Taron Egerton ( ; born 10 November 1989) is a Welsh actor. He is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award, and has received nominations for a Grammy Award and two British Academy Film Awards. Born in Birkenhead, England, Egerton began acting at age 15 and graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 2012. He gained recognition for his starring role as a spy recruit in the action comedy film Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014) and its sequel Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). He has also starred in several biographical films, portraying military officer Edward Brittain in the drama Testament of Youth (2014), the titular ski-jumper in the sports film Eddie the Eagle (2016), and singer Elton John in the musical Rocketman (2019), the last of which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor. Egerton has since starred in the miniseries Black Bird and the West End theatre play Cock (both 2022). Early life Egerton was born on 10 November 1989 in Birkenhead, Merseyside. His mother worked in social services, while his father ran a bed-and-breakfast near Liverpool; both of them are Liverpool natives. Although born in England, Egerton considers himself to be Welsh "through and through" and is fluent in both Welsh and English. His first name means "thunder" in Welsh. He has two younger half-sisters. Egerton's parents divorced when he was two, and he subsequently moved with his mother to the Welsh island of Anglesey, where he went to primary school. The family then relocated to Aberystwyth when he was 12 years old. He became lonely due to losing childhood friends. He began acting at age 15, which he explained was "as much about trying to be social and make friends as it was an interest in acting". He attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, from which he graduated in 2012. Career Early work and Kingsman films (2012–2018) Egerton performed in a stage production of the play The Last of the Haussmans at the National Theatre in London in 2012. After appearing in the crime drama series Lewis, he was cast as the lead in Matthew Vaughn's Kingsman: The Secret Service, an action comedy film adaptation of the comic book The Secret Service by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons, in 2013. He portrayed British Army officer Edward Brittain in the 2014 biographical drama film Testament of Youth, earning a nomination for Best British