Taron Egerton has revealed he is estranged from his father after deciding to “push the ejector seat” on their relationship. The 36-year-old actor was born in Birkenhead but moved to Wales with his mother after his parents divorced when he was two. He was then raised in Anglesey and Aberystwyth.
Although Egerton stayed in contact with his father – who ran a bed and breakfast in Liverpool – throughout his childhood, he has now shared that they stopped speaking several years ago.
Podcast revelation
Speaking on the latest episode of the Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard podcast, the actor briefly discussed his estrangement from his father. He said: “My father and I, when I was growing up, were able to maintain a fairly kind of functional relationship. As I got older, that became more difficult and I haven’t spoken to him for a number of years now.
“I’m reluctant to talk in too much detail about him because he’s living his own life and doing his own thing. I’ll always love him. I do love him. I just don’t think we work very well in terms of our relationship. So, there was a point where I pushed the ejector seat and haven’t seen him since.”
He added: “Generally speaking I find that I am happier and more functional when I try and view everyone else as just trying their best. With some people that’s really challenging, but I don’t find that challenging with my father. I think he is a guy who wanted to be a good dad.”
Upbringing and gratitude
Egerton then went on to share: “In hindsight, I think being raised by a single mom who was pursuing a degree and trying to make ends meet… looking back, I think I was possibly a little more anxious than I was aware of until quite recently. But she was a great mum; I never felt that I wanted anything or missed anything.”
During the interview, Egerton went on to describe his Kingsman: The Secret Service and Kingsman: The Golden Circle co-star Colin Firth as a “fatherly figure”. The films – released in 2014 and 2017 – saw Egerton play Gary “Eggsy” Unwin, while Firth played his mentor Harry Hart.
Colin Firth's support
Reflecting on their closeness, Egerton admitted that while filming the movies director Matthew Vaughn threatened to let him go because of his partying. He said: “Colin was amazing. I remember I was going through a difficult time. I broke up with my first girlfriend and I was like really aggressively partying to deal with it and was coming in, in like a bad way.
“I remember there were a couple of days on Kingsman where Matt was like, ‘you’re going home. I can’t film you today’.”
Egerton then said it was Firth who was “fatherly and understanding”. He continued: “He was always lovely to me. When he saw the movie, I always remember what he texted me. He said, ‘you are note perfect’. He’s such a generous, kind man.”
The actor then said he would love to make another instalment of the film series because it “would be fun to get to ride with Colin once more”. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Egerton rose to fame in the Kingsman films, going on to star in other movies including Testament Of Youth, Eddie The Eagle and Rocketman, which earned him a Golden Globe award for best actor playing Elton John.
