Aaron Taylor-Johnson “didn’t give a f*ck” about franchises after starring in Avengers

❘ Updated: 2023-08-18T22:37:14

Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Wanda and Pierto Maximoff in Avengers: Age of Ultron

Marvel

Aaron Taylor-Johnson, one of the hottest actors in Hollywood right now, revealed how he turned down big movie franchises.

For most actors in Hollywood, being asked to be a part of a huge, multi-billion franchise would be a dream come true.

From the likes of Marvel to the DCEU to Fast and Furious, many actors see franchises as not only job security, but a way to stay hot in the industry.

However, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who is on the beginning of a press tour for his 2024 movie Kraven the Hunter, has revealed that idea of being in a franchise isn’t that appealing to him, despite being in some of the biggest ones.

Taylor-Johnson prefers domesticity to box office smashes

Most fans recognize Taylor-Johnson from three huge IPs: Marvel, Godzilla, and Kick-Ass. He played Peter Maximoff, Wanda’s speedster twin brother, in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Lieutenant Ford Brody in 2014’s Godzilla, and the titular Dave Lizewski/Kick-Ass in Kick-Ass.

Because of these films, he became a household name overnight and had the pick of his choice when it came to his next big project. But, during a sit down interview with Esquire, Taylor-Johnson revealed that he actively rejected doing more franchises to spend time with his family.

“There was ‘Kick-Ass’ and then there was ‘Godzilla’ and ‘Avengers,’ and all those things lined up for me,” Taylor-Johnson said, “But I didn’t really care for them…[I was up for movies] that nobody knows about—big, huge franchises that were in play. [But] 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,” he continued, “But yeah, I also slightly didn’t give a fuck.”

Taylor-Johnson’s unique outlook on the industry also extends to the projects he undertakes as he doesn’t like going from film role to film role back to back, which is interesting as his most recent run of productions — Kraven the Hunter, The Fall Guy, and Nosferatu — were “with only 24 hours between each thing.”

Taylor-Johnson explained his work ethic stating: “In my opinion, the actor that goes job to job becomes fucking 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 fucking great!’ And on to the next job.

Fuck 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.”

Kraven the Hunter is set to premiere on August 30, 2024. In the meantime, you can check out more of our upcoming TV and movie coverage in the hubs below: