Aaron Taylor-Johnson That Admits He ‘Slightly Didn’t Give A F*ck’ About Being In ‘Avengers,’ ‘Godzilla,’ Or Even ‘Kick-Ass’

As Aaron Taylor-Johnson prepares to appear in a spat of high-profile roles including Kraven the Hunter, The Fall Guy, and Nosferatu, the actor is opening up about his early blockbuster days.

In the early-to-mid 2000’s, Taylor-Johnson was seemingly everywhere. He wowed audiences in the adaptation of the Mark Miller comic Kick-Ass, played the male lead in the Godzilla reboot, and even joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Avengers: Age of Ultron. There was just one small problem: Taylor-Johnson didn’t want to be a blockbuster star. He mostly just wanted to stay home with his kids.

Via Esquire:

“All those things lined up for me. But I didn’t really care for them.” He was getting offers to do more of that stuff for more money. He was up for roles “that nobody knows about—big, huge franchises that were in play.” But by then he and Sam had two small children. The decision not to keep going down that blockbuster road wasn’t hard. “I wanted, purely, to be with my babies,” he says. “I didn’t want to be taken away from them. I battled with what that would be like.”

The actor also got a little more blunt about his early blockbuster days. “I also slightly didn’t give a f*ck.”

Obviously, Taylor-Johnson’s opinion has changed. He’s now starring in the upcoming Kraven the Hunter. Although, once again, he’s candid about that experience.

“I mean, quite honestly, I thought I’d actually been done with these sorts of movies,” he told Esquire before later revealing that this time he’s ready to jump back into the blockbuster world. “You can’t step into this role, you can’t step into what this franchise is, with a f*cking half-assed, 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.”

Kraven the Hunter stalks into theaters on August 30, 2024.