making her first film.
The couple’s engagement and subsequent birth of their daughter has set tongues wagging across the Atlantic. But Johnson has been nonchalant about the age difference, telling People magazine, “I’m an old soul and she’s a young soul.”
Unfortunately, this isn’t the entire article. I’ll try and get the rest of it scanned for the site soon.
GALLERY LINK:
- Magazines > Vogue (September 2010)
Aaron’s featured in the latest issue of VMan which hits newsstands September 9th. You can, however, read Aaron’s interview below and check out the shoot he did for the magazine in the gallery.
GALLERY LINK:
- Photoshoots > Session #34
Five days after his 20th birthday, Aaron Johnson is wolfing down a burger in North London, his mind on the approaching birth of his first child. (Johnson and artist Sam Taylor-Wood welcomed daughter Wynda-Rae on July 7.) “I’m ready,” he says, beating his chest Tarzan-style. “Everything’s prepared at home; we’ve got all this gear; we’re just waiting for the contractions to start and then we can get on with it.” The pair will get married next year, and then Johnson wants more kids. “Five or eight,” he (possibly) jokes. So what kind of father will he be?
“A fucking brilliant one, obviously,” he shoots back. “What sort of question’s that? Just affectionate and loving and supportive.”
Despite all its provocative style and violent energy, Kick-Ass wouldn’t work if viewers didn’t connect with the high school nerd at its center: Dave Lizewski, the film’s teen hero wannabe.
Luckily, Dave is perfectly played by 19-year-old British actor Aaron Johnson. Unknown for the most part to American audiences, the talented Johnson can be seen playing a dream teen in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snoggings (available in the redboxes). And this fall he’ll play young John Lennon in the biopic Nowhere Boy.
I sat down with Johnson last spring to talk about Kick-Ass and its controversial violence and language, about being typecast as an American nerd, and why he’d rather see kids wielding swords than appearing in beauty pageants.
On Playing Dave/Kick-Ass as a Teen Loser
Aaron Johnson: The script was this sort of teenage angst story about being stuck in this high school—it was all Superbad-esque. There’s a reason why the filmmakers wanted to have a younger cast: These characters are kids in high school. My character doesn’t have a girlfriend, and he’s going from a boy to a young man, going through that part of his life where he wants to do something different, go on a journey. He gives up his old boring life and wants to be this heroic guy, but he’s still weedy Dave Lizewski under the mask. So when he says these heroic things that he’s read in comic books they sound kinda stupid and pathetic. I was up for that–everyone can relate to it. He’s forever getting beaten up and people feel a sort of sympathy for him.
Check out these new gorgeous outtakes of Aaron! Aside from one photo, the rest of them are pretty much the same, just different coloring.
GALLERY LINK:
- Photoshoots > Session #30
These come from the recent Interview Magazine interview he did. You can read it below.
Not every young actor gets to have a breakout year; many who have them don’t survive them. And while the jury is still out on whether or not this is Aaron Johnson’s breakout year—all signs point to yes. These are indeed life-changing times for the 19-year-old Brit. Johnson, a former child actor, has been working for more than a decade, but in the past 12 months, he has completed no fewer than four films, headlined by Matthew Vaughn’s recently released comic book action movie Kick-Ass, in which he plays a costumed teenage crime fighter, and artist Sam Taylor-Wood’s highly anticipated first feature, Nowhere Boy, in which he stars as a young John Lennon. (The latter film is due out this fall.) But if that isn’t enough to make a young man’s head spin off his shoulders, then consider this: Johnson is also about to become a father. He and his Nowhere Boy director—and fiancée—Taylor-Wood are expecting their first child later this year. Kick-Ass director Vaughn recently spoke to the actor.
MATTHEW VAUGHN: When we first met, you were just a young whippersnapper. But within a year, your life has probably changed beyond recognition. Where is your head at right now?
AARON JOHNSON: Quite a lot has changed. I dunno… I’m just happy. I’m sort of more interested in what’s going on in my life rather than my career right now, to be honest. It’s quite exciting because I’ve got two really interesting films out this year, so it’s a good moment to sort of take a break and enjoy life.
VAUGHN: When you rang me up and said that you were having a baby, I felt like it should have shocked me more than it did. I find it intriguing that I wasn’t that surprised.
JOHNSON: Mmm. [laughs] Well, it would shock me if Chris [Mintz-Plasse, Johnson’s co-star in Kick-Ass] phoned me up and said he’s having a baby. He wouldn’t have a clue what to do.
He wowed audiences in the movies Nowhere Boy and Kick Ass, but Aaron Johnson is determined to make sure that he is not another flash-in-the-pan rising star.
“You know I was fortunate enough to have two films on at the same time that were so very different and I guess that makes people aware of you as an actor and you can see a quality I suppose in something. But it’s about making some good moves afterwards. You got to keep making a few good ones,” said the British actor.
The 19-year-old unveiled his latest move at the Cannes Film Festival. He stars in Chatroom, which follows a boy who befriends people on the net and pushes them into sinister situations.
But Johnson’s biggest role of his life is looming. He is expecting his first child with fiancee Sam Taylor Wood. But the teen star insists he is not worried about the prospect of fatherhood:
“I’m excited. I’m not nervous or anything. I’m pretty, I don’t know, I’m not scared or anything. I’m pretty fearless,” he said.