Egerton was born in Birkenhead on 10 November 1989.[2][3] His mother worked in social services, while his father ran a bed-and-breakfast near Liverpool;[4] both of them are Liverpool natives.[5] He has two younger half-sisters.[4] Although born in England, Egerton considers himself to be Welsh "through and through" and is fluent in both Welsh and English.[6][7]
Egerton's parents divorced when he was two, and he subsequently moved with his mother to the Welsh island of Anglesey, where he went to primary school.[3][5] The family then relocated to Aberystwyth when he was 12 years old.[3] He became lonely due to losing childhood friends.[8] He began acting at age 15,[9] which he later explained was "as much about trying to be social and make friends as it was an interest in acting".[8] He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 2012.[9]
Career
Early work and Kingsman films (2012–2018)
Egerton performed in a stage production of the play The Last of the Haussmans at the National Theatre in London in 2012.[10] After appearing in the crime drama series Lewis, he was cast as the lead role in Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service, an action comedy film adaptation of the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, in 2013.[5][11] He portrayed British Army officer Edward Brittain in the 2014 biographical drama film Testament of Youth, earning a nomination for Best British Newcomer at the BFI London Film Festival.[12][13]Kingsman: The Secret Service was released in 2015, garnering highly favorable reviews that described it as "fun, stylish and subversive" as well as grossing over $400 million.[14][15] Writing for TheWrap, James Rocchi deemed Egerton to be "a naturally charismatic presence with smarts behind his smile" as Gary "Eggsy" Unwin, a recruit for an espionage organisation.[16] Egerton rose to fame with the role.[5] He starred in the crime film Legend that same year.[4]
At the 69th British Academy Film Awards in 2016, Egerton received a nomination for the BAFTA Rising Star Award.[17] In the same year, he played ski-jumper Eddie the Eagle in the eponymous biopic and voiced Johnny, a passionate gorilla, in the animated musical film Sing.[5][18] Egerton reprised the role of Eggsy in the film Kingsman: The Golden Circle, a sequel to Kingsman: The Secret Service, released the following year. It drew a mixed response from critics.[19] In 2018, he starred in the crime drama film Billionaire Boys Club and played the title character in the action-adventure film Robin Hood.[20][21] Both films were failures commercially and with critics.[8] Egerton later specified that Robin Hood was not the film he had signed up to create and that it had "lost its vision."[21] He attributed his involvement in Billionaire Boys Club and Robin Hood to monetary reasons.[8]
Also in 2019, Egerton voiced Moomintroll in the animated series Moominvalley and Rian in the fantasy series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance.[32][33] He reprised the role of Johnny in Sing 2, which released in 2021.[34] Egerton starred in the play Cock by Mike Bartlett. Directed by Marianne Elliott and held at the Ambassadors Theatre in the West End, the production marked his West End debut.[35] After missing performances due to fainting on stage during the first night of performances in March 2022 and testing positive for COVID-19 later that month, Egerton exited for "personal reasons" the following month.[36][37] The production of Cock garnered mixed critical reception, with Egerton's performance gaining praise.[38]The Guardian's Arifa Akbar wrote he "is especially affecting in his romantic desperation".[39]
In in the Netflix thriller film Carry-On (2024), Egerton starred as a TSA agent blackmailed by a terrorist.[44] He deemed it a rare opportunity to lead a film aimed at a wide audience.[45] Nick Schager of The Daily Beast wrote that "Egerton exudes the right mix of stuck-in-a-rut defeatism and harried determination to hold the film together".[46] On Netflix, Carry-On became the fifth-most-watched English-language film of all time.[47]
Egerton lives in West London.[4] He describes himself as having come from a working-class background.[50] Having lost a grandmother to motor neurone disease, he is an ambassador for the Motor Neurone Disease Association.[7][51] Following speculation about his sexuality, Egerton explained that it is "a joy to support" his gay friends, though he is not himself gay.[52] However, as a teenager, Egerton questioned whether he was gay and explained that he felt "very panicked and upset about how I would be perceived".[53]
Egerton was named one of the 50 best-dressed British men in 2015 and 2016 by British GQ.[54][55]
Egerton won a Golden Globe Award for his role in Rocketman.[26] He has also garnered a Grammy Award nomination for his work on its soundtrack.[28] He has been nominated by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts for the BAFTA Rising Star Award and the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role.[17][27]
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