Aaron Taylor-Johnson likes to push the boundaries in his films, especially when it comes to stunts. His leading role in Kraven the Hunter was no different.
Taylor-Johnson plays antihero Sergei Kravinoff (aka Kraven), the son of a corrupt Russian crime lord (played by Russell Crowe) who follows a path of revenge to become the world’s most feared hunter. The character originated in 1964 as a major Spider-Man villain in Marvel Comics and, like the Poison franchise, is part of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man universe and not the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film will be in cinemas from December 13.
Taylor-Johnson trained as a dancer in his youth and told Yahoo Entertainment that he enjoyed bringing “that physicality and that movement” to the role of Kraven.
“[The stunt team was] like, ‘No, no, no, no, you really shouldn’t do that, you shouldn’t really do that,'” he said. “I think that’s because I like action movies, and I grew up watching action movies Rocky Unpleasant Die hard to even bring in Russell Crowe Gladiator.”
This isn’t the first time Taylor-Johnson has wanted to immerse herself in a role.
“I also just felt like sometimes there are things where you feel so invested in that character that you just want to do it justice in every way possible,” he explained. “It’s the same as when I played [John] Lennon enters Nowhere boy. I learned to play guitar and sing.”
For director JC Chandor, keeping his star intact was a priority while giving audiences the action scenes they craved.
“Aaron is capable. I mean, he’s a physical, physically gifted guy, and he can do almost anything if you give him a chance,” he told Yahoo. “But if he breaks his leg, our production will of course be in trouble. So we definitely had to stop him.”
Taylor-Johnson didn’t just want to go all-in in stunts. He also learned Russian for his role as the comic book villain.
“That was actually harder than anything,” he said. “It was quite brilliant that we [were] allowed to do it.”
Although the story focuses on a Marvel character, Taylor-Johnson said Chandor has taken away that “sham feeling surrounding it” to tell a “gangster story” rooted in reality.
“We shot the action on location, and it’s these Russian gangsters, and I say, ‘I feel like we just kind of [integrate] that and just speak Russian in these sequences,” the actor said. “And he said, ‘Okay, yeah, let’s do it.’”
Chandon said shooting on location was “kind of a gift.”
“We shot the film, a lot of it here in Britain, and at that time a lot of films were shot here…. And so there were no studios available,” the director explained.
“We have to have an absolute ball just going out and finding all these locations and shooting practically. And that’s just something that I’ve always tried to do,” he continued. “I don’t want to say it’s laziness, but for me it’s just easier. For the actors, for me as a director and as a cameraman, you have your playground there.”
Taylor-Johnson is no stranger to the Marvel playground. He played the role of Pietro Maximoff (also known as Quicksilver). Captain America: the winter soldier And Avengers: Age of Ultron. Although Quicksilver and Kraven are very different, the actor said he felt a “responsibility” to put the investigative work into his latest character and his origin story.
“The experience that I’ve had going from one studio movie to another, or when you’re diving into the Marvel world, or when you’re actually just taking on the responsibility of a character with this kind of weight, and that kind of thing Marvel community and the fan base, you have a responsibility and an obligation to do your research, and I really take that to heart,” he said.
“I invested a lot of time in this character, honing in on him and giving him the physicality and all that stuff,” he added, “so you just learn that you have a duty and a responsibility to do your job to the best of your ability . can.”
Kraven the Hunter can be seen in cinemas from December 13.
