KRAVEN THE HUNTER Star Aaron Taylor-Johnson Covers ESQUIRE Magazine

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Aaron Taylor-Johnson has spent years dodging the spotlight, instead dazzling audiences by taking on character roles. But in KRAVEN THE HUNTER (moved to Summer 2024), the British actor seized his Marvel moment—and shows he’s ready to be a leading man. Could a dinner jacket and a vodka martini be waiting for him? He’s the rumored lead contender for the coveted role of James Bond and, when asked about it by Alex Pappademas in the September cover story “The Reluctant Superstar,” Taylor-Johnson offered some very intriguing answers—what they mean, well, you be the judge.

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On whether he’s going to be the next James Bond: “I have to go by the beat of my own drum. It’s my own path, what feels intuitive to me. I’ve never made a decision based on other people’s perspectives, or their judgments, or their expectations. You lose your f*cking mind if you do that. Your sense of worth and soul is gone. You need to understand what is integral to you and what feels right, and you’ve got to stay on track with what’s present in front of you. Kraven is what’s in front of me.”

On whether it’s exciting to consider the possibility of playing James Bond: “I just focus on the things I can have in my hands right now. What’s in front of me right now.”

On the theory that his relationship with his wife [director Sam Taylor-Johnson] works because it’s rooted in creative partnership: “I don’t think that’s accurate. Yeah, we worked—I met Sam as actor and director. I think we’re really great at collaborating. But that’s not why I fell in love with her.” It was another one of those gut instincts, he says—he knew right away when he met Sam but also before they met, by the time he was ten or eleven—that “I was going to have a big family. I knew I was going to be a young father. I knew I was going to have many kids.”

On the Kraven franchise: “You can’t step into this role, you can’t step into what this franchise is, with a f*cking half-*ssed, Let’s see how it goes attitude, you have to be mentally prepared for what could come with that. I think I’m secure in my life now to know that I’m happy to deal with that. I don’t think I was probably ready to invite that into my life earlier on.”

 On what feeds his soul: “In my opinion, the actor that goes job to job becomes f*cking boring. You know that someone’s going to pick you up, take you to work, do your makeup, tell you, ‘Here’s your mark. These are your lines. You’re f*cking great!’ And on to the next job. F*ck off. I’m sure people dream of that. If this is what you want to do, that’s great. It doesn’t feed my soul. I enjoy the normality of things, the everyday stuff. Getting my kids ready in the mornings, taking them to school and activities—that’s plenty. That feeds my soul.”

On why he turned down blockbuster roles: “I wanted, purely, to be with my babies. I didn’t want to be taken away from them. I battled with what that would be like…I would say I was probably not ready to be in that position anyway—it was too early. But yeah—I also slightly didn’t give a f*ck.”

On the audition process and his fellow actors: “It was me and Nick Hoult, it was Dan Kaluuya, it was Jack O’Connell…You’d be like, ‘Oh my God—Andrew Garfield’s perfect for this.’ Or ‘I don’t know why I’m here—this is Jack’s job.’ That teaches you that you’re not f*cking right for everything.”

The interview (conducted before the strike) is on Esquire.com now and in the new September issue, available everywhere by August 22.

[Photo Credit: Norman Jean Roy for Esquire Magazine]

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