Taron Egerton reveals he gave Tom Hardy an unscripted 'snog' while filming Legend
Taron Egerton has revealed how Tom Hardy reacted to an unscripted ‘snog’ that ended up being cut from the movie Legend.
The Welsh actor appeared alongside Hardy in the 2015 flick which centres on the lives of the notorious Kray twins Reggie and Ron (both played by Hardy).
Egerton played the role of ‘Mad’ Teddy Smith, Ronnie’s claimed lover.
And during one scene he decided on a bit of improvisation without letting his co-star Hardy know in advance.
Advert
Speaking on the Armchair Expert podcast, he shared: "There was a scene that never made the movie, but I was so pleased with myself.
"There was a scene where he murders someone and gets back in the car and I was sat in the back of the car waiting for him, and I grabbed his face and I snogged him.”
The 36-year-old said he then quickly ‘backed-off’ from Hardy in case the Hollywood star wasn’t impressed with the move, but then said he reckoned Hardy ‘loved it’.
Egerton pointed out that although the pair were supposed to be playing lovers, they never actually kissed on screen.
He continued: “We were depicting a bunch of guys in a hypermasculine world playing gangsters, but I was playing his lover so my job was kind of to subvert it all.”
The Rocketman star said the movie’s director Brian Helgeland was ‘very open to [the cast] improvising and trying things out’ and that Hardy ‘loved’ that fact.
So, he decided to give it a go, too.
“I kind of grabbed that bull by both horns as well,” he shared.
“I have all my insecurities and all my fears, but one thing I’m not worried about is I believe myself as an actor.”
He also opened up on the extent he’ll go for a role, revealing that he ‘starved’ himself to slim down for his appearance in the Netflix hit Apex.
“It’s worth being wary of that, I think, because that version of me in Apex, the guy who’s whatever silly body fat I was, and all kind of strong, every day I punish myself for not looking like that. But the truth of the matter is that I starved myself,” he revealed.
“I was running myself absolutely ragged to get there.”
Egerton said that afterwards a pal had told him that he should be hoping to ‘smash’ that version of himself rather than ‘aspire’ to it and said that hearing that had been a ‘tremendous help’ to him.
Despite that, Egerton recalled that he was often ‘filled with self-loathing’ during topless scenes in the movie and for 2014’s Kingsman: The Secret Service.
“I couldn’t enjoy it at the time because I’d completely lost any distorted sense of perspective,” he explained. “Also, it ain’t that deep. You bounce back, you carry on. It’s fine. It’s just what it is, you know?”
Claire Reid