By Jeremy Smith
Pietro Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, represents Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s second go-round as a superhero, and this time he’s actually got some powers aside from being able to take a hellacious beating. As Dave Lizewski, the titular costumed-crimefighter of the KICK-ASS movies, Taylor-Johnson’s combat expertise has roughly progressed from non-existent to adequate; as Quicksilver in AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, he gets to drive Earth’s Mightiest Heroes nuts with his supersonic speed. He’s a dangerous fella. Only his arrogance (and, perhaps, repressed decency) can stop him.
Most of Taylor-Johnson’s screen time is split with Elizabeth Olsen, who plays his metahuman sister Wanda, aka The Scarlet Witch. Their sibling bond gives the film a bit of heart at times, as does Pietro’s quarrelsome relationship with Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner). It’s difficult to make an impression in a movie so top-heavy with familiar faces and firmly-established characters, but Taylor-Johnson picks his spots, and finds a few highlights of his own. Since breaking through in a big way with his performance as John Lennon in NOWHERE BOY, Taylor-Johnson has alternated between blockbuster fare (e.g. AGE OF ULTRON and GODZILLA) and serious dramas (most notably his superb portrayal of Vronsky in Joe Wright’s ANNA KARENINA). In talking to the actor at the AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON press day, he seemed completely comfortable with the balance he’s struck thus far.
As we sat down for our interview, Taylor-Johnson couldn’t help but notice how every corner of Disney is stuffed with cool memorabilia.
Jeremy Smith: Disney’s offices make you feel like it’s playtime.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson: Yeah. The store was closed unfortunately. Otherwise, I would’ve raided that pretty thoroughly. (Laughs) How’s it going?
Jeremy: Going pretty good. How are you holding up?
Taylor-Johnson: Good.
Jeremy: Fox beat Marvel to the punch with their interpretation of Quicksilver, so you had to come in with a completely different take on the character. How much of that previous performance did you allow yourself to pay attention to?
Taylor-Johnson: Almost none of it. And I mean that in all honesty. I guess you’d think, coming from an outside point of view, “Alright, they’ve only had one option to stay completely clear of that.” But Joss’s intention was always to bring these characters into this universe. He’s always had them in mind. So it’s just coincidence. But the beauty in that is there was really no connection; [Evan Peters’s] character was set in the ‘70s and more American and stuff like that. There are a lot of differences, but the main thing is that you can’t have Quicksilver without Scarlet Witch. They really bounce off of each other. You never really see them without one another. They’re twins, and very much yin-and-yang. What with his powers being supersonic, I think he’s quick-tempered, hot-headed and impatient, whereas she’s more thoughtful and nurturing. I think they balance each other, and need each other, so we drew upon that. And the fact that Sokovia was a place in Eastern Europe, we wanted to embrace that kind of sound and accent. So it was important to me that we could really go back to the comic books and bring them to life – and it just so happened to be completely different from what [X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST] did. And that doesn’t take away from what Evan did. That whole sequence was fantastic. It’s just very different.
Jeremy: In terms of building that character while working on a film with so many parts, how do you keep from getting lost in the machinery?
Taylor-Johnson: It is a machine that keeps going. You’ve just got to keep up. There are people looking out for you, like Joss and Kevin Feige; they’re the ones at the center of it all, puppeteering it from every angle. It is pretty overwhelming at times, and really complex: the special effects, and the fight sequences that take three weeks to film. There’s a lot of trust involved on these types of films, so you just jump onboard and roll with it. These guys know how to make these movies, so it’s fun.
Jeremy: Contrast this with making KICK-ASS, which Matthew Vaughn made with a lot of his own money. That was much more seat-of-you-pants filmmaking.
Taylor-Johnson: Any independent film, be it or drama or something else, is going to be more actor-driven. There are scenes that may have two or three pages of dialogue, whereas here you’ve got one or two lines and, like, “Hulk! Hemsworth! There’s a fight sequence, and it breaks off!” Everything is little bits. It doesn’t have that momentum that you’d have if it was just actors in a room playing a scene and seeing where it goes. The difference is just that it was new way of exploring my craft. It’s harder actually. You have to stay within that last thought process, but you shot it two days ago. It’s just a different pace.
Jeremy: And then getting to play Vronsky in Joe Wright’s ANNA KARENINA. There were unique challenges there, like long takes and all of this intricate stagecraft forming and re-forming around you.
Taylor-Johnson: There were a lot of things going on there.
Jeremy: Do you have a preference?
Taylor-Johnson: I don’t have any preferences. I just think with movies nowadays, you just push the boundaries. They’re pushing the boundaries and exploring cinema technology-wise or documentary-wise. They’re all kind of experiences and challenges in themselves. I’d love to go do another bunch of these movies. I’d love to work with the Marvel guys again 100%. I had a wicked blast on this. You feel protected and safe around these guys; you form a bond, and it feels great. I just enjoy the environment. The movie will come out, and it will be great for people who’ve been anticipating and waiting for years; they get that excitement the moment they see it, and they can watch it again and live with it. For me, I’ve got the memory of making it, because once it’s out it’s like a ship that’s sailed. It doesn’t come around again.
Jeremy: Is there a balance you’re trying to strike? Between doing AGE OF ULTRON and GODZILLA, are you looking for smaller projects where you can flex different acting muscles?
Taylor-Johnson: Absolutely. I think those are the gems that you kind of find. I read a lot of scripts, and there are many opportunities that come up, but if I don’t feel instinctively right for it… I can read something, and I’ll know instantly, “I want to play that role. I’ve got to explore that character.” I’d love to find what that role would be. It could be on a really small scale. I think GODZILLA and AVENGERS, I was really fortunate that those directors thought of me for those roles, and I was able to sit down with them and have the chance to play these roles. And in these big blockbuster movies, they’re real characters. There are things you can dig your hands into and play with. With Pietro there was so much backstory that I didn’t care about the superpower; it’s a Marvel movie, and I knew the superpower would look fucking awesome. I need to know the person behind that power, and that was Pietro Maximoff. I wondered if he was quick-natured in every aspect. Does he have ADHD? You think, “If that was that person, what would they like? What kind of music? They’re kind of cocky and arrogant because the fucker don’t get caught a lot.” From an actors perspective, there’s never enough time to really explore in-depth this and that, but that’s down to Joss. He has to get everyone across, and he does it brilliantly.
AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON is currently in theaters. You might’ve noticed.
