Aaron Taylor-Johnson has made an impressive career for himself since his early days on screen, starring in everything from horror to comedy and joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but this role was way before any of that fame came to be.
The 35-year-old actor made his film debut as a child star in the 2003 movie Shanghai Knights and later appeared in The Illusionist in 2006. However, it was at 17-years-old that an unknown Johnson broke some ground, playing a teenage heartthrob that stole the hearts of young audiences across the UK.
Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging is a 2008 coming-of-age movie based on a series of young adult novels by Louise Rennison that saw the rise of Aaron Taylor-Johnson before his Hollywood big-shot status. It tells the story of an awkward fourteen-year-old, Georgia Nicolson – played by Georgia Groome – living in Eastbourne with her family and navigating her teen years.
Viewers get drawn in by the relatable trials and tribulations of teen life, from friendship troubles to ‘boy stalking’, as she refers to it in the film, and learning the ways of the world. A continuous theme that stands out amongst reviews on Rotten Tomatoes is the sheer amount of memorable lines packed into one film.
A fair review claims: “Fun and cheesy in all the right ways! A favourite when I was a teenager and still a source of quotable one-liners for me today. Not an entirely serious film but definitely something fun to watch every now and again.”
Taylor-Johnson’s character, Robbie, has just moved to the area after his parent’s recent divorce. His family owns a fruit and veg shop where he works, but his real passion is for music, as he plays bass in a band called the Stiff Dylans.
The band’s song Ultraviolet still remains firmly on fans’ playlists and features in a key scene in the film that set teens’ hearts soaring. A review reads: “Charming, amusing and a great teen watch, this one always has me coming back, perhaps for nostalgia’s sake.”
What a lot of viewers have expressed is that while the film adheres to many cliches, it is an accurate representation of that time in a young girl’s life. A nostalgic viewer shared: “It may seem silly and immature at some points, a little too slapdash for most, but this is the exact portrayal of what a common British teenage girl’s life is like.”
It was off of the back of this movie that Johnson landed himself what is considered to be his breakthrough role, as John Lennon in the biopic Nowhere Boy. His performance as the iconic member of the Beatles won him the Empire Award for Best Newcomer and also introduced him to his future wife, Sam Taylor-Wood, who directed the film.
Nowadays, Johnson is making waves in Hollywood, starring in movies a far cry away from the indie British rom-com that gained him recognition.
In 2020, he had a role in Christopher Nolan’s film Tenet and a few years later appeared in the 2022 hit Bullet Train before playing yet another Marvel character. Most recently, the star featured in the horror film Nosferatu, which received plenty of attention, and 28 Years Later, Danny Boyle’s sequel to the 2002 film 28 Days Later.
Anyone wanting to see a fresh-faced Aaron Taylor-Johnson can watch Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging on both Amazon Prime and Paramount+.