"I Had A Real Issue": Aaron Taylor-Johnson Gets Candid About The Troubling Villain Role That Won Him A Golden Globe

Aaron Taylor-Johnson has quickly become a notable name in Hollywood, having appeared in a handful of films over the last decade that have increased his stature. He will still be best known to many audiences for his starring role in Kick-Ass (2010) and the 2013 sequel, but he also played the lead in 2014's Godzilla, which remains a highlight of Legendary's MonsterVerse.

More recently, Taylor-Johnson has appeared in movies like Tenet (2020), The King's Man (2021), Bullet Train (2022), The Fall Guy (2024), and the critically-acclaimed Nosferatu (2024). These days, Taylor-Johnson is mentioned most commonly as the actor who is seemingly a front-runner to be the next James Bond. One of his most important roles, however, couldn't be further away from 007, with Taylor-Johnson having played an unhinged serial killer back in 2016.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson Looks Back At Nocturnal Animals

The Actor Shares Honest Thoughts About His Villainous Character

Taylor-Johnson gets candid about playing Ray Marcus in Nocturnal Animals, recalling how uncertain he was about playing the character. Directed by Tom Ford, the crime thriller film stars Amy Adams as Susan Morrow, an art gallery owner who is haunted by her ex-husband's novel. Nocturnal Animals features a number of chilling sequences, almost all of them involving Ray, a character who torments Jake Gyllenhaal's Tony Hastings. The movie was a box office disappointment, but fared generally well with critics, and Taylor-Johnson ended up winning a Golden Globe for his performance.

Related Every Aaron Taylor-Johnson Movie Ranked Worst To Best From comic book action movies to costume dramas, Aaron Taylor-Johnson has had a interestingly varied career as an actor. Here's all his films ranked.

During a recent interview with The Guardian, Taylor-Johnson looks back at his role as Ray in Nocturnal Animals, revealing that he initially wasn't sure he was the right fit for the role. According to the actor, the character was so despicable that he didn't "see a way in," but Ford was ultimately able to convince him by highlighting the importance of Ray's charismatic outer persona. Check out Taylor-Johnson's full comments on the role below:

I had a real issue taking on that role. I found it really, really difficult. I couldn’t understand why Tom [Ford] – who I knew, sort of, from dinner parties here and there – wanted me to play a serial-killer rapist. My feeling was: I can’t. I don’t see a way in here. I don’t even know what you want me to do. I was so out of my depth. Tom’s whole thing was: “I just feel like this character should have so much charisma. That’s what’s unpredictable about him.” It’s more shocking that way. Ray is quite a fresh-faced, charming-looking individual. But Tom wanted him to be weird and freaky as well. Tom expects perfection, so I just felt: I cannot fail this guy. I went down a whole rabbit hole of serial killers: Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, Richard Ramirez. With Bundy, one of the big things is that he had charisma and charm. I took pieces from lots of different places. And I remember giving Tom a range of different things. It was definitely a life lesson for just being a little bit outside your comfort zone and putting the hard work in. What came out was something unique and different.

Our Take On Aaron Taylor-Johnson's Nocturnal Animals Role

Ray Was One Of The Best Parts Of The Tom Ford Movie

Sometimes, a villain ends up being more memorable than a film's protagonist. This is arguably the case with Nocturnal Animals, as Ray is such a terrifying figure whenever he's on-screen, even if he's not actually doing anything violent. That initial encounter with Gyllenhaal's character on the road at night is a masterclass in movie tension, with Taylor-Johnson appearing friendly on the surface, but there's clearly something sinister about him and what he's doing. Even though Ray doesn't really feature in the Nocturnal Animals ending, he remains one of the best parts of the film.

Nocturnal Animals enjoys a respectable critics' score of 74% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the audience score matches. The movie is filled with style and some great sequences of tension, but arguably just falls short when it comes to emotion. For Taylor-Johnson, however, Nocturnal Animals remains a great acting showcase, and it's proof that, in addition to all of his hero roles and the potential James Bond 26, he should return to play another chilling villain.

Source: The Guardian